Day 18 - Sunday, Sept 7 - Prague - last day

 First thing in the morning we took the tram back to the castle planning to visit the castle gardens. All public transportation is free here for people over 65 and is exceptionally easy to use.

Unfortunately, the gardens didn't open until 11 so we wandered around bit. It wasn't as crazy crowded as the day before because it was early and the basilica was not open due to an active mass in the morning. We were fortunate to see the highly choreographed changing of the guard.

We discovered that there was an English language Lutheran church service at 11 which we decided to attend. We got there early when a Slovak service was in progress and discovered to our surprise that exactly opposite was the Adler Hotel! We went inside for a cappuccino and when we said our name was Adler, we weren't charged.

St. Michael Church was originally built in the late 1300s by Hussites, followers of Jon Hus who was a reformer with views very similar to Martin Luther but over 100 years earlier. Unfortunately, he was excommunicated and burned at the stake in 1416. The church was later expanded in the Baroque style with an ornate golden pulpit. In 1915, a stained glass window was donated by a German Lutheran congregation. I was actually baptized in a Moravian Church which is based on followers of Jon Hus and confirmed in a Missouri Synod Lutheran church, so quite a few connections.

There were about 40 people attending the service of various nationalities. The minister was Czech but spoke perfect English. There was also an LCMS missionary from Iowa who was helping with IT support in the churches in the Czech Republic and Poland which had a sister congregation in Warsaw.

We took it easy most of the afternoon.

We were tired of the heavy meat-based local cuisine and decided to have beer and pizza at a local well-rated pizzeria. We were quite surprised after ordering the pizza that they didn't serve beer as it was Muslim-owned. There were a number of Muslim and kosher restaurants in the neighborhood.

Changing of the guard

 





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