Day 13 - Prague Castle

Oh what a day!! I don't even know where to start! Oh yes, last night...I walked over to a restaurant close to the Internet cafe. I asked for a table for one, and got the usual odd look where I know they are thinking "you are eating alone, how sad." But the waitress showed me to the table and grabbed me an English menu, thank goodness. I ordered a beer first thing. The restaurant was connected to Staropramen beer somehow, so I ordered a Staropramen Light Lager, which hit the spot as I jotted a few things down in my journal. A little while later the waitress stopped by to take my food order. I was not impressed with most of the food listed on the menu, many of the times related to duck and liver, no thank you. I decided to give in and order some comfort food, a "two handed hamburger." The waitress laughed and in broken English replied, "Now, now, you can not come here and order American food! You need a true Czech meal!" So I agreed, and asked what she recommended, she offered the "Tenderloin Medallions" or in other words meat with dumplings. I was surprised at how good it was. I enjoyed my meal while writing down notes and thumbing through Kristin and Ian's guide book of Prague. I also did my usual people watching and made up stories for each of the tables near me, about the people at the table and how they new each other. Friends? Lovers? Business Partners? Both? I love that game. :)

After dinner, I made my way back to my hotel and upstairs to my room. I was able to take a nice bath and soak my knee for once, it was SO relaxing. My knee is doing a little better, but not much. I haven't written about it lately because I was hoping ignoring the problem would make it go away. It was doing really well, until today. But I saw a Dr. Scholl's store not too far from my hotel and they even had a knee sleeve thing in the window! Depending on how I do tomorrow I might swing by and pick one up. It might help me from looking like an old guy hobbling up and down stairs. I turned on the news last night to catch up on what I was missing back in the states and fell asleep at around 9:00. That might be the earliest in years?! I couldn't believe it, but I was exhausted and it felt great to get up early with so much sleep under my belt.

This morning, I woke up and made my way down to the free breakfast buffet for some grub before I set out on my adventures. The food was okay, they even had Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or something similar)! They were certainly tailoring the experience for Americans! I haven't had that since I was like 16, so I took a bowl and poured the milk on it. Hot milk...great, that ruined it a bit, but it was okay to sample. Otherwise, they had your usually continental breakfast and it was great to enjoy a warm breakfast.

I was on my way. I followed a walking tour in my guide book all the way to Charles Bridge and I was able to see the following: Powder Bridge (Jill, again it made me think of you!), House of the Black Madonna, Celeta Theatre, Church of St. James (It looks very ordinary on the outside, but the inside is gorgeous!), Tyn Courtyard, Church of Our Lady Before Tyn (impressive, but St. James was better), Statue of Jan Hus, Old Town Hall, House at the Minute 9, City Hall, Chapel of Mirrors, Old Bridge Tower and of course St. Charles's Bridge. The walking tour was great for some simple sights, and it lead me down some interesting streets. It ended at my destination, St. Charles's Bridge and the Prague Castle.

I walked across St. Charles's Bridge and took notice of all the sculptures on the way. I stopped at Number 15, St. John of Nepomuk, patron saint of Czech's, legend has it that if you rub the bronze plaque, you will one day return to Prague. And so I did...right after some guy held up a stuffed animal shaped like an alligator and they rubbed the plaque together. I thought to myself it must have taken some confidence for this guy, who was around my age to walk up in front of all these people, hold up a stuffed animal and pose for a picture. The girl he did that for must be very lucky, because I can't imagine any other reason why he would have done that.

Anyway, I made my way up the main street to the castle. Actually, to be honest I got lost a few times because I was trying to make the map much more complicated then it needed to be. I swear, there is no way the map could be proportionate to size, what looks like a mile is only like 5 blocks, its crazy! I stopped in a couple of tourist shops, but thought as I always do, "who buys this junk?" Miraculously I found myself in front of St. Nicholas Church, a sight I was looking for on my map and made my way in. The price was ridiculous for one adult and I tried to pass as a student, which has worked well for me in the past. But the guy asked for my student card, so I grabbed the card out of my wallet from my stay here 4 years ago and quickly showed it to him. He took it out of my hand and laughed, "this expired in 2004, it won't work." Damn! I was caught, who looks that closely to see the expiration anyway, the cards look exactly the same! So I payed the adult price and was let into the church. The church has the most beautiful fresco and I was glad I paid to get in.

