Friday the 18th, part 1 - - Prague Castle, again

Two blog entries in 12 hours, whew - I am actually making progress here! Thank goodness ... it was starting to feel like a chore, and I certainly do NOT want that - as I enjoy it too much for that.


So, Friday the 18th was Colleen's 2nd day here - and we had big plans. I needed to get back to Prague Castle for an A+A homework assignment, and the ticket the teacher purchased yesterday was good for 2 days only - so it had to be today. I needed to see 2 things at the Castle:  1) Vladislav's Hall, and 2) "The Story of Prague Castle" exhibit. Colleen was interested in both, so she came along.


However, we also wanted to get out to Kutna Hora (about an hour east) where the Sedlec Ossuary is ... aka The Bone Church. We were originally turned on to this by Jimmy "Tatts" - our most talented ink man. However, Colleen's trusty sidekick (Rick Steeves) highly recommended it as well. So, the plan was to rent a car and be off in the afternoon while doing the Castle in the morning. The car seemed like a better idea than a guided tour bus, because we could then use it to take a road trip to Germany or Poland the next day - as well as do something Sunday as well.


And off we went to the Castle! Which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the largest coherent castle complex in the world! It is just under 230,000 sq ft. Whew!


Here are some pics of our journey along the way - we took the metro to Malostranska and walked up the l-o-n-g hill from there.

Ah ha! Sir Winston Churchill, who guards the entrance to the British Embassy - which sits under the shadow of the Castle itself.

This shows the stairs, well SOME of them, that we had to climb to get to the Castle grounds. Also, a sweet little brick house - someone's actual FRONT door is ON the staircase! Neat!!

So, now we've made it to the Castle entrance - - and it is protected by large dark and violent statues on either side or it, this being one. Hmmm ... something like 'speak softly but carry a REALLY big club' - - is that it?     ;-}

The entrance to the Castle, or the one we went in anyway - which happened to be a different one than my A+A class took the day before.

A frontal shot of the fabulously spooky St. Vitus Cathedral.

A lower shot of St. Vitus, so you can see the great metal "story" doors - - will show that more another day, but basically there are pictures molded into it to show the story of the cathedral ... as it took almost 600 years to be fully completed.

Kinda creepy ... I wouldn't want this creature outside my window!

A view of the back of St. Vitus ... wow, it almost look metal on the top doesn't it? So so so so cool to me.

So, I finally managed to drag myself away from St. Vitus - and towards the "Story" exhibit. This is the courtyard we walked through on the way to the Old Royal Place ... note the pointed archways, which are Gothic.

The "Story" exhibit, a permanent fixture held in the Old Royal Palace, encompasses more than a 1000 years of history about the Castle. Again, I was not allowed to take any pictures inside the exhibit.


There were some really neat items in the exhibit; notably the funeral outfits and ceremonies of the royalty (in The Story of Burials), info on the patrons (aka Saints) of the Castle and country (The Story of the Patrons of Bohemia), and lastly a particular sculpture titled "Throne of Wisdom/Coronation of the Virgin" which was originally made for the St. George's Convent (see 'yesterdays' blog of St. George's Basilica) in the 12th century.


This sculpture is apparently a common theme in that time period, and is described in Latin (as that was the only language used for religion back then) as "In gremio matris, Sedet sapientia patris" ... which translates to "the wisdom of the father remains in the lap of the mother." The sculpture show Jesus as a man, sitting in the lap of much larger Mary - who is about to by crowned by angels on either side of her head. Again, this "Throne of Wisdom" was a common occurrence in sculptures back then - - I actually saw it again when I went to the St. Agnes Convent too.


Basically, what I like about it is the explanation that my teacher Chris gave ... it acknowledges that Jesus' (the father) wisdom ultimately came from Mary (the mother) via her womb. Love it!


And that was about it for "The Story of Prague Castle" exhibit. Not terribly exciting for me, but not onerous either.


Now ... we move on to Vladislav's Hall - which WAS exciting and cool! And ... I was able to take photos - well, sort of. Basically, the Castle allows non-flash photos in this hall for an extra 50kc ($2.50) which I was absolutely willing to pay - - however, I did not. Sigh ... okay, the full story then.


When we arrived at the entrance to Vladislav's Hall, the actual Hall mind you not the building (Royal Palace), and the woman went to punch our tickets - she stared at mine a little longer, and then proceeded to tell me that it was a 'student' ticket. I agreed, and told her that I was there yesterday with my class and the teacher bought all of us tickets. She went on to say that in Czech, student must be under 26 years old. I said okay, but I was a student and had been given this ticket by my teacher. She continued to harrass (slightly) me, and it felt like to me she was implying that I got the less-expensive student ticket by lying to the ticket agent. Maybe it was a translation issues, maybe my pride, or maybe she WAS indeed implying that - who knows, could be a combo of them. Regardless, after about 3 minutes of this back and forth - I had had enough, and told Colleen to forget getting me a picture pass (she had nicely gotten in line to buy one) and just walked into the Hall, leaving the ever vigilant watch-dog at her post.


And so ... I decided that I would take pictures anyway. Petty I know, but there it is. I did also sketch the fabulous ceiling of the amazingly large and impressive hall though.


And so enjoy folks ... pictures aren't as good as most of my others, because the lighting was poor and I couldn't use a flash.

Here is a close-up of the ceiling of Vladislav's Hall that I sketched. Nice ribs!

This is Vladislav's Hall ... from the point of view of the entry door, where that LOVELY woman was just doing her job dammit! This hall was designed to be a Throne Room, although was used as a festival and banquet hall more often than not.

This shot was taken from a balcony, at the far end of the Hall - on the right side (if you are looking at the previous Hall pic). This is a view of Prague you may not have seen before, as it faces North ... away from the Charles Bridge.

This is a cute little walkway to the right of the balcony off Vladislav's Hall ... would love to walk out there!

This is the chapel at the far end of Vladislav's Hall ... just a little thing really.    ;-}

A close-up of the organ in Vladislav's chapel.

And that was it for the Castle folks. Had a lovely, mostly, time there - - and now it was time to move on to our Day of Death ... and to get the car.

We walked down from the Castle and over to the Jewish Quarter, where the car rental place was. Snapped some nice shots along the walk ...

As we walked along the Vltava River, which was quiet and serene and lovely, I noticed some flowers along the river banks and wanted to get a pic. Sigh - - -

This is a cool building I saw up on a hill, I don't know what it is - but I like it!

This is a statue on the Manesuv Most (bridge) we crossed over into the Jewish Quarter. The statue is actually on the bridge support, just above the water - - so not visible from the bridge surface itself, rather to boaters along the water ... cool! I happened to glance down and saw her, lighting the way if you will. There was another torch lady on the 2nd support as well.

A self-portrait of me and my girl Colleen!

A most fabulous old and ornate and super cool building in the Jewish Quarter ... love it!

And here friends, I must stop. It is time for me to get up and get ready for school, and finish up my A+A homework as well. I will finish Part 2 of this day this evening.

Here is a link to this day's photos on my Picasa page ... Friday - a lovely day for Castle and Bones!

Until later then ...