I started a busy day on May 25 with a visit to the Jewish Quarter in Old Town. This is the exterior of the Maisel Synagogue.
The second synagogue I toured was the Pinkas Synagogue. The interior walls of the Pinkas are inscribed with the the handwritten names of 77,297 Czech Jews sent to the gas chambers at Auschwitz and other camps.
A close-up of this section of the synagogue's wall reveals the name Korbel, the grandparents of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
At the front of the synagogue (on the ark wall) is a listing of the ghettos and extermination camps that received Czech Jews.
Near the Pinkas Synagogue is the Old Jewish Cemetery.
A path meanders through 12,000 closely-spaced tombstones.
From 1439 to 1787, this was the only burial ground allowed for the Jews of Prague. Over time, the graves had to be piled on top of each other, layered seven or eight deep, so there are actually closer to 85,000 dead buried here.
Graves were never relocated because of the Jewish belief that, once buried, a body should not be moved. Layer by layer, the cemetery grew into a small plateau.
The Old-New Synagogue. Built in 1270, is the oldest synagogue in Eastern Europe.
Next to the Spanish Synagogue is this crazy statue, meant to depict writer Franz Kafka.
The sumptuous interior of the Spanish Synagogue.
After leaving the Jewish Quarter I crossed the Vltava River on the Manes Bridge. Farther downstream is the famous Charles Bridge, which I would be crossing several times during my stay in Prague.
I climbed the hill through the Little Quarter up to the Castle Quarter at the top of the hill. The building that dominates the Castle Quarter is the towering St. Vitus Cathedral.
The St. Vitus soaring interior.
By contrast, the interior of the Basilica and Convent of St. George nearby was much more understated. But also beautiful.
Another exterior shot of St. Vitus, along with an obelisk that was erected in 1928 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia. The nation of Czechoslovakia would cease to exist 60 years later.
A bit farther up the hill beyond the Castle Complex is the Strahov Monastery. I didn't walk up here necessarily to see the monastery, but rather to take in the amazing view of Old Town Prague with the castle above. This is my favorite photo from the trip. The weather had been gloomy all day up until this point. But now, late in the afternoon, the sun broke out and it was beautiful.
I continued walking through a lush green park to the top of Petrin Hill and Petrin Tower, a small replica of the Eiffel Tower. The 200-foot-tall Petrin Tower is only one-fifth the height of the Eiffel Tower. But thanks to the hill it sits upon, the top of the tower is the same height above Prague as the Eiffel Tower is above Paris.
Of course, I paid the small fee to climb the tower and was rewarded with some amazing views of the city below.
After descending Petrin Hill, I walked through the Little Quarter and past the American Embassy here on the left.
There are towers on either end of the Charles Bridge. I climbed the stairs to the top of the tower on the Little Quarter side of the bridge and enjoyed this amazing view of the bridge stretching out across the Vltava River and into Old Town on the far side.
Me in the bridge tower.
From the bridge tower, looking back west at sunset, across the rooftops of the Little Quarter, past the dome of the Church of Saint Nicholas (on the left) and on up the hill to Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral.
From the bridge tower, looking down as people cross under the tower and onto or off the bridge.
The Charles Bridge at dusk.
After dinner on Old Town Square, I walked back to my rental, past the Powder Tower. This tower served as a guidepost as I navigated the confusing streets of Prague.
This turn out to be yet another big day for walking - 14 miles and slightly more steps than a few days earlier in Berlin.
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