Prague Castle

Our exploration of Prague fittingly ends here in the Prague Castle. While we did not make an extensive exploration of the place, what we did see was worth a visit. We were discouraged by the crowd from entering St. George's Basilica and the state of our feet from walking through the armour displays in the Maria Theresa Hall. Clearly we need to make another visit.

On the other hand we (partially) saw the changing of the guards complete with the military band playing.



It is hard to tell with the mass of people surrounding the gates what the guards do when they change, but that is what is happening in there in the courtyard.

Once inside, we are surrounded by buildings with almost no signage and no idea where to go or what to do. Clearly, the locals expect most folks to come as part of a guided tour. We, however, far prefer the 'guide yourself' approach and enjoyed the serendipity of wandering and exploring.

The first of several inner courtyards contained this fountain along with a noticeable swarm of people. It took me quite a while to stand in for the tickets since everything seems to take longer that you reckon it would when dealing with tourists from a dozen different countries.

In the old part of the castle, we entered through the hallway with the wide sloping stairs that were designed to permit mounted horsemen to enter. Not clear to me what one should do with a horse when indoors.

Perhaps this large hall was sufficient to house pedestrian as well and mounted traffic.

Although things look a bit drab in the current state, I'm sure that 'back in the day' things were great brightened with tapestries, paintings, and furniture.

This is the Maria Theresa building we did not enter 😞.

Back on the street below the castle, we joined the throngs headed up and the down the hill as we searched for a place to sit and rest our dogs and get a bite to eat.

The food here is good but never quite what you expect it be. Where goulash (basically a stew) is served in bread bowls, candy is sold in mass quantities in pirate and mine themed stores, sandwiches often have something that resembles mayonnaise but isn't, beef sandwiches seem to always come with sliced pickles on them, and pastries and gingerbread are artforms, we learned to enjoy meals as we found them. The only way for a traveler to be, right?