Prague’s Charles Bridge and Christmas Markets

When we visited Budapest, we walked everywhere. Our hotel was near enough to the city center that we could walk there in about fifteen minutes. Such was not the case in Prague. We had a very nice hotel, but it was some distance from the city center so we took a light rail back and forth every day. Fortunately for us, seniors over 65 ride the light rail for free so only Andrea had to pay. Payments were made on the train with a credit card so it was pretty painless.

Thursday morning dawned, and after an amazing breakfast at the hotel, we set out for Prague. We got off the light rail after crossing the Vltava River and walked along side it. There was a bridge up ahead we could see, the Charles Bridge, and above it the Prague Castle. The Charles Bridge is the most famous of the bridges in Prague and perhaps in all of the Czech Republic. It was the only bridge crossing the Vltava River for a while after it was completed in 1402. A tall monument marks the entrance of the bridge which is across from a church.

Today most people know the Charles Bridge for its statues. Lining both sides of the bridge are thirty statues, most with a religious theme. Some tell the story of Christ. Others tell the story of various saints of the Catholic Church. All these statues are replicas while the original works are stored safely away. The majority of the statues have become nearly black, but a few are lighter in color. Some people rub parts of the statues in an attempt to get good luck of some sort. You can recognize these spots because the metal is shiny where hands have frequently touched it.

After crossing the Charles Bridge, we wandered around the shops there on the other side. We also spotted a Starbucks there so we had to check it out. Prague seems to have welcomed Starbucks with open arms as there are a number of them around Prague.

Crossing back over the bridge, it was time to check out what we came to Prague to see, the Christmas markets. I had read about two major ones so we headed in the direction of the first one in an area known as Old Town. We walked through narrow cobblestone streets unsure exactly where we were going, but we followed the crowd and made it. The architecture surrounding the square was pretty impressive. Some say the Disney castle is modeled after the church in the first picture below.

Of the four Christmas markets we visited, this one was my favorite. There are a number of reasons for that. First and foremost was the simple act of providing Christmas music. Songs from a children’s choir played over the speakers while we were there, and it really helped make it feel like Christmas. They even had live entertainment from time to time.

I also liked the booths. They were rustic looking and added to the atmosphere. As in Budapest there were not as many craft shops as I expected, but there were plenty of food booths. We again saw shops for chimney cakes and roasted chestnuts. One unique offering was ham roasting during the day. They would just slice off a piece for customers. There were sausages as well. One shop sold a chicken skewer in a bun. We had that for lunch, and it was quite good.

Another somewhat unusual food is potato chips on a stick. The cooks would spiral slice the potatoes and put them on a stick. They would then fry them in oil until crispy, chips on a stick.

While not a part of the Christmas market, one of the fascinating elements of this square is a large astronomical clock. The clock was built over 600 years ago. There are actually two time faces. One is the astronomical clock which has the earth at its center. Below the clock in an interesting form of calendar. Above the two clocks are two windows. On the hour the doors open and figures representing the twelve apostles are seen parading by.

Shortly after we arrived at the market, the clock was hitting the hour so we stayed around to watch. We didn’t have a good angle and missed a lot of what happened. That evening we were there again, and this time we were much closer. I decided to take a video so I carefully watched the clock, but only saw one figure hitting something. Afterwards my wife and daughter explained that the action took place above the clock faces with the apostles. I had missed that part entirely.

After wandering around and making sure we had seen everything, we decided to go back to our hotel. We knew the lights would look more interesting at night anyway.

When we returned to Prague that evening, we went to the other Christmas market in Wensclas Square. This is a central part of Prague and the main shopping district. The Christmas market area seemed small. There were less stalls here than there had been at the other market. We didn’t really spend a lot of time here although I got some hot punch which was actually quite good. I also enjoyed the skaters on their ice rink.

Instead we walked back towards the other market. A few streets over we came to a street that seemed to have a flea market going on. It wasn’t part of the Christmas market, but it actually seemed more interesting.

As we continued on to the other market we passed a rubber ducky shop. That’s all they sold. Farther on we ended up going down a narrow street that became quite congested. People were barely moving. It took us a while to figure out why. It turns out this street has a museum of sexual machines. The doors to the museum were wide open so everyone passing by paused to gawk into the museum to see what they could see.

When we finally got to the market, the lights were really nice so we spent time taking photos of the various spots that now glowed brightly in the dark. As we were doing that, we realized they had a live performance going on. The artist was a female singer who sang mostly in English. We enjoyed her performance of some Christmas songs.

At this point we decided to eat dinner. Silvette wanted to eat at a Mexican restaurant. The one we found was overcrowded so we ended up at a nearby Italian restaurant. Their main dining room was downstairs which was quite large and had a very medieval feel. The meal was very nice overall.

On our way back to the light rail station, we enjoyed more time taking photos of the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle with their night lights shining. The next day we would explore the castle area. I hope you will join me next week for that experience.

Credits: Photo of me buying skewers taken by Silvette Lee. Photo of Silvette and me with our skewers taken by Andrea Lee.