Wandering Fel

Our exploration on day 4 started with a visit to St Wenceslas’ Vineyard at Prague Castle. The vineyard is located on the eastern hillside of the castle and guess what, it’s freely accessible. Other than having a superb view, St Wenceslas’ Vineyard is the oldest vineyard in Bohemia, being founded by St. Wenceslas himself at the beginning of the 10th century. There are only two varieties of grape cultivated in the vineyard itself, Riesling and Pinot noir. The other varieties of grape are cultivated along the viewing path. Visitors are welcomed to enjoy the drink at Villa Richter and the Piano Nobile restaurant at the lower part of the vineyard. 

Walking downhill from the St Wenceslas Vineyard, I continued to walk along the Lesser Town where the the Love Locks is located. It is a custom by which padlocks are affixed to a fence, gate, bridge or similar public fixture by lovers to symbolize their (supposedly or hopefully) everlasting love. It seems that the custom has existed for quite some time, up to the point nobody knows from where the custom originated. Our local guide told us that when you find your true love, you carve your names on a lock and lock it onto the gate, then throw the key into the canal. Sounds pretty similar to what the Korean love to do at Namsan Seoul Tower. 

 Climbing up from the Lesser Town, I have stepped onto the most visited bridge in Prague, Charles Bridge. It is a stone Gothic bridge that connects the Old Town and Lesser Town. It was constructed under the order of Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in the year 1357. It is said that egg yolks were mixed into the mortar to strengthen the construction of the bridge. There are so many statues on the bridge and it will take quite some time for you to check the statue one by one. I actually did try but my pictures were gone together with my dead Macbook Pro so I could not upload them here. Moving on from the tragedy of dead laptop, I guess I should be grateful that certain pictures are still intact from my phone. Like the view of the longest river in Prague, Vltava River taken from the middle of Charles Bridge. 

You may notice the riverbank view of Vltava Bridge from one of Jay Chou’s MV. Yep, he did the shooting in the city of Prague and hence, the similar buildings and the riverbank featured in his MV. If I recall correctly, he also held his pre-wedding photoshoot in Prague as well. Kinda envy but you cannot really be jealous toward a celebrity. A bit of know-your-place, please? Hahaha. 

At certain section of the river, visitors can enjoy some romantic attractions like the pedal boat hire. The activity is available from April to October from 11AM to 11PM. If you want to make the ride even more romantic, you can opt for the evening ride on boat equipped with a lantern. Now that sounds like something from Rapunzel’s story in Disney’s Tangled. Awww. 

From the many Baroque statues which are placed along either side of Charles Bridge in the 17th century, the most popular statue (it even had a queue forming in front of it) is the one of St John of Nepomuk, a Czech martyr saint who was executed during the reign of Wenceslas IV. Apparently he was thrown into the Vltava from the bridge. But what makes the statue popular is the belief that if you touch the statue, you are supposed to have good luck plut ensure your return to Prague (which I don’t mind, really). I wonder if the plaque is shone to perfection every other day because seriously it has been touched by I don’t know how many hands during the day. 

After crossing the bridge from Lesser Town to the Old Town, I have finally reached the largest castle area in the world, Prague Castle. It was founded in the year 880 and it has three courtyards and a number of gorgeous buildings over 7 hectares. So do you now realise why I did say that it’s very important to have a fresh pair of legs at the beginning of my post?

There is a guard stationed right at the entrance to the castle area. I really admire people who works as a guard because they really cannot move at all no matter if they are harassed by weather, animal or wacko tourists. 

The most dominant feature of Prague Castle is the St. Vitus Cathedral. I did not have time to enter the cathedral but website describes the interior of the cathedral as beautifully created by medieval masters lit to perfection by the rays of sunlight which stream through the beautiful stained-glass windows. The cathedral houses the tombs of important saints and Czech rulers (I start to wonder if most big cathedrals across Europe are haunted) including the tomb of St. Wenceslas and St. John of Nepomuk, as well as the emperor Charles IV and Rudolf II. If you have the time to enter the cathedral, make sure to climb up to the main tower to see the most beautiful view over Prague. 

