Prague Things to Do Tips by JessH

McGee's Ghost Tours of Prague! Old Town Review

Like so many ancient European cities, Prague also has a dark chapter in its history and when I had heard that Prague (like Edinburgh, for example) has an underground part of the city, a tour just had to be booked!
You can either book the tour online (which I did) or approach one of the McGee's guides who advertise in front of the Astronomical clock every day.

We met there in the evening and were greeted by a young and very friendly guide. He was obviously passionate about his city and the tour was very memorable thanks to his jokes and also personal insights.

One of the main entrances to the underground city is actually through the Astronomical clock building, and you can only enter here with a licensed guide. Each of us was handed an electronic lantern, a large creaky wooden door was unlocked, and down the wonky stone steps we went...

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We got along really well with our guide, and upon hearing that my husband is an audio engineer he told us about a little-known and very special phenomenon at Prague castle... (more about that in a separate tip...)

I'm not usually a fan of tours, but in some cases they are really vital so you don't wander "blindly" through a city missing out on so many interesting things, like the Black Madonna statues marking where Prague's Knights Templar temples used to be, and the amazing play of light and colour above one of the old entrances to the underground city (click on photos to see). The 2 lions were painted in such a way that with normal light, they looked like the surrounding stone. But if you held a lantern (or in our case, a camera flash) up against them, they shimmered in a golden colour, indicating a "secret" entrance to an underground area. He also told us about the mummified human hand inside the St. James church (see my Off the Beaten Path tip for that.)

Our guide also told us the heart-breaking and chilling story of the life of Prague's most famous executioner: Jan Mydlar. This individual's tragic faith really stayed with me and affected me deeply.

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All in all, we enjoyed this tour immensely, and I would highly recommend this tour to anyone wanting to know more about Prague's past.

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--> PRICE (year 2010):
We paid 300 CZK per person for a "Ghosts & Legends of Old Town" Tour and as we booked online for a special offer, we received the Underground Walking Tour for free.

Address: Na Výsluní 1093, 252 19 Rudná

Directions: Meeting point for the tours is next to the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square. The guide carries a red umbrella with their company logo.

Phone: +420-311 678 841

Website: http://www.mcgeesghosttours.com/

The master of Art Nouveau; a "wild romantic" Alphonse Mucha Museum Review

Alphonse Mucha (pron. "Mukka") is one of Prague's most-loved sons.

You have probably seen his art somewhere, at one point in your life, possibly without even realizing. This gentleman's artistic vision was wildly romantic, beautiful, natural and sensual. It was the perfect style for the years of the Art Nouveau movement, hence Mucha is most widely known for the posters he executed for Sarah Bernhardt in the fashionable world of Paris in the late 19th century.

He was born in the historical region of Moravia in in 1860, and throughout his lifetime he would travel to Vienna, Paris, Munich and later the United States, where he painted his life's masterpiece, the "Slav Epic": this consists of 20 enormous canvases, some as tall as 6 metres, presenting a brilliantly conceived narrative history of the Slavic people in general and the Czech people in particular.

Another one of his works that is recognized by most people are his paintings titled "The Four Seasons".

Mucha's influence on the city of Prague can be seen:
> exterior and interior of Obecni Dum.
> stained glass in the St. Vitus Cathedral.
> Mucha had even designed bank notes for the new Czech republic in 1910.

We really enjoyed our visit to this little museum, which is located not far from the Powder Tower and Obecni Dum (Municipal House). Apart from his art pieces (completed works but also unfinished sketches), there are also photographs that give amazing insight into Mucha's personal life, and in the back of the museum you can view a short documentary on the man himself.

There is also a gift shop where you can purchase all kinds of Mucha memorabilia including postcards, calendars, scarves and of course, prints of Mucha's art (my husband liked "The Four Seasons" so much that he now has them framed and hanging in his office :-).

Opening Hours:
Daily 10:00am-06:00pm.

Entrance Fee (year 2010):
180 CZK per adult.

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TIP: With your entrance ticket from the Mucha Museum you can enjoy a free slice of cake (value 100 CZK) at the cafe inside the Municipal House, of which he designed the interiors (Kavarna Obecni Dum).

Address: Kaunicky Palace, Panska 7, Prague 1, 110 000

Directions: (click on photo to see location map)

Other Contact: Email: shop@mucha.cz

Phone: +420-224 216 415

Website: http://www.mucha.cz/

For fans of the macabre: a mummified human hand Old Town Review

Just off the Old Town Square is the church of St. James / Jacob (Kostel St. Jakuba)... this beautiful church is tucked away in a corner and is easy to miss.
Every year thousands of visitors walk into this church, gaze up at the richly decorated ceiling, snap a few photos and actually miss one of the most intriguing aspects of this church: a REAL mummified human hand!

Legend has it that a couple of centuries ago a thief tried to make off with jewels adorning the Madonna. The statue grabbed his arm and didn't let go. Apparently the only way to free him was to cut his hand off... and to this day it hangs by the door as a warning to anyone who may have "sticky fingers"...

Walk into the church and immediately look up to your right... there it is!

Entry to the church is free and it opens at 10am in the morning.
The church was originally constructed in 1373. The Franciscans Order commissioned this baroque church in 1689 after its 13th-century predecessor had burnt down.

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(In this church we again found an all-seeing eye, the symbol of the Knights Templar (visible all over Prague). It's situated above the altar.

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Address: Mala Stupartsa 6, Old Town, Prague

Directions: From the Old Town Square walk down Tynska street and then turn right.