Germany and Prague - Day 7

Saturday, March 29 - Prague Day 1

I woke up at 8 am and took the Metro to Mala Strana and then the #22 tram up to the Prague Castle, the biggest castle complex in the world. When entering from the tram stop, you walk on a bridge over Deer Moat and past the riding school. I bought a 250 kc short ticket and a 50 kc photo permit. The short tour includes the Old Royal Palace, an exhibition "The Story of Prague Castle", St. George's Basilica, and Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower. St Vitus' Cathedral is free and holds the Bohemian Coronation Jewels. It reminded me of Westminster Abbey, just a bit less crowded. Next I went into the Old Royal Palace, a building where Czech kings have been crowned and presidents elected. Vladislav Hall is the large hall in the center of the palace with a vaulted ceiling in a rose petal pattern. It was a cold and windy day, and I noticed that most of the buildings were cold as well. Just off the hall is the Louis Tract, where the Thirty Years´ War began and where I was asked to show my photo permit. I continued on through St George's Basilica and then followed the crowd down the hill and into the Golden Lane. The Golden Lane is a collection of small houses within the castle grounds, also famous for housing Franz Kafka for a year.

The lane is full of gift shops, and as you descend the hill towards the castle exit, you pass more gift shops. Ignore those shops and take in the city views you see while passing Daliborka Tower. After a brief stop to snack and consult my guidebook, I took the 22/23 tram to Tesco, which sounded like a supermarket. It ended up being more like a department store with a small food section. I then walked north to Old Town Square to see the Astronomical Clock that has parts dating back to 1410. It is beautiful, entertaining and rather complicated. It was still cold, so I bought a Trdelnik, which is like a strip of dough wrapped around a metal stick and grilled with sugar and vanilla. As I sat and ate it, I made conversation with a British girl. She told me about how she and her boyfriend had missed their original flight to Prague and had to buy new tickets and drive several hours to a different airport. I told her about my passport ordeal last year.

After warming up a bit, I headed towards Josefov and the Old New Synagogue, but there was marathon being held that blocked my way. I got back on the Metro and went to Mala Strana, Lesser Town. Just outside the Malostranske namesti stop is a little park area with very nice views looking back at Old Town over the Charles River. I then took the Metro over to Wenceslas Square. I was mostly wandering at this point, with no real destination in mind. I sat in the square, read and gazed up at the National Museum. A group of demonstrators passed through the square and a woman started to hand me a pamphlet. She saw my book and said, "Oh, no Czech, no Czech," and walked away. I wandered a bit and then saw a sign for the Lucerna Passage. The name struck me as familiar, so I went inside. It is basically a mall, but then I saw this statue hanging inside and realized why the name stuck out.

There were two movie theaters (Kino) in the mall and There Will Be Blood was playing in English with Czech subtitles. I kept up my tradition by seeing it (100 kc for a ticket). It was too violent of course, but I did like the storyline. After the movie, I went back to the McDonalds near my hostel for dinner and then hit the sack.

Day Eight