At Vysehrad district which is located a few steps away from St. Vitus Cathedral, you can hear the sound of bells from the St Peter and Paul Basilica once a hour. The church has undergone a number of modifications in the 900 years since it was built. The construction was finally completed in 1903. Inside the church, you can find the interior which is richly decorated with Art Nouveau ornamental and figural wall paintings. The church’s treasury houses an exhibition of jewellery and rare textiles from the Vysehrad Chapter. 

Overall, I really love the old town of Prague. I think I covered the most important parts of the old town but I did admit one day is not enough to cover the whole area in leisure manner. My legs was pretty much sore toward the evening but it was one of the most memorable parts of the Eastern Europe tour. 

I have totally no idea whether this is a building sign or a road sign. But it looks more like a building sign to me. 

I wonder if it's the sign for this yellow brownish church. Many churches in Poland retains its historical form as the Government ensures renovation and restoration are properly done to preserve history. A lot of renovation and restoration works required because after all, Poland has a turbulent and dark past and it was involved in so many wars and conflicts. 

The most famous part of the Warsaw Old Town is gotta be the Old Town Marketplace. The colourful buildings are so nice to look at. These buildings were reconstructed between 1948 - 1953 to follow its design in the 17th century when it was mostly inhabited by rich merchant families. The marketplace is square in shape and apparently every side has its own name. The 

The north side (which I personally think is the best side because of that particular building in teal) is called Dekert's side. It is named after Jan Dekert,which houses the Warsaw Historical Museum. The entrance to the museum is in a building called "The Negro" after the traditional sign over the doorway.

In the middle of the square lies the Warsaw Mermaid, which has been the symbol of Poland since 1855. Looks like a fierce mermaid indeed especially if compared to the mermaid version shown in Korean drama. 

The Old Town Marketplace has a lot of beautiful restaurant and cafes on all its sides. We spot one restaurant named Rynek Restauracja.

And there's another two lovely restaurants at the other sides. Both has super beautiful decoration in front.

I just could not help myself. Thankfully there was nobody outside the restaurant. Hahaha.

I could not really tell which side these few buildings are located but they look so neat and picturesque. So here is one last shot of the Warsaw Old Town.

Until next time, Warsaw. :)

The blue kitchenwares are so pretty to look at. A lot of the tour participants were quite curious about this shop so we all went inside together to check the shop out. 

If you are a kitchenware collectors, you will love this shop. The shop has so many cute and unique design of kitchenwares from mugs. 

I freaking love this design of the plates and bowls. Feels like buying them but then again, I won't really use them since I live alone in Singapore. 

Since Christmas was just around the corner back then, there are a lot of Christmas trees decorations made from porcelain. Not sure if you want to hang these on your trees but they do make a good decoration on the table. 

Warsawa plates anyone? 

My mum ended up buying a few fridge magnets to complete her collection and a few keychains while I bought nothing, as usual. Oh well, lets continue on with our wandering then to the shop which is just opposite the souvenir shop. The shop is called Cukrowa Sowa and it has display of big lollipops. Oh my gawd. 

Cukrowa Sowa is a candy shop and it sure makes the girls in the tour filled with excitement. The concept of the candy shop kinda reminded me of Sticky in Singapore. You could see how the candies were made inside the shop. 

A happy me with the lollipops. 

Hmm, the pricing guide for the lollipops is kinda confusing because I did not understand Polish. Hahaha. 

We ended up buying the Piggy lollipop for 7 Zlotis. Oink! 

Warsaw has a long and turbulent history but the city has survived the past by keep on rebuilding and reinventing and now it is a city filled a cultural diversity. Well, looking at Ichiban Sushi in Warsaw kinda prove the "cultural diversity" part of the city I suppose. The restaurant looks way simpler than the restaurant sharing the same name in Singapore though. 

While we were on the bus, we could already see a lot of amazing architectures which have survived dark past such the World Wars, etc. Although the building may have been rebuilt, it is nice to see that the original design of the architecture is maintained by the city. For instance, the Grand Theatre that we were passing by here was bombed in World War II and the rebuilt and reopened in the year 1965 after having been closed for over twenty years. It was one of the best equipped state-of-the-art theatres in Europe and it was the largest theatre in the world when it's just reopened in 1965. 

