Day 2: Prague in Prague and the Danube Travel Log

This was our first full day in Prague. It started at 8am with a city walking tour. We had a very good guide - well paced, informative, engaging, and entertaining. We got to the Jewish quarter first, then walked to the old town square to see the astrological clock, then followed the coronation walk to get across Charles bridge to Lesser town. Then we were bussed up to the castle district. By the time we went up there it was noon and had to push through a crowd that was seeing the changing of the guards. We went into St. Vitus, but it was rather busy. Then we walked around different squares inside the castle complex, and ended up at Lobowiscz palace for lunch and an extended visit there.

We had a chamber concert at the palace (a piano trio, 1/2 hours long, with some odd programming - there were arrangements (Surprise symphony, Beethoven’s 8th) and “real” chamber music: Mozart b-flat trio, Schumann’s Zeimlich Langsam from g-minor trio, and Dumky suite). The musicians sounded good when playing real trios. The museum portion was not as impressive though; there was a decently-sized collection, but not a lot of information given about them. I’d compare the level of detail to working monasteries that double as museums (Goritsky monastery in Russia, or the Melk Abbey in Austria). Half of the exhibit was devoted to family history; the other half, the artifacts owned by the family. E.g., they have several music manuscripts on display, but only the cover was shown - so you see the manuscript of, say, Don Giovanni there, but you only know about the instrumentation. That was a bit baffling.

The guy running the museum is an American real estate guy who inherited his nobility title, and reclaimed it after the fall of communism. Now he tries to revive the palace as a business, using tourism as a source of income. So I’m guessing the development of the museum is still at an early stage.

We got back around 5 and decided to go to the rooftop bar for dinner. We only got appetizers there, but it was enough. The breakfast at the Hilton was huge and I always overeat, and feel full for the whole day. They regularly have pate (with a sort of cranberry jam on top) that I always got.

Last updated August 22, 2022