When we reach the castle, we don't delay and walk straight in; we can explore the area around the castle afterword. A note about the castle: although it is considered one place, it is really an extremely large complex with two large churches and many, many so called palaces. It covers a large area, sitting upon a hill overlooking the city's core. We purchase our tickets, which gain us entrance into four venues within the complex. Just to enter and walk around is free, but you have to pay if you want to go into anything. The first site we enter is St. Vitus Cathedral, an enormous Gothic Cathedral that actually was't completed until 1929. It has a massive interior, as you can see in the following picture:
Highlights of the interior include the chapel of St. Wenceslaus (yes, the Good King Wenceslaus of Christmas carol fame), which also includes his tomb. There is also a tomb of St John of Nepomunk whose tongue was still pumping blood in 1721, when they excumed his body. The cathedral also contains the royal treasures, which are not available for viewing, and a royal crypt, which was closed. Many tombs of Holy Roman Emporers are interred there, including Charles IV, after whom the famous Charles bridge is named.
We also enter the Old Royal Palace, which is largely undecorated, but features a large, Gothic room that is used to inaugurate the presidents of the Czech Republic. It is called Vladisav Hall. I like the Bohemian Chancellery room that was the second defenestration of Prague in 1618. FYI defenestration is just a fancy word meaning someone got thrown out of the window! In the palace was the first instance of a practice we had not encountered before. Photos are permitted, but only if you buy a "license." It is not enough to pay admission. Rob bought a license for about $4.
The next place to visit is St. George's Basilica, which dates from the 12th century. It is a nice, almost plain church space, which seems small after the enormous St. Vitus Cathedral. Exiting the Basilica,we make our way to Golden Lane, which was reportedly the home of the alchemists (guys who said they could convert base metals to gold, but never actually accomplished this -- oops), but was in fact a series of small living spaces established for housing guards. Later on, it became a place for poorer people and Franz Kafka actually lived here for a while. Now, it is a colorful narrow pedestrian space with each home converted into a shop selling overpriced items to tourists. Still, it is a pleasant place to stroll through. Our visit to the castle is now relatively complete, so we stop for lunch at the Lobkovicky Palace, a private museum contained within the castle walls that also has a nice cafe for lunch. We both enjoy a tuna melt sandwich.
Making our way back to the entrance, we step back into the castle square (Hradcanske namesti). While we didn't take too close of a look on our way in, we take notice on our way out. It is a magnificent space: a very large open space, surrounded by beautiful palaces. The Schwarzenbersky Palace, which now hold a Baroque museum is especially impressive. We continue walking in an uphill idrection until we arrive Loreto Church. The guidebooks all recommend visiting this church as well, but quite frankly I hated it. It is very Baroque, i.e. over decorated, and within the church are a zillion statues of cherubs, which I think are kind of creepy (and no, I do not believe in them!). This was a fast visit. We continued uphill until we arrived at the Stahovsky Kloster (which means cloister or monastery). This is no longer a functioning monastery, but contains the Museum of National Literature. The main feature is called Philosophical Hall, which features walls of old books underneath a beautiful painted ceiling, featuring famous philosophers in history, like Socrates, floating in the blue sky. By the way, both the Loreto Church and the Museum required the purchase of photography licenses.
Our next destination is Petrin Park, a large wooded space overlooking the city that features a viewing tower that is a scaled down replica (kind of) of Paris' Eiffel Tower. As we enter the park we start to notice that a lot of other people are as well, lots of families with kids in strollers. I commented to Rob that I wonder if today might be some kind of holiday. There are a lot of people about for a Friday, but amybe that is because the weather is so fine. We later learn that yes, it was a holiday, the anniversary of the end of World War II. As we near the tower, we also start to see all kinds of people in medievel costumes. It turns out there is some kind of Battle of Wars event, which includes a temporary stadium in the park as well. When we get to the tower, there is along line of people waiting to get it. We make the decsion to pass on this view, so we stroll downhill through the park back to the city center.
We are now in the part of the city called Mala Strana, or lesser town, and we make our way to a must-see Prague site called the Church of Our Lady Victorious. The church itself is nice, but nothing special. What must be seen is called the Infant Jesus of Prague. This is a wood and wax doll that was brought from Spain in the 16th century that can bestow miracles by praying to it (take that, Barbie!). Another feature that amkes it special is that it has a very large wardrobe of outfits (I think Barbie wins in this regard, though), and nuns will redress that doll in a new outfits on a fairly regular basis. One of the dresses was a gift from Empress Marie Therese (mother of Marie Antoinette of France). This dress is on display in a museum upstairs. For those curious to see the doll, here he is:
Oh, did I forget to mention that he wears a large crown, too? One of his crowns was a gift from Pope Benedict (who also wore a lot of pretty dresses).
For the rest of the afternoon, we plan to take an extended walk through various other neighborhoods in Prague. Everywhere you look in this city are beautiful buildings. It is so rewarding as a tourist just to walk and walk and take it all in. We cross the river to see the State Opera House, which is beautiful, and then walk along the river admiring building after building in Baroque architecture -- and these are just apartment buildings. most likely! Another star is the modern building called "The Dancing House," or more affectionately, "Fred and Ginger." It was designed by Frank Gehry in collaboration with Vlado Milunic. Rob took a lot of pictures. Here is a link to a picture:
From here, we work our way to Charles Square, which features the New Town Hall (we are now in the area known as New Town, as opposed to Old Town -- but New Town is pretty old, too!). Then we walk to Wenceslaus Square, a massive open space -- very long. This is the place where in 1989 the citizens protested that led to the fall of Czechoslovakia's communist regime, known as the "Velvet Revolution." On one end of the square is the very large National Museum, which was closed for renovations. We stop at a cafe called Como to enjoy a glass of wine and enjoy the beautiful weather on this day. Needless to say, there are a ton of people out and about.
After a short break at our hotel, we make our way back to the Old Town for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Pasta Fresca. It was very pleasant, and we enjoyed our personable waitress! Back at the hotel, we end our evening with a glass of wine in the Hilton Executive lounge, a really nice perk we enjoy thanks to our Hilton Club membership. The hostess/manager here, Veronika, is very friendly, and we enjoy a lively conversation with her on the merits of capitalism versus socialism. I told her she should enter politics!
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