Day 307: Prague, Day 3

During Day 3, we went to the Prague Castle Complex. We took a taxi out there because it was a bit of a walk--the hotel called the taxi for us. When we got there, it was quite a sight to behold. There's this archway flanked by two stoic guards, similar to Buckingham Palace in London. Oddly enough, though, we had to enter on the side and avoid the guards altogether. We walked into the second courtyard and I saw that they had an art exhibition there, so of course I wanted to check it out. I ended up taking some pictures of some Italian Renaissance art as well as a couple Reubens paintings in spite of the fact that an old woman was yelling "No photo! No photo!" at me. Next, we went to the St. Vitus Cathedral, which was really the highlight of the entire complex for me. Gorgeous stained glass, statues, and just an overall ornate display of centuries-old art. It included the Tomb of Wenceslas at the very end. The Old Royal Palace was interesting, but it really didn't have that much inside, other than the "Czech Office," where two Catholic governors were thrown out the window in 1618 (according to Steves): an act called "denefestration." Vladislav Hall was 200 feet long; it and the Diet Hall had nice Gothic architecture. But on the whole the Palace paled in comparison to the Cathedral. We briefly perused the Basilica of St. George, a Romanesque church containing the remains of Ludmilla, St. Wenceslas's grandmother. Next we went to the VERY crowded Golden Lane with lots of brief peeks into history. My favorite was a place where Franz Kafka used to live; we stopped in there briefly as they now sell Kafka's books. After going through the Lane, we briefly went underground to a medieval prison, which included an iron maiden and other lovely torture devices.

The next problem we had, though, was getting home. We walked and walked trying to figure a way back; it turns out that we had to walk our way all the way back to the beginning of the complex and then walk down hundreds of steps to leave. No signage for any of this. Kerry tried to order us an Uber--twice--but they cancelled on us twice. So we gave up for awhile and decided to have dinner at a very empty Italian place called Pivo and Basilico. BEST FOOD SO FAR IN EUROPE. Wonderful caprese salad, spectacular lasagna, and a fantastic apple strudel for dessert!!  I love how the waiter spoke English, and he even asked a couple near us, "Do you prefer English or Russian?"  Can you imagine anyone asking a question like that in America?  I think not.  

We finally did manage to get an Uber home, and it worked out well. The nice thing about Uber is that you can pay for it out of your credit card account, even the tip, and there's no hassle and no negotiating.  I hope we can use it in Paris and Berlin as well.

St. Vitus Cathedral

A tomb in St. Vitus Cathedral

The entrance to Prague Castle