Tuesday, June 14th:
The Entrance to the Hradčany Side (Castle District) of Prague from Charles Bridge:
Just to preface this awesome day, Prague Castle is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest castle in the world. It is magnificent, and we got to tour it today! Good news to wake up to, the Boston Bruins hockey team had won game six of the Stanley Cup finals, so Wednesday night (Thursday morning actually, at 2am) will be the winner-take-all match. I am getting the chills just thinking about it! I also scoped out a bar in Berlin to be able to watch, so I am super excited. Anyways, we started our day off again with the hotel breakfast, then walked towards Bethlehem Chapel where Jan Hus used to preach against the church teachings of his time in the 15th century before he was burned at the stake. To begin our little bit of bad luck today, the Chapel was closed, so we walked into the St. Martin-in-the-Wall Church and a couple others on our way to the massive Karlův Most (Charles Bridge). This bridge dates back to 1357 to connect Old Town to the Lesser Town (Malá Strana) and the Castle District (Hradčany). It offers breathtaking sights of Old Town and the towers and chapels of Lesser Town, as well as Prague Castle standing above everything. It also has towers on both sides built in what I now believe should be called “Prague-gothic style” as most of the buildings were originally designed by similar architects.
The Interior of the Church of St. Nicholas (Hradčany Side):
We walked across the bridge to Lesser Town and found our way to the famous Lennon Wall of Prague, a wall dedicated to John Lennon of the Beatles, and more importantly, to the peace and love that he stood for. The wall is covered in spray-paint art and sayings promoting peace. We then began our walk uphill, first stopping at the (other) Church of St. Nicholas. This church is much bigger and even more stunning than its counterpart with the same name in Old Town. This is where my camera troubles began, as my charger broke and I had run out of batteries, but I had found a temporary solution by buying a new charger and battery, and luckily the new battery had some charge in it right out of the box. We then moved up the New Castle Stairs up to Prague Castle.
The Entrance to Prague Castle:
Our first view of Prague Castle was of its main gates, guarded by modern guards who are there to protect the president of the Czech Republic who resides inside the castle today. The castle is also situated above the entire city, and everywhere is filled with beautiful views of Prague. We went inside and purchased our tickets, 450 CZK for two “Long-Visit” tickets, plus two maps, and two photo permits. I should note that the Long Visit is kind of a bit much, especially since a couple of the places aren’t completely worth visiting, and the photo permits are kind of a ripoff because I think everyone was again taking pictures regardless of if they had it or not. We also had very good timing, as we walked by at the perfect time to see the changing of the castle guard—we had now seen this in three out of three countries!
The Cathedral of St. Vitus at Prague Castle:
Anyways, upon walking inside the main gate you are immediately confronted with the massive and awe-inspiring St. Vitus Cathedral, the main church on the Prague Castle property that has seen ongoing construction and additions between the 10th century and the early 20th century. We went inside here and immediately were struck with the brilliance of this site. Flanking the left and right sides of the cathedral at the entrance are six massive stained glass windows that illuminate the church with bright, vibrant colors. We walked farther down the left side and admired all the side-alters and sites there to see. At the back of the church is a massive silver shrine and the tomb of St. John of Nepomuk as well as a dozen or so more enclaves, each with stained glass windows and golden or baroque catholic shrines. Continuing our walk around the church, we got to the door to St. Wenceslas’ Chapel, which, to our bad luck again, was closed. I was fairly upset about this one, because inside the chapel is the tomb of St. Wenceslas, as well as the door to the Royal Jewels room, which is locked to the public. The Royal Crypt was also closed, so we did not get to see the tombs of such monarchs as Charles IV and Rudolf II. We stayed in St. Vitus for probably over an hour, just admiring its beauty, before we left.
The Bohemian Crown Jewels (Unfortunately, Copies):
It was this point that I realized I had left my favorite Bruins hat in the Church of St. Nicholas, so I literally sprinted the hundreds of steps back down to retrieve it before going into the Old Royal Palace. I think there were also some rooms in here that were closed, as the palace seemed like a very short visit. We did not get to see the All Saints’ Chapel nor some of the Chancellery rooms, but we did get to see the famous (and massive) Vladislav Hall. This room is used for coronations, jousting tournaments, and modern day presidential inaugurations. We also got to peek into the Diet chamber, or throne room, which displays a case filled with the Bohemian Crown Jewels! Unfortunately, these are copies, but it gives tourists a really good idea of the magnificence of the originals that are locked away from the public. We also saw the famous “Window of the 2nd Defenestration of Prague” which basically started the Thirty-Years War.
