Day 39 - Prague on foot

I was up just before 6:00am to go and take some photos of and on the Charles Bridge before it became too crowded. I wasn’t as early as I probably should have been, but at least it was just a matter of a couple of dozen people being there already, not a couple of thousand. At least it didn’t take too long to get the photos I wanted and I was still able to make it back to our apartment by about 7:00am where Laura was only just starting to stir.


After breakfast the plan was to be at the Palace – on top of the hill on the other side of the river – as close as possible to 9:00am to try and get at least some of the sightseeing done before the crowds built up. As we crossed the Charles Bridge (still not yet as crowded as yesterday afternoon) it already seemed apparent that today was going to be even warmer than yesterday. By the time we had walked up the steps to the castle precinct we had already experience what would be the three themes of the day – walking, steps and heat.

Once we found the ticket office we settled on buying a “long tour” ticket which gave us access to visit nine sites in the castle grounds over two days. These nine were: Old Royal Palace, Story of Prague Castle, St George’s Basilica, National Gallery, Golden Lane, Picture Gallery, Powder Tower, St Vitus Cathedral, and the Rosenberg Palace.

Since we were at the Picture Gallery, we decided we may as well start with that. I can’t claim any talent in the appreciation of medieval paintings, but some of them were interesting. Next stop was the Story of Prague Castle which provided a good run down on the history of the city. At the Old Royal Palace I found that I was permitted to take photos if I paid about an extra A$2.50 for a “Photography Licence”. This seemed like pretty good value because the Old Royal Palace contained some pretty striking murals and architecture that made it worth taking photos.

Next stop, because it was closing for the day at 2:00pm, was St George’s Basilica. This was not a large church but it contained some nice frescos behind the altar. The National Gallery was next. I was intrigued here by some paintings which were almost photo like in their appearance. From there we made our way to the Golden Lane which was quite an interesting part of the castle. It contained a number of the small dwellings originally used to house members of the castle guard, but later occupied by craftsmen of various types as well. The living quarters were really tiny and, one would imagine, poorly ventilated and a bugger to heat in the winter. However in more recent times the outsides had been painted in bright colours so that the lane, though narrow, had an almost festive air about it. An upstairs gallery ran the length of the laneway and contained many examples of personal armour used over the centuries. Some of the helmets actually looked quite amusing. At one point you could try your hand at using a crossbow and urged on by Laura I decided to have a crack. I managed to hit the target with my three shots, even if none were an actual bullseye.



A window in St Vitus

 By now the St Vitus Cathedral was open for inspection (it has been closed until noon, presumably because of Sunday services) so we doubled back to have a look. The stained glass windows were pretty impressive, as was the whole cathedral for that matter. I resorted to my usual trick of lying on the floor to get photos of the ceiling. Next on the agenda was the Powder Tower, which proved to be a bit of an anticlimax for those not overly interested in the history of the traditions and military uniforms of the Palace Guards. However the climax of the day still awaited us. For an extra A$7.50 we took on the challenge of climbing the 287 steps of the tight spiral staircase in the 59 metre South Tower. It was a pretty tough slog that I have to admit left me ratherbreathless. However we were rewarded with a breathtaking view not only of the palace grounds but of much of Prague as well. Going back down wasn’t as taxing on the legs and lungs but the tight spiral descent actually had me feeling slightly dizzy by the time I was back on terra firma.

The only site left to see was the Rosenberg Palace and we called in to see this on our way out. It was not as large as the Old Royal Palace but did offer some nice views of Prague as well. This meant that we had completed the two days worth of sightseeing in about six hours, not a bad effort in the heat. Staggering on weary legs out of the castle grounds we took the Old Palace Steps back down to the river, over the Manesuv Bridge, and along the river bank to the Charles Bridge.

Old Town Square, Prague

From there we made our way through the Old City to the Old Town Square. Of course this afforded us the opportunity to ascend the famous Town Square Tower, but fortunately this one came with a lift that we were only too happy to use. At least this meant that we were in a fit state to enjoy the nice views that were available from the top. This included a sad view of the temporary memorial setup in the square to the three Czech players who were part of the Russian club hockey team killed in a recent plane crash. Back at ground zero we were just in time to witness the 5:00pm rendition from the elaborate Astronomical Clock on the side of the tower. It was finished with a performance by a costumed town trumpeter playing from the viewing platform atop the tower where we had just been.

Leaving the square we checked out the markets (which of us could possibly have been interested in those!) on our way to Wenceslas Square, which has witnessed a number of significant events in Czech history since WWII. It is lined with a lot of upmarket shops now.

By this stage we were both feeling pretty leg weary so we staggered on back to our amazing apartment. After having put my feet up for about 90 minutes I was sufficiently energised to go back out and take some twilight photos of the floodlit castle while Laura was sleeping. After the photo excursion I popped around the corner to the supermarket to get us some supplies for dinner which was sufficient to get Laura to rise from her slumbers.

I think we both would have liked a Radox bath after the day’s exertions, but unfortunately that wasn’t possible. It was a commendable effort from Laura less than 48 hours after such a long plane trip, and it was no surprise that despite her earlier nap she was in bed over an hour before me.