Prague Castle

Today I wake up early to tour the Prague castle grounds. I splurge for the audio guide to assist in my visit. I use my combo ticket to get into the St Vitas cathedral and a couple minutes after my entry the audio tour dies. Before I exit I ask if re-entry is available since I have to run back and get another device. When I am unplugging my headphones from the device something seems weird but I ignore it and carry on – I realize later that I probably dropped something at this moment. I obtain a new audio guide. The cashier seems puzzled but I assure him this is normal for me (I’ve had my share of audio guides die on me or be in the wrong language). I head back to the church to start my tour again and realize I no longer have my ticket. I thoroughly search my purse and look around the floor of the church and it is no where. I head back to my audio guide guy with my sob story and he tells me I need to buy another ticket. I dump my purse out on the bench in the office and the ticket is still not there. I huff in frustration at my stupidity but in the grand scheme of things the ticket isn’t that expensive so I get my credit card out to purchase another one. When I get to the cashier he has a smile and a ticket for me free of charge. I guess a little dramatic show sometimes works. I am very grateful.

St Vitas Cathedral

Prague castle

Prague castle was built during the time of the Kingdom of Bohemia. It is supposed to be the largest ancient castle in the world. I tour it and it doesn’t seem that large but maybe they are including the whole set of buildings nearby. Also some of the palaces are privately owned and are separately ticketed. The St. Vitas gothic church is pretty great but my favorite part of the complex is probably the area called Golden Lane. It is a row of houses that are set up to be representative of places in the past.

St George’s Basilica

Golden Lane

Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička) is a small street where goldsmiths, among others, existed and also contains the former home of Franz Kafka’s sister where he is famed to have written there as well.

After I leave the castle complex I enter an old medieval pub to escape the sun and heat. U krále Brabantského is medieval style, eating with hands and the waiters act at times like they have attitude. For instance when I got my check it arrived stabbed into the table with a knife.