Astronomy and alchemy

On Monday it wasn't raining, but stayed overcast all day. I stayed on my side of the river and headed for the Town Square.

In the corner of the square is St. Nicolas Church. A bit lovely...

What I really wanted to see was the Astronomical Clock. I have received a couple of postcards of it through Postcrossing and it fascinates me, although I have no idea how it works. But now that I've seen it I am going to find out!

One problem I have had all over Europe is that the coffee is foul! In most places I've had to add sugar to make it palatable, and I don't usually like sugar in my coffee. Instead of being a nice daily treat, it has become something I endure to get my daily dose of caffeine. Thank goodness I only ever have one or two coffees a day, because if I had to maintain a 4 or 5 a day habit I think I'd just have to quit and deal with the withdrawal headaches. However, I have had a grand total of 2 really good coffees in during my trip (sad when it's so few that each one is notable and memorable!). The first was in a pink 1950's diner style cafe in Vienna (with a really bad sandwich), and the second was in Prague in a completely nondescript, plain looking cafe that I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been looking for a place to sit down and write some postcards home.

The pretty streets of Prague

My next stop was supposed to be at a place called the Klementinum, which looks to be a library similar to the amazing one I visited in Vienna and wrote about here. But I got there and the entry was boarded up. The signage was all in Czech so I had no idea what the story was, but I found out later on their website that there is some sort of dispute with the government so 'services are disrupted'.

So I wandered onward and went to the Speculum Alchemiae Museum instead... Intrigued???? It is a small underground space that was discovered when ancient walls were broken down during the devastating floods in Prague in 2002. In the 16th century Rudolf II opened a secret alchemy lab and, among many other infusions and elixirs, attempted to create gold out of mercury and lead. When the political situation changed in Prague the lab was walled up and hidden, and remained like a time capsule until it was unearthed (and partially destroyed) in 2002. It has been recreated using some of the surviving original equipment and some genuine period pieces.

It was very hard to take photos because the lighting in the underground vaults was very dim. Then I walked past this guy on the way home and I was finished in Prague.

The different layers turn, making senseless shapes until it resolves into this

I had to get up at 3:30am to head to the airport the next morning. I was looking forward to seeing the castles of Bavaria!