B and L Travels: prague, day one: if it ain't baroque

Yesterday, we took a tram heading towards Prague's main attractions. We missed our stop and crossed the Vltava river on the wrong bridge, eventually finding ourselves in front of St Nicholas church (not that one, the other one). It was very baroque (for any dads reading: no, we didn't try to fix it), with extravagant statues on every column, gilded bits everywhere, and Europe's largest fresco on the ceiling, which was particularly notable for its trippy perspective.

Next, we climbed a couple hundred stairs and braved tour groups and security screenings for a visit to the Prague Castle, a collection of historical buildings and exhibits at the top of a hill. St Vitus Cathedral was lofty and had an incredible and varied collection of stained glass, including one by local art nouveau celeb Mucha. The Old Royal Palace was full of history — our favourite was the room where the Defenestration of Prague occurred in 1618: a couple guys were thrown out of a window, ultimately precipitating the Thirty Years' War.

St George's Basilica was an unexpected highlight: a unique church with significant portions of the walls dating back to the 10th and 12th centuries. Finally, we wandered through the battlements, the torture towers, and the little dwellings restored with period decorations before moving on.

We ate a pleasing lunch in a pleasant bistro, stopped into a funny little museum dedicated to a famous Prague maestro, and got some really spectacular gelato (chili chocolate / cinnamon for B, chocolate / salted caramel for me), then ambled down towards Wenceslas Square and the old National Museum building. It was newly opened from years of renovations, and although there were only a handful of temporary exhibits, the interiors were almost as spectacular as the gelato.