Prague Castle Complex Day Trip

Friday morning and we’re up and off to the races. Big day today. We’re going to the old Prague Castle complex and getting there by the metro. Should be an interesting day. The underground metro consists of four lines, red, green, yellow and orange. We checked it out earlier and found we need the green line to get to the castle. Fortunately for us, English instructions were available on the ticket machine. The reason we chose the metro is because it’s raining a bit and walking didn’t seem to be a good option. Besides, it would take 24 minutes to walk and the metro should be a lot faster than that.

Got our 30 minute tickets (you can buy tickets based on time, 30, 60,69 and 24hr) and started the 29.5 minute search for the green line. Didn’t really take that long but it did take some time to figure out the different levels and directions. The most confusing thing is all the trains have a red top and stripe down the side, not green or orange, so took some time to figure that one out.

Got our train and off to the castle. We disembark at the Hradcany (Castle) stop. Great, now according to Google maps we only need to walk 14 minutes to get there. Shaved a good 10 minutes off the walking time unless you count the 20 minutes we took to figure out the train situation.

The Prague Castle complex has 7 buildings visitors can tour. We chose to do the combo plate that has the 4 top sites instead of all the buildings, there’s only so much stained glass and old furniture one can take. And we’ll also cash in on the senior discount making our ticket 125 CZK versus 250CZK, saved $5.34!

First up, Katedrala sv. Vita (St. Vitus Cathedral).This is the biggest and one of the most significant cathedrals in Czechia. Started in 935AD with the building of a Romanesque Rotunda, the cathedral has seen many updates. In 1344, major sections of the basilica were completed. The lighter colored front of the cathedral was not finished until early 20^th century.

Inside there is the royal mausoleum, and storage for the Czech Coronation Jewels, including the Wenceslas Crown. This crown is said to be cursed for those who wear it and are not of royal blood. It is said they will die within a year. Could have something there. Back in WW2, that dumbshit Nazi Reinhard Heydrich tried on the crown and within a year he was assassinated. Coincidence? I think not!

Also, inside is one of, if not the biggest, silver objects in the world. The silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk (remember Nepomuk?) weighs in at over 20 tons!

Seems this cathedral is into “big” things. They also have a bell in the south steeple that weighs 15 tons! The bell is said to foretell disaster. In 2002, the bell clapper broke and soon after there was a major flood. So there, proof!

Our next stop was at the old Royal Palace. Gotta say, it was pretty stark. There is a big entry room that looks like it was for dining or dancing, and a few side rooms that must have served as bedrooms or storage. Otherwise, not much of a palace. The coolest thing about this palace was way back in 1618 some Governors got into a scuffle and ended up throwing two of their colleagues out the window. The fall didn’t kill them so it was declared a miracle.

Next on our four-part tour is the basilica of St. George, the oldest surviving church within Prague Castle. Originally built in 920AD by Vratisluas I, this basilica has also had numerous changes. In 973 the building was enlarged in pre-Romanesque style. In the 13^th century the Chapel of St. Ludmila was added, then in the mid-14^th century a new facade was installed.

Last up on this tour is the “Golden Lane”. 16 houses are lined against the northern wall of the castle where artisans, shop keepers, and tradespeople worked to support the king. It is called the “Golden Lane” not because of money, but because of the human waste that was spilled out onto the street. There was only one toilet in this area! Hey, is that a piece a corn?

The castle area does allow for some good views of Prague and the Vltava River.

We decided to walk back to Old Town so we could take in some more of the local art installations and find this bookstore that is supposed to be really cool. We found the art installation that Collette wanted to see, “Crawling Babies”, but I’m not too impressed. Once again artist David Cerny has created a rather unusual installation with his Crawling Babies that have bar codes for faces. Not sure of the meaning but maybe something along the lines of the over-commonality of man.

As for the bookstore, strike 1! Not sure if the entry in the travel books was a joke or not, but this place is nothing more than a café with a few books in front. Gonna check the source and get back to ya.

Getting to be eating time at the zoo again so time to find that perfect people watching spot and chow down. And wouldn’t you know it, on our way to eat, there’s a snack shack with a real interesting food. Knedlin is a shop that specializes in dumplings. But not just some plain old dumpling, filled dumplings with fruit or meats and sauce. Now that’s a snack! We had to try one so we ordered the hot & spicy ball. Not really hot & spicy, more like BBQ but very tasty. Now onward to the restaurant…

But wait, there’s more! Just when you thought you’d seen all of David Cerny’s artwork in Prague, the guy comes back with more! I’m sure you all will appreciate this work tilted,” Three women on a house.” One of my favorites.

Calling it a day. Time to mozey back to the apartment and relax. Tomorrow, they open the Christmas Market here in Prague so need to rest up for the big celebration. Later amigos.