Few minutes later, our tour bus dropped us at the entrance of the Warsaw Old Town, the Castle Square. The red building that we immediately saw upon coming down from the bus is the Royal Castle. It is a castle residency which used to serve throughout the centuries as the official residency of the Polish monarchs. So yeah, this is where the personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland. The Royal Castle was not exempted from destruction by the city's dark past though as it was looted and burned down by the Nazi Germans back in 1939. It was then rebuilt and reconstructed (thanks God!) and it became UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the Warsaw Old Town in 1980. 

Located right outside the Royal Castle is the popular meeting place for tourists and local in Warsaw, the Castle Square. It features the landmark Sigismund's Column to the south-west and is surrounded by historic townhouses. 

The historic townhouses nowadays used as office buildings, residential and restaurants/ shops. I am quite familiar with this kind of concept because I used to play at my friend's house in England and the concept of her house is quite similar to this townhouse in Warsaw. The ground floor of the house often consists of shops and other businesses like cafe or restaurant while the upper floors are apartments. 

Here I am posing in front of one of the most famous landmarks in Warsaw, the Sigismund's Column. The column and statue commemorate King Sigismund III Vasa, who in the year 1956 had moved Poland's capital from Krakow to Warsaw. The king is dressed in armor and carries a cross in one hand and wields a sword in the other. 

Another pic of me getting so excited to wander around the Old Town of Warsaw in front the Church of St Martin. The church played an important role as the fort of the resistance for the opposition in the year 1970s and 1980s.

The terraced house in Warsaw all looks pretty similar but they are painted in different color which complement each other and give the overall vibe of an European old town. It feels really good and awesome to wander around in this kind of environment. Maybe this is how European tourist feels when they wander around Singapore alley which has shophouses on the right and left side like Haji Lane. Hahaha. 

Plenty of souvenir shops and restaurants if you have time to see, you may want to check them out one by one. 

Okay, gloomy topic aside, let's just continue our walk from Wilanow Palace to the Lazienki Garden where another museum, Royal Lazienki Museum is located. The best time to visit the garden is actually in March where the flowers bloom. There is even a special walking tour, Secrets of Lazienki Garden, conducted during four weekends of March. And they are free. Do check out its website (http://www.lazienki-krolewskie.pl/en/aktualnosci/tajemnice-lazienkowskich-ogrodow-wybierz-sie-na-spacer-z-prz) if you are interested. 

The Lazienki Garden is very very big. It is divided into many sections such as the Royal Garden, the 19th century Romantic Garden, 20th century Modernist Garden, Chinese Garden and the current work-in-progress 21st century garden. However since we visited the garden in early winter, there is not much flower to see apart from this funny white flowers/ fruits, I could never tell. 

The main attraction throughout our walk in the garden is definitely the Palace on the Isle which is originated from the late 17th century. The palace was intendede as a place of resting, leisure and contemplation. King Stanislaw August purchased the used-to-be-bathhouse together with the Ujazdowski estate and then transformed it into Palace on the Isle.

While the palace is not used as a summer residence of the royals anymore in the modern days, it is now used as a museum to display Stanislaw August's art collections i.e. 2,289 works of art by some of the most famous European artists during that period. Unfortunately, our tour group did not have time to visit the museum as we need to rush to the next destination. 

Slowly making our way back to the entrance gate of the garden leading to Wilanow Palace now. Oh look, free wifi zone in the courtyard if you need to upload your picture to Instagram (or checking your next destination or whatever). 

I find the garden in front of Wilanow Palace to be quite fascinating even though by the time we visited the garden, all the leaves have fallen to the ground. If you visit this venue in spring, make sure you allocate a day to walk around and enjoy the beautiful nature. 

I feel totally illiterate right now. Vitae...curriculum vitae? CV? 

Last picture before walking back to the pick up location for our tour bus. Hopefully I can visit this place again in the future. Lovely!

Royal Lazienki Museum is located at: 

Agrykoli 1, 00-460 Warsawa, Poland

Opening hours of the Palace on the Isle:

Monday 11AM - 4PM

Tuesday to Sunday 10AM - 4PM