Ladee's Travels

We walked past several incredible views. We were on the river side of the castle and could see Prague.  The dark bridge on the right side is the Charles Bridge with all of the statues and the large tower.  We walked along the pathway until we came to a small courtyard with the Toy Museum and a cafe.  The Toy Museum is the second largest exposition of toys in the world.  We did not go in but it sounds interesting. The toys are from all over the world, from ancient Greece to present time. Note that it covers two floors and has a large Barbie exposition.  There are also toys to purchase.  If you don't add this to your original ticket, there is a fee to enter. One advisor on TripAdvisor that said that the woman at the entry did not add the math correctly.  Be firm. Our guide did stop in front of the museum to discuss the statue.  Thin and emaciated, the guide said that it was originally built without private parts.  They were later added...

Golden Lane is lined with small picturesque houses.  Originally, the houses along this road housed goldsmiths. These houses were demolished in 1591.  Later Emperor Rudolph II allowed 24 Prague Castle fusiliers to build their homes here. "Fusiliers"is used for various types of soldiers.  Since the 19th century these homes were mostly rented.  House #14 was rented by fortune-teller  Franz Kafka was a writer, and rented #22 in 1916-1917.  The Golden Lane is where he found his inspiration for the book "The Castle".  The Golden Lane houses were nationalized after the war and later restored and painted between 1952 and 1955. Most of the occupants are souvenir and book stores.  At the end of Golden Lane, there is a gate entrance to Daliborka Prison Tower. The name "Dalibor" comes from a Czech prisoner who (according to the legend) learned to play the violin while incarcerated.

[Prague through the Bus Window] This is the drive from our hotel to the Prague Castle. Beata (red top) from AHI Travel is prepping the Prague city tour guides.  The buses depart on a schedule. We are "blue bus #2" and the designation stayed for the entire trip, which made it very convenient to remember your group.  The AHI Travel Guides changed buses so that we could all get to know each other.  The city tour guides stayed with us for the day.  Today we are going from our hotel to the castle across the river at the top of the hill.  It is Saturday, so there is some traffic.  It is going to be a hot day so I am glad that we are departing for a morning tour.  River cruise boats are docked and waiting for a busy day to begin.  The inspectors checking out everything.  This captured a few interesting items. Inside the base is a place to buy boat tickets.  And the sign with the red circle says that horse and bugg...