Europe & UK Tour - Czech Republic

Czech Republic is the only Eastern Europe countries that I visited. It was a great place to complete my European tour. Based on many reviews and recommendation, I finally decided to travel to Prague.

Getting to Prague by a propeller plane was my first experience. It was a bit scary when taking off but when in the air, that was nothing to worry about.

Prague

Prague is the capital of Czech Republic. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Most of the must see sights are within walking distance. The photo was taken on my first day in Prague. The golden light was shining the far side of the city before it faded away.

Another great view of Prague city. At the centre of this picture is the most popular Prague bridges, known as Charles Bridge.

Beautiful Gothic buildings beside the river.

The Old town square is like a journey back to few hundred years back. The Tyn church can easily be seen with its two spires. Take note of the two spires which are not symmetrical which is a representation of both the masculine and feminine side of the world.

Jan Hus monument

The astronomical clock showing the hour, sun and moon movements.

Old Town Calender showing the 12 zodiac symbols.

Prague Castle standing behind the old Prague city. It is a symbol of the Czech Republic comprising palaces, Romanesque buildings and the tall St Vitus cathedral. It was very windy, cloudy and having a downpour soon after this picture was taken. I got soaked in the rain but this memorable picture paid off.

The Golden Lane in Prague Castle comprising a number of 16th century houses.

Lets go fighting with these armors, weapons, shields etc. Wondering whether they sell Excalibur.

The enormous St Vitus cathedral is the one that dominates the city skyline and is visible from far and wide. It is the spiritual symbol of the Czech state.

Another gargoyle after the Notre Damme in Paris. I guess this is also used as the water drainage system.

In the cathedral, the stained glass looked so colourful. The best that I seen so far. It probably due to the strong colour combination been used.

Marvelous interior cathedral architecture. The sun light penetrated and brightened the entire structures giving a warm and welcoming feeling to this cathedral.

Charles Bridge was constructed in 1357 during King Charles IV and finished in the beginning of 15th century. This bridge is at 516m long and used to be most important connection between the Old town to the adjacent city areas. This is a busy bridge during the day and I could see peoples playing music and selling their self titled CD along the way.

Many stalls selling marionettes as souvenir.

Cesky Krumlov

I was thinking of visiting a peaceful medieval castle city before returning to my home ground and Cesky appeared to be the best fit. This place was recommended by my friend who is doing his studies in Leuven Belgium.

It is a jewel that attract many visitors around the world and offers many interesting sights and activities and yet peaceful. Usually, tourist will take a day tour from Prague to visit this city. I spent two nights in this small city and I recommend tourist to stay overnight and enjoy the culture and atmosphere at night.

The view or Cesky Krumlov before dusk. As it was drizzling, the formation of the rainbow beautify the entire city. I liked the red roof top of Cesky building which made the city more lively.

Cesky Castle is the main attraction of this city. It stand tall on the cliff above the Cesky buildings. At the entrance, there is a courtyard pit with brown bears. The castle wall was hand painted resembling brick structures.

In the late morning, tourist started to fill this small quiet city. It seemed like Czech like to do decorative painting on their wall.

I came across a ferret owner and she was kind enough to let me take a picture of this creature. This cutie animal love to play. It will play with you and like to be chased and to chase you.

There are some quiet spot away from tourist crowd for lunch. I found this spot and had my lunch. It was a wonderful experience to enjoy my lunch beside the Cesky river overlooking the castle.

At night, the entire city atmosphere became quiet after the day tourist gone back. This is one of my favourite photo during my Europe trip. This place really looks like a fantasy land and it is surrounded by a river.

Hey, that was the cobblestone picture that I wanted to take all the while. The cobblestone became reflective after the rain and was great for photography. At the end junction to the right was my hostel stay, Hotel 99 Hospoda.

There are many activities that Cesky can offer. I decided to rent a bicycle to explore the surrounding scenic neighbourhood. It was a very pleasant relaxing ride and met many tourist cyclist along the way to enjoy the country side. The white flowers behind the picture were the dandelion seed head.

The Dandelion seeds are spreaded by wind with each seeds parachuting away from the core. As for this picture, I blew them away....how naughty!

A souvenir shop in Cesky. I noticed many souvenir shops were using their main door to put the souvenirs. It was interesting and creative indeed.

After touring for about 25 days, its time for me to bid farewell to UK and Europe. It was a great experience to follow a package tour at the beginning of the journey and travel independently towards the end. The package tour, although was quite rushing, at least I managed to catch a glimpse of each European country I visited. I enjoyed the free and easy independent travel especially in Cesky Krumlov as I had plenty of time to stay relax and watch daily Cesky life in the city & suburb.