Litomerice and on to Prague

A well decorated building in Litomerice

Though our destination was Prague, we wanted to see one more town recommended in the Lonely Planet--Litomerice.  We walked the attractive town square and checked out the imposing cathedral (closed) and its tower, which Rob climbed.  Though the time suggested lunch, we decided to hop on the autoroute to Prague. (rde: without a vignette, and therefor subject to a $100 fine. But I judged that the odds of being caught on our 45 minute 120kph blast were infinitesimal, and the penalty was affordable.) 

Prague crowds waiting for the Astronomical Clock to perform at  7 pm

We had checked various hotel possibilities and noticed two sites with apartments listed.  Since we hadn't booked ahead, we wanted to arrive early enough to arrange accommodation.  After sorting out some confusing addresses (rde: # 22 and 30 are west of the bridge, but #24 is east of it, one km away!?) we eventually found the booking agency and secured an apartment.  The online price had been a surprisingly low 78E, but the agent said the centrally located apartment that we selected was 110E.  Rob talked her down to 80.  We are amazed by our luck, and would gladly have paid the 110, given the great location and comfortable rooms.  An unexpected bonus was a washing machine--just in the nick of time.


After a much-welcomed short rest-nap (rde: agreed), at 6:30 we headed out for a two hour walk through the Stare Mesto (Old Town), just three blocks from the apartment.  The architecture here is stunning.  Nearly every building  has an elaborate facade.  The crowds were thick in the central square and near the famous Astronomical Clock which did its (very limited) thing at 7.  We ended our walk near St. Wenceslas Square and wended our way back home.  We have booked the apartment for three nights, and can extend that if we need to. 


You may have noticed the abundance of photos.  In order to make viewing them more manageable, I've added a second Picasa album for July.  So photos from today through our July 24 departure can be found there.