Castle in the Clouds

Dreamscape from the Castle

July 3: Whenever I told people we were going to Prague, if they had been there, they would tell me it is their favorite European city. We were quickly understanding why. I’ve been excited about (and intimidated by) the idea of writing this chapter since we were there. We saw so many stunningly beautiful places that it seems impossible to convey my impressions in this format. But here goes.

My view of our first morning in Prague was through the porthole beside my bed:

Not a bad way to start the day.

Breakfast--a magnificent spread--in the restaurant, with its own great view of the Vltava and the Castle (our first destination of the day):

After breakfast, we walked toward the metro with the intent of finding the correct public transit to Prague Castle, the largest coherent castle in the world (and yet another UNESCO World Heritage site), construction of which began in the late 800s. We ultimately, with guidance from friendly people along the way, got to tram no. 22 (going the correct direction, which was not the case initially), and were dropped off right at the entrance gates at the top of the hill. We had tickets for a guided tour, and got to the meeting spot right at the appointed time. Discovered that the "guided" part was simply a lecture introducing us to all that we should see--and unfortunately that lecture took place right in front of a noisy construction area at St. Vitus Cathedral, so we missed much of what our lecturer said.

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I'll interrupt myself here to note that everywhere we went in Europe, we encountered scaffolding and work on buildings. Most of this had to do with cleaning, repairing, and restoring historic sites and structures. Europeans have a very strong sense of the value of their history and maintaining it. Maybe it's partly because so many historical buildings have been damaged (more than once) in the wars that have raged through that continent over the centuries.

And another, related observation: Cindy remembered how dirty all the buildings were when she lived in Vienna. Edie told us how gray everything in Prague was when she visited while it was still part of the USSR. Neither of those observations could be made on this trip. Every place seemed bright and alive with hope and promise. Yeah, that's clearly a perspective of a tourist, but still... Most of the construction scaffolding we saw was around existing buildings, not new structures.

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But I digress from the topic at hand. We first visited St. Vitus Cathedral, a beautiful Baroque church. Too many pictures, but here are some quick peeks.

The site where we were trying to hear our guide

One of many brilliant windows

Mosaic mural

Perhaps this fellow was the inspiration for Edgar Allan Poe's Raven

Love that starry ceiling

Oh my, these windows!

And of course the organ...

We finally left the cathedral and realized that the changing of the guards was happening right then. We got there too late to get a good view, but the music was stirring (as I recall; I sadly neglected to tape it).

And I got a chance to get some other interesting shots.

Gates to the Old Royal Palace

I think this might be the president's residence--but the map didn't identify this building.

The coat of arms on the unidentified building--I also couldn't find whose it might be...

Back in the main square, we could see the outside of the cathedral, which had more gilt than all of the combined guilt confessed inside.

Exquisite mosaic mural

More gilt.

And we found another addition to our dragon collection...

...which was part of this fountain:

Next, to the Old Royal Palace and the huge Vladislav Hall:

Naturally, I seemed to find the ceiling the most interesting feature--loved the vaulting, which was apparently a refined engineering feat of its time. Very different, in any case.

Then on to St. George's Basilica, founded by Vratislaus I of Bohemia in 920...

...which held my favorite, most evocative, crucifix of our entire two months of church visits:

Christ from the Tree Trunk, 1947/48, by Otto Herbert Hajek

Gift as a sign of reconciliation to the Czech people and President Havel

This also houses the crypt of St. Ludmila, grandmother of Good King Wenceslaus. She is most beloved, and there are depictions of and dedications to her everywhere.

Once again, it's the ceiling that earns my admiration.

After this, we took a brief lunch break next to this great unidentified sculpture:

Finally, we had to visit Golden Lane, a row of small houses that were inhabited first in the 16th century by Rudolf II's castle guards, but which gets its name from the goldsmiths who lived on the lane in the 17th century. To read a bit about this street's history, check out this link: https://praguetouristinformation.com/en/sightseeing/prague-castle/golden-lane.

Edie had a moment with a fetching knight

I was especially excited to see the little house where Franz Kafka lived and wrote for a year. It's now a ... bookstore! That sells Kafka's books!

But there was also the dungeon, with really wicked torture furnishings (no pics desired).

Finally exhausted by all this castle stuff, we headed out of the castle grounds and down the hill on the Rider's Staircase, which was constructed "for knights in all their glory to ride to the tournaments held in the hall on their horses."

Here we encountered a trio of women singing to raise funds for their brethren and sistren in Ukraine:

We also caught some great views of Prague on our way.

The Charles Bridge

We caught a tram (trams and the metro, incidentally, are free for people over 60) that took us to the Charles Bridge, but got off there to walk the rest of the way back to our botel. On the way, Edie and I decided to stop and have coffee on the "beach" next to the river; Cindy went on ahead to rest for our big evening.

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Another aside: the river has such a huge presence in this city, and people utilize it for so much recreation and entertainment. This place where Edie and I stopped was just one example of how spaces under bridges and elevated walks next to the river are used for bars and coffeehouses. There is a small island in the river where a thriving paddle boat business is located; it operates well into the late evening. And farther along, beyond our botel, are lots of barges and boats with bars. One four- or five-barge complex even has a full-sized swimming pool.

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So that's how we spent the day. But there was more to come on July 3rd. That's the next chapter, because I’ve already spent too much of your time with this tale.