St. George's Basilica:
We soon walked over to the Romanesque church known as St. George’s Basilica, built in the 10th century and dedicated to the same St. George that has a sculpture in the Cathedral of Stockholm that I visited in Sweden about a week earlier! This church also reminded me of the Chora church in Istanbul, Turkey. It is very old, and apparently has a massive crypt underneath, as tombstones and sarcophagi are displayed from some of the excavations in years past. After this church visit, we both ate a vegetarian burrito for lunch at the café outside of the Rosenberg Palace where I also grabbed some much-needed charge for my camera battery. We went inside the Rosenberg Palace next, which seemed again very short and almost meaningless (this is one of the places that is on the Long Visit ticket that I would not recommend). We left there and walked over to the Golden Lane, the area of very tiny and brightly colored houses that housed castle guards in the 16th century who undertook various crafts in their spare time. Franz Kafka also lived in one of them for two years. Inside the houses are displays of the lives of those who lived in them, and some of them have been turned into shops. Upstairs in the houses is a large display hall of old suits of armor of days long ago, as well as a rather funny chance to shoot three shots of a medieval crossbow for 50 CZK—I passed on this opportunity.
One of the Tiny Houses of the Golden Lane:
Jen wanted to go into the National Art Gallery inside St. George’s Convent next, and while I wanted to I also wanted to climb the 287 steps up to the top of the south tower of St. Vitus Cathedral, which affords the climber an unparalleled view of Prague. The price at 150 CZK is a little steep, but it is pretty cool to be so high up there. After I climbed down, I did probably the world’s fastest tour of the National Art Gallery, stopping at a few that I really liked, as I tried to catch up with Jen. I finally found her and we walked over to the last stop inside the castle, the Powder Tower. It was in here that gunpowder was stored, and today it is a two-story museum dedicated to the castle guards, their responsibilities, their weapons, and their uniforms over their history.
We soon left Prague castle to search for a monastery that my brother, Brad, had recommended to go see because they brew their own beer! We walked up the cobblestone street for about one kilometer, passing old palaces that had been turned into hotels and restaurants seemingly with each twenty steps, including the massive Schwarzenbersky Palace. This area on top of the city is absolutely beautiful! On our way up to the monastery we also passed the Loreta church, and while the interior had closed for the day, we got to explore its beautiful exterior before continuing our walk. When we reached the Strahovský Klášter (Strahov Monastery) we found two massive churches standing above the small white buildings. This monastery has been in existence since the 12th century! Another large building stands next to the main church and is the monastery library. This library was also closed, however it is filled with ancient Czech texts including the works of Tycho Brahe. We made our way into the St. Norberts brewery and sat down to taste their work. First on the menu was their Amber beer, a mix between the Vienna Lager style and the Bavarian Märzen style. Next came the Müncher Dark style, then an IPA and finally, a Belgian Wheat. All four were awesome, and I personally liked the dark style beer the best.
The Loreto Church:
We worked up an appetite after drinking the wonderful monastery beers, and we only had a short walk to a beautiful looking restaurant called Bellavista. It gets its name because the restaurant sits on a terrace that looks out over all of Prague, including Prague Castle itself. This is one of the more picturesque locations in the city, let alone spots to eat dinner! For dinner Jen ate Risotto with mushrooms and truffle oil, while I ate Traditional Czech Roast Beef with a vegetable sauce. With dinner we also ate a potato and vegetable Czech soup, some bruschetta with pesto and dried tomatoes, and a bottle of Czech wine (which somehow the name is escaping me right now). The dinner was delicious, and the only thing that would have made it better is if a thunderstorm had not rolled through while we were eating! Luckily we were under a tent outside, but it did start raining very hard and we had to wait it out before walking home. We made the long walk home down the Old Castle Stairs and across the Vltava River and through Old Town.
Jen and I Dining at Bellavista, with Prague Behind:
Charles Bridge as seen from the Old Royal Palace at Prague Castle:
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