Every hour, on the hour, you can catch a show of sorts at the Prague Astronomical Clock in the Old Town city hall, which is where I left you yesterday.  The mechanical clock and its astronomical dial, representing the positions of the sun and the moon, were constructed in the early 1400s. The calendar dial and accompanying figurines were added almost a century later.

 

 

The other moving parts of the clock include several wooden figures.  Together they represent vices or just things generally disliked. On the left are Vanity (man looking at himself in a mirror) and Greed/Miserliness (man carrying a bag of coins while shaking a stick).   Then to the right there is Death, the skeleton that strikes time on the hour, holding an hourglass. Next to Death is an “infidel” in a turban; he shakes his head in response to Death. Hey, I just report this stuff…

 

Just below the clock is the calendar flanked by nonmoving figures consisting of an angel, an astronomer, a chronicler and a philosopher, so I suppose these would be good guys below the bad guys:

 

Way up above, as the hour strikes, the windows slide open and the “walk of the apostles” begins with the figurines moving clockwise.  Blink and you’ll miss it.  The first time I view it, I stand way in the front thinking I’d have the best view.  When the apostles complete their journey, the golden cockerel (seen in pics below) at the top crows–sounds like a whistle blow–and flaps its wings, the bell rings, and the clock chimes. The crowd applauses and the show is over… but I’ve barely caught the act.  As you can see in my video below, I’m standing too close to see the apostles clearly:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT6OWxAqSKA

 

So I come back in the afternoon (then once more at night) and stand way in the back, behind all these people,

 

 

to try to get these few shots of the 12 apostles as they shuffle behind the windows:

 

 

 

It’s one of those things where the hype is bigger than the show itself, but like I said, I catch it 3 or 4 times just to make sure I didn’t miss anything!  Since this is city hall, I also catch at least a couple of wedding parties throughout the day here:

 

By now the sun is somewhere high above the square but hiding behind clouds. I’m leaving the clock and square behind me in search of …