The Infant Jesus of Prague

This was my last day in Prague. I checked out and then decided to go to the Strahov Monastery to see the library and the gallery. The views of the city are terrific from here.

You are not allowed to go into the library and have to look through a door. Bit of a swizz I thought. The man who sold me my ticket told me to go to the library first because the gallery was closed for lunch. When I arrived at the gallery, half an hour later, it had just closed for an hour. It was such a glorious day that I did not stay, except to try the monastery beer. I was glad I had a small one because it packed a punch!

I went to see the view - and was shouted at by a woman selling beer at the entrance to a garden - it was a restaurant and I could not go in if I did not want to eat. 

This was all rather different from everywhere else I went in Prague.

The tiny doll in my blip was made from wood covered in wax in the 16th Century. It came to the Discalced (without shoes) Carmelite Sisters and was placed in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Prague in 1628.

The nuns routinely clothe the doll in luxurious dresses and a golden crown. It was crowned in 1924 when Pope Pius XI granted a canonical coronation and again in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI visited Prague.

Today it was in "ordinary green".

The church is full of magnificent sculpture and art works.

There is a small museum which contains some of the costumes which have been made and donated over time.

I had late and leisurely lunch in the Kampa Restaurant (very good and cheap). I watched people walking their dogs and three boys, about 10 years old, playing in the park outside. They had such a lot of fun dancing and jumping and running.

I walked back to the hotel with a last wander on the Charles Bridge. I was (just) in time for the taxi and off to the airport. My flight was delayed by 2+ hours, but word did not come until I had left. I had the wrong charger for the iphone and the ipad was in the main case. Rats!

Thankfully, when I told my tale of woe to the man next to me in Starbucks, he produced a cable and had a spare port to plug my phone in. A kind Russian as it turned out.

I meet wonderful people all over the world. Once my phoned was charged I could relax, play Words with Friends and WAIT. 

It was not too bad. During the flight home I read Time magazine, an issue about Martin Luther King and his legacy. Very, very interesting stuff. My neighbour grew up in Humshaugh and I know his father. He was nervous and talked nonstop, first to his friend on the left and then me on the right. The flight passed by and was only slightly bumpy.

Home at last but too late to blip.