I finally walked up the stairs to the Castle's main gate, and this is where my knee began to ache and I started to look like I needed a cane. Okay, I didn't look that bad, but I did have a bit of a limp in my step that I tried with much difficulty to hide. I walked up to the main gate just about 10 minutes to noon and tried to figure out the best place to stand for the changing of the guard. I watched tourists stand next to the guards who were still the entire time and make funny faces, it is very similar to the British Guards at Buckingham Palace, but navy blue uniforms instead. The best part was three soldiers standing next to the guards and their facial expressions were fantastic. They rolled their eyes, laughed and raised eyebrows at all the tourists taking pictures and starring at their fellow soldiers. It gave me great entertainment for about 10 minutes, not to mention two of them were quite good-looking. The changing of the guard was interesting, nothing to write home about. The music that they march to is very nice. Next, I bought tickets to tour the entire castle, I'm not sure yet if I regret that, but I figured, what the hell?

I started with "The Story of Prague Castle," which is a museum giving as much history as one can take about a castle. Some of it good, some of it a bit boring. I think the burial graves on display were the most interesting part...which says a lot about me I suppose? I also saw St. Wenceslas's armor and helmet, that was neat. The next exhibit was "Old Royal Palace," which is much more impressive on the outside than the inside. I should say the grand room was very impressive and there were a few rooms that I would consider very royal, but the outside makes it look much more ornate. "St. George's Basilica" was very impressive for a church from the 10th century. It even had a small crypt, and lots of art painted on the ceilings. Right next door is the, "Convent of St. George--National Gallery." It took some time walking through. It had a fabulous collection of old art, sculptures, paintings etc. I found some that I really liked and studied them for quite a while.

It was freezing cold when I walked outside, what happened to the sun? I couldn't find the entrance to the Powder Tower at the castle. I think they moved around a few of the entrances to do some work in the off-season. That seems to be a common theme on my trip through Europe. I decided to give up on the tower because it was so cold and quickly ran into St. Vitus Cathedral, which to my dismay was colder than the outside temperature, but at least the wind couldn't get to me. This Cathedral in my opinion was exceptional. The size of the Cathedral alone speaks for itself, and the stained glass windows are beautiful. I overheard an American women telling her guide that one of the stained glass windows reminds her of her favorite artist (I can't remember the name she muttered) and the guide in horror was explaining that the windows predate the artist and there is no way the windows could be reminiscent. I giggled to myself and carried on my way. The most ornate object in the Cathedral that deserves my mention is the tomb of St. John of Nepomuk, it is an all silver tomb and a rather large one too. I pulled out my camera to snap a picture and suddenly thought to myself, why do I need a picture of this persons tomb? Can't my memory be enough, what am I going to do with this picture? So I quickly slid my camera back into my purse and made my way to the exit. I'm not sure what came over me, perhaps the thought of having been in over 30 churches since my arrival in Europe is reason enough. I left the church and walked to Golden Lane. It is a very picturesque lane and I was able to see at least one house where Kafka lived here in Prague. Lastly at the Castle, I saw Daliborka tower before I descended down the uneven stone steps with my limp and all.

I spent the next few hours wondering the sites of Mala Strana. I was able to see the Franz Kafka Museum, along with the "pissing sculpture." I will give the book definition of the pissing sculpture for you, Proudy (Piss, 2004) - Two guys pissing in a puddle (whose irregular outline is actually the map outline of the Czech Republic) and spelling out famous quotations from Czech literature with their pee. The sculpture moves at the hip and I will say it was quite a sight to see. I'm glad I was able to stumble upon it. I walked to Kampa Island and saw the Kampa Museum. Near here they were filming a movie and I was unable to cross a certain bridge. A man walked up to me, speaking in Czech and I just replied, "no thank you" and kept walking. He said, "ah, you speak English and muttered something about a film, a movie, and pointed toward the bridge." It is very common for people to ask me for things, so I again replied no thank you and walked on. I then realized they were actually filming a movie and he was telling me I couldn't walk that way. I felt like an idiot, but I just figured he was trying to sell me something. Oh well! I did look down the way and saw actors dressed in costumes from the 1800s walking along until a loud voice over a speaker system would yell something in another language and they would walk back to their starting positions and start again. There were big lights and cameras everywhere as well. I have no clue what they are filming though! Lastly, I did make it to the John Lennon Wall and saw the most photographed water wheel in Prague. Then I decided to make my way across St. Charles's Bridge again and began my trek home.

