The oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410 when it was made by clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, the latter a professor.

Later, presumably around 1490, the calendar dial was added and clock facade decorated with gothic sculptures.

In 1552 it was repaired by Jan Taborský, clock-master of Orloj, who also wrote a report on the clock where he mentioned Hanuš as maker of the clock. This was a mistake, and was corrected during the 20th century.

The Orloj stopped working many times in the centuries after 1552, and was repaired many times. Some speculate that the government purposely gouged out the original maker’s eyes in order to prevent him from making a similar clock for another country. After this he died touching the clock, at which point the clock stopped working and remained unrepairable for a number of years. In the 17th century moving statues were added, and figures of the Apostles were added after major repair in 1865-1866.

The Orloj suffered heavy damage on May 7 and especially May 8, 1945, during the Prague Uprising, when Germans directed incendiary fire from several armored vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun to the south-west side of the Old Town Square in an effort to silence the provocative broadcasting initiated by the National Committee on May 5. The hall and nearby buildings burned along with the wooden sculptures on the Orloj and the calendar dial face made by Josef Mánes. The machinery was repaired, the wooden Apostles restored by Vojtěch Sucharda, and the Orloj started working again in 1948, but only after significant effort.

The clock is located in what is left of the old Town hall, which is right on the Old Town Square. The Square hosts an open air market with many vendors selling trinkets, food and ale. Of course, I heard the Prague beer was the best. I would not suggest getting it from a vendor here as mine was just nasty.

The architecture so far has been stunning, especially the churches, and the facades of some of the buildings are amazing. Again, we find ourselves down the street from a Hard Rock too.  

We left the Old Town Square to explore. We wanted to get to Prague castle. But we were told we had to go to the Jewish Quarter. Prague is very much set up for tourism, with shops lining every street. Here, in the quarter, we were told by one shop owner that we had just missed the First lady, Michele Obama. She had been in there the day before and he agreed to sell everything in his store for a very good price (believe that or not, we were skeptical). Of course, we don’t buy too many trinkets for ourselves anymore and we were both concerned about where we would pack it, so we smiled and looked around but left with out spending anything. The Jewish quarter has many shops and one of the oldest cemeteries. 

Now, Teresa and I have been doing a lot of walking and it was starting to catch up to her. She had noticed earlier that she was getting small blisters on her toes, and at some time while walking, one burst. She was in obvious pain, but how often do you get to Prague? There were sights to see and she did not want to complain. She popped a couple of Tylenol want we trudged on. 

We cross the river finally get to the hill/street that leads up to the castle. I bought Teresa another flower for her hair.  Lined along the streets were shops selling everything, from trinkets to very expensive crystal. There were also shops that sold puppets and marionettes, which enchanted Teresa.

And of course, there were pubs too. Outside one was a devil, and he stopped long enough to have his picture taken with an Imp.  

As we continued along, we took a wrong turn. Okay, when exploring a town, it is hard to take a “wrong turn”, but we ended up off the beaten path and we were getting more into residential areas.

We had crossed the north bridge to get to this side of town, the castle side, but we were not seeing a way up to the castle.  We turned and headed in the general direction of the Charles Bridge. We turned onto a main street again lined with shops and looked up to see a tower. 

It was the West Watch Tower. It stands at the foot of the Charles Bridge. It is also open to anyone wanting to climb (for a few coins, of course). It is a small museum of artifacts and illustrations.

We couldn’t resist, so we climbed to the gate top and looked down. One could almost imagine standing guard atop this gate, it was amazing. 

Upward we went, to the top of the tower. On one side, we saw the path we needed to take to the castle. On the other, we saw the span of the Charles Bridge.

Like many of the European castles that still have seats of power, there is a guard. And, like the guards at Buckingham Palace, these guys do not flinch much. Unlike those in the UK, these seems to have to put up with much more from the tourists. I watched and waited for nearly ten minutes before I was able to get a decent shot. The tourists were going beyond harassment. It gave Teresa a chance to rest her feet.  Once inside the palace courtyard, we looked around the fountain and then found a tour office.

We had to buy a photo pass along with our ticket (which still limited us to what we could take pictures of). It irked me that we bought one each when we saw many people who were using their little pocket or cell cameras without having a pass. The office also kept my drivers license while we used the audio stick to hear the English version of the tour, so we had to get back in time to collect it (before the office closed).

The cathedral was amazing, the history and the stained glass was beautiful. There were some very amusing stories to go along with some of the artifacts as well.  Of course, the windows told stories from the bible, teaching stories of the bible or morality.

Of course, there are symbols in the glass as well. Can you see one in the window on the right? I’ll give you a hint, “Angels and Demons”.

We continued on touring.  Coming out of a row of shops, we were heading to the tower and the old torture chamber. The street narrowed and funneled to a small gate.

Once through, we came across a most unusual statue.

We left the palace area after returning the audio tour thingie, we noticed that we were not being allowed to exit the same way we had come it. We were being lead to a side entrance.

We cleared the front of the palace and noticed there were barricades put up. The changing of the guard was at noon and it was past 15,00 so that could not be it.  We found a spot and waited. Before long, the army band and honor guard came marching down the street to the palace gate. They filed in and the gate guards saluted.

They marched in and took up positions. The band came to parade rest, but the honor guard stayed at attention. Minutes passed, then ten. The crowd was unsure what was happening. About twenty minutes later, a motorcade came up the street and several people came out to greet it.

Someone pointed to a gentleman and said it was the president of the Czech Republic. He stepped through the gate to greet a man coming out of a limo. There were flags in the windows, but not flying like you see in the movies. We asked, but no one around us seemed to know who the dignitary was. I snapped a few photos as they greeted each other before they went inside. I told Teresa I would look up the flag or news story up when we got back. The flag was the flag of Jordan and I read later that the king of Jordan had come to visit. 

Teresa’s feet were really hurting by this point. We decided to head back towards the square. It was too early for dinner, but we stopped in the shops and pubs on the way back. We kept asking for postcard stamps and no one seemed to have them. Oh, you could buy post cards and one shop even had stamps, but only for their post cards. Well, we still had one more day to find them, and the post office was in the “New Town Square”. 

We decided to eat at an open air restaurant right on the Old Square. It was more about the atmosphere than the food, but as touristy as Prague and the Old Town Square are, the food was pretty good. After a couple glasses of wine, Teresa said her feet felt better (or she just did not care). 

The crowds gathered around the clock again. It reminded us both of the way everyone gathers for sunset in Key West and made us happy to think about people taking time to celebrate life every hour. We strolled through the square, the shops and the surrounding area. It was nice evening, not too hot or too cool.

The hotel has given us a coupon for a glass of sparkling wine on their rooftop terrace. We had not been up there and felt like a little dessert too, so we headed across the square to the hotel.

The terrace was nice, having a marvelous view of the castle and the town as a whole. The atmosphere was romantic, sipping our wine and eating creme brulee while staring into each other’s eyes with the castle and clock in the background.  After desert, we retired for the evening.