more walking in prague

There are two very distinct characteristics of Prague. One, the Gothic architectures; two, the ubiquitous cobblestoned paths. I swear they are a killer to my precious toes! Not to mention I was walking in flat-soled boots meant for walking long distance. Still, it hurt a lot.
Torture chamber man.

:: Put your hands up for Prague. I'm on the top of the world, looking ::

After an arduous climb up cobblestoned steep paths (really felt like you're going up the Great Wall of China), we finally reached a high point where we could have a bird eyes' view of Prague. The view was splendid indeed and the streaks of pink and purple splashed against the blue sky like an artist's work on blank canvas.

There... the fruits of my long, hard hike.

:: At dusk, the spires on the mosque stand out amongst the rest of the houses and buildings ::

:: My back view and the accidental gorgeous comet-like Aeroplane trail above ::

:: The famous Prague castle ::

:: After walking up MORE cobblestoned paths- except this time they were even steeper- we arrived at the second tourist hotspot. The first (which was the bird eye's view thing I was talking about ) is only a prelude to a more spectacular, magnificent entity.
pro
The Prague castle is so gargantuan that even when I lay prostrate on the ground, I was unable to capture the entire castle. The photo does injustice to how it looks like in real life.
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:: Interior musical decor of winged cherubs strumming harps and violins inside Chapel of Mirrors::

Opera concerts are considerably cheap in Prague. I love! We went to watch a Christmas opera concert with songs from Mozart and Beethoven. Opera is a large part in European tradition, especially Vienna, Prague and Italy. My first and last Opera concert in this Europe trip, undisputedly a charming experience!

The Chapel of Mirrors (where the Opera was held) is also a significant place. Aa gentleman rang a bell and began explaining the significance of the place for 20 mins or so, in Czech, French and Italian. Unfortunately, no English so...
The only thing I gathered was...lots of Baroque art in the Chapel of Mirrors ! :)

:: Sat in the 3rd row from the FRONT ! I';ve got VIP seats ! Aha yippee yay !!!
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:: Czech-style Absinth! ::

Also referred to as 'Bohemian style'. Originated from Switzerland, Absinth is well-known for its addictive and psychoactive deleterious effects. Artist Van Gogh cut off his ear due to excess Absinth. No messing around with Absinth!

:: Kitchen in the hostel. Not bad I say, feels like a mini apartment of sort ::

:: Shot of the bathroom ::

Hostel Albert has cosy rooms but I had to overcome the scariness of having NO receptionist and a pitch dark receptionist desk. The rule is if the guests need anything, we could sms them. So yeah, no room service, no reception, no physical "help line". Apart from that, we stayed on the first floor and a chill ran down my spine when I saw the stairway leading upstairs. It was, also pitch dark. So, I wondered, even as I am typing this now, whether we were the only occupants in the whole building. And mind you, it was not a rectangular, glass walled building as you might perceived, try a dark grey medieval castle. I take comfort in knowing that the tram stop (the tram runs 24 hours, phew) is located directly outside our temporary residence.

We were given the main door keys and when we first returned, the entire place was, pitch black as well. No thanks to their automatic light-saving bulbs.
Hostel Albert left me quite an impression. On the last day of Prague, the staff promptly smsed me this on my handphone "Hi. pls leave the keys in the apartment. thanks". So much for being there. Technically, they were, but only on the first day to collect payment.