wonder world!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

A little rejuvenation in the form of gelato and expersso.... And we
rolled down the hill from palace towards the St. Charles bridge.

Audio tour talking point #49...

And this concludes the audio tour portion of our day!

A little saturated by palace history, Jana is smiling cuz we have
finally reached the last of the audio tour. Only took us 3+ hours.
Woah. Very worth it, but exhausting none the less.

Of course there is a dungeon in a castle!

Yes, my excitement was a little over zealous for a torture chamber...
But Jana loves this pic. Ha.

Originally built in the 16th century for the palace guards, then
goldsmiths, this lane has been occupied by a diverse crowd, including
Franz Kafka in 1916 (in the blue house to the left of the picture).

St. Geroge's basilica and convent

The order was originally founded in 973, and while some artiface on
the interior remain from the 12th century, this facade is a
restoration from the 20th century.

Ceiling of the "library"

Family seals of the clerks who worked there from 1561-1774.

View overlooking old town Prague

Out of the cathedral (and a little saturated with audio history), we
continued into the Old Royal Palace. Off the main "ballroom", used for
everything from coronation ceremonies, town markets, and jousting
exhabitions for the ladies... We took in the beautiful view off the
balcony.

"the golden gate" on the south side of the cathedral

Officially the "main" enterance to the cathedral, which faces the
royal palace. Just below the gate to the left is where the inner
chapel of St. Wenceslas is located, which houses the Czech royal
crown... Held in a vault with 7 keys protected by various Czech
dignitaries, the crown is only trotted put for very special occasions,
and must always be returned the same day.

Silver tomb from the other side

Tomb of St. John of Neponuk

Lavish tomb constructed in solid silver, and draped in red velvet.
Crazy story involving something about a vicious murder, being bound
and thrown off the St. Chatles bridge. Later, his saintly remains were
exhumed, and his "tongue", the only remaining flesh, was put into the
tomb (which was later proven be his brain matter. Eeeewwwwweee).

Detail of the main alter

One of the more ornate chapels on the north side

Mucha stained glass window

By far the most striking window was the third one in, done by the 20th
century art nouveau Czech artist, alfons mucha. Picture doesn't even
come close to doing it justice! Kicking myself a little for not
bringing a "real" camera... But then I wouldn't be able to blog it!

Flying buttresses

We entered into the main part of the cathedral, and were struck by the
vastness (as well as the 8 million little groups of tourists!). we
commenced to work our way around clockwise, learning about the 18
chapels, including the patron saints, history, art and artifacts of
each.

St. Vitus cathedral

Centerpiece of Prague castle grounds, original construction began in
1344, and continued into the 20th century. Major reconstruction took
place after a devestating fire in 1541.

Prague cathedral... Audio tour

Not really knowing where to begin, we headed to the ticket office.
Hooked ourselves up with tickets, maps and a three hour audio tour
device, with a mere 50 points of interest. The palace grpunds were
swarming with tourists, and the awesome thing about the audio tour was
that you get to skirt some long lines into the buildings, and move at
your own pace.

Frist stop was St. Vitus cathedral.

Girls on tour in Prague!...

History, castles, cathedrals, and old town... Here we come. Armed with
tour books and sensible walking shows, we set off on the tram from our
hotel to tour the Prague castle first, then head into old town.