FREE DAY!

Saturday was an eventful day of spur of the moment activities. We had a free day since we are officially done with all our business visits, so everyone just went their separate ways for the day to do their own thing. Several went shopping, some went paddle boating, and others went exploring. As for Stephanie and I we went and visited the Senát building and the gardens behind it, along with some light souvenir shopping around Charles Bridge.

 

While at the Senát building we went inside and we were able to roam the first floor for free. We were able to see the Main Hall also known as the Knight Hall in the 17^th century. This hall featured a mural of “Baccio del Bianco, picturing Valdštejn as Mars, the god of war, on his war wagon” as pictured here:

   
                     (Main Hall and Mural)

 There were also 4 other corridors that we were able to venture through that featured similar ceiling murals and some showcases. One of the corridors was also called Knight Hall but sometimes referred to as the Leather Parlor, then there was the Mirror Hall. In this Hall it was only open to a small select group of visitors prior to Valdštejn’s reception in the next hall which was called the Audience Hall. In the Audience hall is where the duke was able to watch what was happening at the palace entrance due to its dome like shape featuring windows that overlooked the garden and the courtyard. Then we came to the last corridor known as the Mythological (Ovid’s) corridor. This corridor had access from the Audience Hall to the stables, the Duke’s study, and another corridor that led to the gardens.

                                  (Showcase of clothing)                   (Mythological corridor)

                                   

Following our walk through of the building we meandered out through the gardens where they had beautiful fountains, peacocks, and an interesting wall made from mortar.

     (Peacock)                                     (Fish Fountain)

After the Gardens, we headed towards Charles Bridge where we were on a mission to shop for interesting pieces that we wouldn’t be able to get in the stores. Then we headed back to the hotel for a short nap before heading to some retail stores in the evening. Afterwards a large group of us went out to enjoy the night life.

(Interesting Sign)

Some cultural differences that I have noticed while here is that locals try to price gouge tourists, so you can do some price haggling, along with there being an abundant amount of PDA that takes place pretty much everywhere.

Rachel Michael