Train to Prague Jan 31
Prague, capital city of the Czech Republic, is bisected by the Vltava River. Nicknamed “the City of a Hundred Spires,” it’s known for its Old Town Square, the heart of its historic core, with colorful baroque buildings, Gothic churches and the medieval Astronomical Clock, which gives an animated hourly show. Completed in 1402, pedestrian Charles Bridge is lined with statues of Catholic saints. ― Google
Population: 1.398 million (Jan 1, 2025)
While waiting for the train in Wien Hbf, this is the screen we used to find our train.
Our seats were 22 and 23 in car number 24, so we knew what to look for – just after the meal car! They had really good WiFi as well.
We stayed at the Hotel Central R&R just a half block from this tower.
This is the Powder Tower (Prašná brána) in Prague.
You can tell by:
The dark Gothic stone façade
The large pointed arch gateway
The statues of Bohemian kings set into the niches
The decorative crest band below the roofline
Built in 1475, it was one of the original city gates and marked the beginning of the Royal Route — the ceremonial path taken by Bohemian kings on their coronation procession to Prague Castle.
Later it was used to store gunpowder — hence the name.
From your angle, you’re standing near the transition between Old Town and the newer parts of Prague — just steps from the Municipal House (Obecní dům), which you photographed earlier.
Prague has such a different feel from Vienna — darker Gothic drama versus imperial Baroque elegance.
Chopin visited Prague twice while still very young — just before he left Poland permanently. Within a few years he would settle in Paris, where he composed most of his great works.
It’s interesting to see his presence marked in Prague — a reminder of how interconnected Central European culture was in the 19th century: Polish composer, Austrian Empire territories, Bohemian cities, Viennese salons.
This is the Rudolfinum in Prague — home of the Czech Philharmonic.
You can tell by:
The large green copper dome
The grand arched mosaic above the entrance
The Neo-Renaissance façade with ornate detailing
The wrought iron balcony over the main doorway
It opened in 1885 and is named after Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. Today it houses the Dvořák Hall, one of Europe’s finest concert venues.
Interesting contrast — you’ve moved from Vienna’s Musikverein to Prague’s Rudolfinum. Two imperial capitals, two extraordinary musical traditions.
Hotel Central in Prague — a beautiful example of early Czech Art Nouveau architecture.
You can see classic Secessionist features:
Flowing floral reliefs around the entrance
Decorative gold lettering
Curved balcony forms
Ornamental iron and glass canopy
Subtle pastel façade with sculpted botanical motifs
It was built in 1900 and designed by architects Bedřich Bendelmayer and Alois Dryák. The organic plant forms around the doorway are very much in the spirit of Alphonse Mucha’s era.
This sits not far from the Powder Tower and Municipal House — so you were right in the heart of Prague’s Art Nouveau district.
🏗️ Masaryčka Building
This striking gold, flowing façade is the Masaryčka Building, designed by Zaha Hadid (completed 2023).
It sits beside Masarykovo nádraží (Masaryk Railway Station) in Prague.
You can recognize it by:
The sweeping, wave-like form
Gold-toned aluminum panels
Deep vertical ribs
Dramatic overhang above the glass entry
It’s meant to echo the motion of trains and the curved geometry of railway tracks — very contemporary, very fluid — a sharp contrast to the Gothic and Art Nouveau architecture you’ve been photographing.
You’ve gone from medieval gates → Art Nouveau → Baroque concert halls → and now 21st-century parametric design.
Prague really layers its centuries.
We walked the length of it along the stores on the first level thinking we might find some food store, but it was all high end stuff.
Walk the City
A full day in Prague, we walked 22,400 steps, 11 miles plus! We walked around a bit trying to find the subway station we needed to go to to find our guide. We found our guide about 5 minutes late, but off we all went. He showed us a lot of places. Half way through we had a 15 minute stop, then continued on. He told us all about things that happened in many places, 200,000 strong protesting at various times. We crossed the river and continued. We saw a building that was built after WWII – the americans had gotten lost and dropped their bombs here in Prague, a friendly country when they were headed for Germany! The architect had designed a building that looks like a man and a woman, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers! There are many many wonderful buildings here, tall arches, wonderful domes.
The last stop was an nondescript small church. We stood in front of it along a street that was also nondescript with very little traffic. He regaled to us the story of a time when the Germans held the country. There was one German was #3 after Adolf and one other person. Per ChatGPT:
Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the top Nazi official in Prague during WWII.
Reinhard Heydrich
Title: Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia
One of the main architects of the Holocaust
Nicknamed “The Butcher of Prague”
Ruled Prague with extreme brutality after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia
The two men who carried it out
Jozef Gabčík & Jan Kubiš
Czechoslovak soldiers trained in Britain
Parachuted back into occupied territory
Mission name: Operation Anthropoid
What happened (May 27, 1942)
They ambushed Heydrich’s open-top car at a tight curve in Prague’s Libeň district
Gabčík’s gun jammed
Kubiš threw a modified grenade at the car
Heydrich was badly wounded and died of infection days later (June 4, 1942)
Aftermath
The Nazis retaliated with savage reprisals
The village of Lidice was destroyed; men executed, women and children deported
Thousands were arrested or killed
Gabčík, Kubiš, and other resistance fighters made a last stand in the crypt of Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, where they died after a siege
This operation became one of the most famous acts of resistance in WWII Europe—and a powerful symbol in Czech history.
We were at that church. To get to the crypt where they were hiding the church had placed a grave stone over a small hole in the floor through which they had gone. One of the people who were hiding some of the soldiers had his mother decapitated and the Germans threatened him and his father to give up the location. When the Germans found out they had 200 come and try to smoke them out and then tried to drown them. They committed suicide in the crypt, nowadays they had cut a door into the side of the crypt so the public could enter, which we did. Quite emotional.
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