During the morning, Kristen was off at her conference presenting the decision process for selecting and implementing the latest in financial close tracking systems. Meanwhile, I was back in the room resting and blogging.
We decided to make a second attempt at viewing the city. We wandered the narrow streets and crossed the Charles Bridge towards Prague Castle.
By the time we arrived it was a quarter to five so the castle was only open for another hour and fifteen minutes. We tried to enter St. Vitus Cathedral but were turned away, as the last entrance was permitted five minutes prior. A little bummed but undaunted we headed to the old royal palace.
What remained of the royal palace were the main meeting hall, the royal court, and the chapel. Fire had almost completely destroyed the complex and reconstruction has been historic in design, but filled with restaurants and shops as the previous relics are gone.
An interesting side alley was the Golden Lane, named for the goldsmiths that populated the area in the middle ages. The houses are incredibly small, accompanied by the explanation that people were much smaller hundreds of years ago. Probably what makes this area a definitive tourist stop is that Franz Kafka rented one of these mini domains from his sister for a year. Beyond that they overflow with more and more tourist trappings to which Prague is quickly becoming overly associated.
Our final stop, in the Prague Castle compound, for the day was the Baliborka Tower or torture chamber. That there was such a place didn’t surprise, but the tiny size did. There was probably space for only about ten people. This was kind of surprising, given the size of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, compared for example to Tower of London that is at least a thousand times larger.
As we walked out of the tower, we saw two very funny scenes with the guards. The first was watching two young guards, watching two young women. It was so funny to see every part of their bodies facing forward and their eye strained to the right.
The other scene was with the changing of the guard. A random tourist was walking across the square in front of the Cathedral and just happened to naturally fall into step with the guards. It was only a moment, but I got lucky with the shot.
The clouds began to break as we walked down from the hilltop position of Prague Castle. There certainly is something magical about the layout and architectural design of this city. My only regret is that I didn’t get here fifteen years ago before it turned into an upscale Euro-Disney.
Finally, this is what all the international legal action is about. The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capital in the world. Seeing that Budvar is clearly labeled Budweiser, I am surprised that the American distant cousin has won the right to used the name in the European Union.
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