Dad visits! Prague Castle Tour
- Mackenzie Fisher
- Feb 20, 2017
- 4 min read
After about three and a half weeks of being in Prague, I had my first chance to be a tour guide! My dad came to visit me, and we went on all sorts of awesome adventures! There will be quite a few different posts on everything that we saw, since we fit in lots of trips in our week together! My dad got in late on his first night, so we went out to one of my favorite traditional Czech restaurants!
His hotel was in a great area, and I showed him some of the cool history he was staying near! He was right across the street from the famous statue of Czech writer, Franz Kafka. This 39-ton bust by artist David Černý actually moves, so Kafka's head is always getting rearranged. (Yay modern art!!)
My dad was also staying close to a hidden church my friends and I had found on one of our adventures! The 13th century St. Jilji Church is actually hidden inside a courtyard, and the interior of the Gothic church is incredible!
The next morning, we started our first full day by going to the Prague Castle! My dad had actually been there before, on our last family vacation to Europe, but had never taken the tour of the castle! I hadn't been on the tour yet either, so it was super cool to experience it together!
The view on the way up!
Selfie overlooking Prague! It was flurrying the whole first day!
The front entrance to the Prague Castle! We got lucky enough to get there in time to see the changing of the guards! The Guard is composed of a brigade of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic who serve the President of the Czech Republic, as a security force and take part in ceremonial functions. Every hour the sentries at the gates of the medieval castle are changed.
There were actually some of the posts on display, and I think it's safe to say that President Miloš Zeman would hire us!
We went and visited St. Vitus Cathedral, inside the Prague Castle!
For the first part of the tour, we were able to explore the cathedral!
One interesting part of the tour that my dad pointed out was a wood carved panel with Saints on it. Underneath each picture of a Saint was a picture showing how they were... murdered? It really put into perspective how hard of a life it was being high up in the church or being royalty.
Being a king meant fearing for your life, and sometimes not even being able to trust your own family! The famous King Wenseslas of Prague was actually murdered by his own brother, since he wanted the crown. (At least there is a catchy song after him!)
We then headed over to the "Golden Lane!" If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE tiny house living, and I think these people definitely could have been on Tiny House Nation! Golden Lane is made up of small colorful houses that were inhabited by defenders of the Castle, servants, goldsmiths, doctors, and the Castle marksmen. The tiny houses were occupied until World War II, and we got to take a look inside!
The home of a doctor of the lane! Looks a little different than our healthcare provider today!
Dad searching for his next Canon!
In the lane, we were able to climb a tower that stored all of the history from knights of the castle of Prague! All of their shields were painted with family crests, or scenes from battles! There were many bible verses written in Latin on them for good luck, and some knights painted their lovers on the shields! (Bottom right!)
Dad figuring out what to paint on his!
The tower also included many rows of knights armor, and seeing how heavy their armor was, I can see how knights got the reputation of being strong and fearless!
An interesting set of armor
Many of the guns had swords or knifes attached, so they could be used in "multi purpose" in battle!
We then headed over to St. George's Basilica! St. George originated as the second church at Prague Castle. The original parts of the building, founded in 920 by Prince Vratislav (the father of St. Wenceslas) have been preserved. The basilica is styled Romanesque, and includes tombs of members of the past ruling dynasties, including Vratislav!
My dad took this picture, and the beams of light make everything look even more holy!
We then headed into the Old Royal Palace, built at Prague Castle at the turn of the 9th and 10th century! We went inside the old royal ballroom, and the area was super impressive! I actually have a ball at my school this week, and am curious to see what kind of venue we get to dance in!
An acceptable mirror selfie with Clay! They had a mirror facing some of the ceiling artwork, so it was a cool way to look up!
The palace included some of the old royal jewels, including a replica of a crown from Charles IV!
I had to head off to class, and then met up with my dad for dinner at a Pilsner restaurant! We sat next to beer barrels in the stone basement, and I had duck with bread and potato dumplings!
What an amazing, full first day! So awesome getting to learn so much more about a place I had been coming to the past month!
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