Today we overslept and it was worth it, but we almost missed breakfast. We decided to see the Prague Castle and larger St Nicholas Cathedral today, but plans change....
We asked the concierge for help and managed to tram right to the castle. The castle is actually several castles, cathedrals, gardens, a stable and a convent sprawling over a hilltop above Prague (almost each is now a separate museum or exhibit with its own ticket). We picked what we felt were the highlights and barely finished before they closed for the day - I think this is pretty normal, because all tickets are good for 2 days.
We started with St Vitus Cathedral, whose large black spires are on almost all postcards of Prague. The cathedral is huge with ornate stained glass in every alcove. The outside is Gothic with gargoyles as waterspouts. Next we went through Old Prague Castle. Fun note - when folks in Prague get mad at leaders, they throw them out a window (there are 27 crosses in Old Town Square commemorating one of these events); however, the guys tossed out of Prague Castle survived! There are replicas of the coronation jewels on display in this castle, the originals are only displayed at special events.
St George's Basilica is a quaint red-orange chapel in the center of the complex. The interior is small and simple, in a Romanesque style. You can peer down into a small crypt and there are religious relics (bones) in one of the small chapels. The white towers of the adjoining convent rise behind the basilica, they house an art gallery now.
The highlight of the day was the Golden Lane. This is a row of multi colored cottages along a narrow road along the castle's outer perimeter wall. Some have been turned into gift shops, but some have been restored to ancient times with exhibits of a typical home, seamstress shop, alchemist shop and a pub. The top of the wall has been covered and there are exhibits of armor and weapons, as well as the original defense notches you can peek out of. You than walk down into a small exhibit of the dungeon with some tools of the trade.
Last stop on the castle tour was the Treasury of St Vitus Cathedral. This is a small restored cathedral that now holds many of the precious religious relics, is - lots of gold, jewels and religious relics (bones/teeth of saints, pieces of the cross, a piece of the tablecloth from the last supper, etc). The jeweled crosses of religious leaders on display were my favorite. The interior of the cathedral was the most ornately decorated, with murals and gold inlay everywhere, but there was no photography allowed inside, I tried (and a docent that speaks no English can communicate perfectly well when she wants to).
By now, the day was almost over, so we decided to go looking for dinner. We went back to the tram, but couldn't find a place to buy a ticket - so we asked for help and promptly got lost. We stopped a few blocks later at a hotel where a very nice concierge sold us tram tickets and gave us directions to the restaurant. He had a desk made of what looked like an ancient door and a stuffed cat next to his desk - of which he didn't know the history of either - but very nice and helpful man. We finally found the restaurant, and it was closed for a private party! Really!
We decided to head back to the hotel and managed to make all the right tram transfers - note: just because a tram stops in one spot going north, does not mean it will stop opposite there going south (one block up, down, or around a corner is perfectly normal). By now it was raining and cooling off in a hurry. I checked trip advisor on my tablet for nearby dinner recommendations and we found one -Home Kitchen. Home Kitchen is a tiny, 2 bench-style table restaurant that looks directly into the kitchen. There is a fixed menu daily and we had missed the main dinner dish of grilled pork, mushrooms and potatoes. I settled on a bowl of mushroom soup and a ham and cheese quiche, it was soooo good. Jenn had roast beef that was also really good. I may go back for the bread alone, though, so tasty.
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