Palaces: 1
What may have been the real crown jewels of the Czech republic: 1
What may have been fakes: 1
Hours waited to see possible fakes: 1.5
Degrees Celsius: felt like 10. Brrrrrr.
Amount of rain: seemed like an inch
Best souvenirs yet: 2 (Czech plates!)
Times I used danke: infinite. Not right in cz
Miles to park and ride: 10
slight left turns: 4
Times I missed slight left turn: 2x (Faith recalculated each time)
Heart rate when driving on or near tram tracks: enough to consider it dangerous
Heart rate when turning in front of tram: see previous times 2
Successful metro rides: 2
Stairs climbed to castle: 500000000
Beer: 2
Sick dads: 1
Times I prayed I don't have to figure out Czech health care: still ongoing
Tailgaters when driving: constant
Today was a slow day. We went first to a different park and ride that was further out and in theory easier to get to. Faith chose to take us right past the one we had been at the day before, which defeated the purpose of having an easier drive. The lot that we went to was bigger and in a nicer part of town, so it was a win.
We spent the day at the Prague Castle area. We first climbed the bazillion stairs to get up there and then realized we went in the wrong side and had to go to the other end to start the tour. We took some pictures along the way and then purchased tickets for the sites (short tour) including st. Vitus cathedral (which auto correct just tried to make virus), the convent, the Golden Lane and the royal palace.
The cathedral was the best of the day and I would venture to say possibly the best of the trip and maybe the best I've seen in Europe to date (outside of st peters in Rome). The stained glass was incredible, particularly one by the artist Mucha. Impressive tombs of former kings and bishops (including one for good king Wensclas - misspelled, too lazy to look it up, but we all know the Christmas song). It really was a site to see.
After that we headed to the convent. This is when my dad started to feel bad, so I left them in the convent and went as fast as I could through the rest of the sites, including the Golden Lane, which is a preserved middle ages road that includes exhibits on life from those times. After the Lane, it was off to see the royal palace, which after I had waited an hour in line in the cold, found out that it was closed and I would only be seeing the crown jewels. Since I was only 30 minutes away from them, I went with it. 20 minutes later I read in Rick Steves that they normally only show replicas. Sure were a lot of guards out for just replicas! And I waited a long time to see copies. Teach me to read rs before jumping in lines!
After that, it was a quicker descent down the hill. We stopped for tea and soup at a cafe overlooking Prague, which was nice. They had recently replanted grapes around the area, so it was really romantic....should Johnny angel be reading this: let's do that together :)
Then it was back in the metro to the car and hotel to rest up for the next day
No comments:
Post a Comment