I hadn't eaten since breakfast. I want to make sure and utilize daylight as much as possible here and taking time for lunch means taking daylight. So I decided to only have two meals a day while I am here, breakfast and a large dinner. My stomach was growling for dinner so I decided that once I found a suitable place, preferably one serving Pilsner beer since I hadn't tried it yet here, I would stop. I walked through more tourist shops and back through Old Town Square. I debated getting another Trdelnik, since the one last night was so delicious but decided against it. It should be more of a dessert than a meal anyway. I walked by a store called Botanicus and I had to stop. I spent a while looking through this store and I would have bought a ton of things there, but I wouldn't be able to travel with them the rest of my trip, most of them being liquids. The shop is a unique natural lifestyle concept of Bohemian origin producing handmade, organic and traditional products entirely from its own farm in a small rural Czech village. Everything in there smelled amazing, and I had a hard time saying no to many things on the shelves. But I did, and walked away with nothing. :( I also went back into the Manufactura store and asked if I could buy the poster on the wall. The clerk looked at me like I was crazy and told me it was decoration and not for sale. Just as I suspected, and she made me feel like an idiot for asking, but oh well.

I made my way back to Powder Bridge, but turned left instead of my usual right, just to explore. I found another small Christmas mart, but mostly avoided it since I didn't see anything I would buy. On the far corner was a grocery store and I decided to go in. It's always fun to walk through the isles of a grocery store in another country, just to see what they sell. I spent some time investigating, but my stomach was growling very loudly with all the temptation around, so I left. Conveniently, located right next door was a restaurant with a bar. It met my criteria, and I walked in. I sat in the far corner with a view out the window and with only one word spoken to the waiter, "beer." I already had a Pilsner on the way. I studied the menu and decided on the South Bohemian Potato Soup to started, followed by the Spiced Sausage. Czech food is traditionally all meet. I don't know how many more meals I can have consisting of mostly meat. Their only vegetarian options are usually fried cheese or friend cauliflower, so I continued with my meat tradition. Mm....it was all very good and it felt great to finally sit and relax as the sky turned black. I took my time eating, all while watching people...mostly the wait staff...and reading more in my tour book. I ordered another round and decided once I leave I should walk to the Municipal House and see if I could get a tour later in the evening. Then I would hit the Internet cafe and call it another early night. Its been a long day getting all the sights in and my knee was starting to get stiff. After I finished paying my tab, I walked the short distance to the Municipal House and did a little research in the gift shop/ticket office. I could get a tour tomorrow at 2:00, or Thursday at 1:00. I took a look at the pictures on the wall and decided I wouldn't be heart-broken if I missed this tour and said my thank you's to the person behind the desk and walked out with the brochure.

I stopped at a small convenient store and grabbed a very large bottle of water (I thought it would be best to hydrate), a Coca-light (only because I can), and a bit of chocolate (I deserve to live well here in Europe, don't I?). :) I am here now at the Internet cafe. It's been really fun chatting with you special few on Windows Messenger...thanks for chatting. Its great to catch up on home life. :)

The sky is black, my legs and eyes are tired and tomorrow is left undecided. I think I will retreat back to my room for a little water, chocolate, a few phone calls and some serious planning about what lies ahead for tomorrow. Or perhaps I can be side-tracked for another beer? Ah, I wish all my friends could be here with me to enjoy a night on the town. We could have some serious fun here, I just know it. :) Mam chut jit do baru. :)

Dad, Duffy just came on the radio as I am typing. Suddenly I had a flashback of you dancing and singing in your office. The shock of your love for Duffy still remains. :)

Love to all. Anna