A Snapshot into the Life of Ancient Prague

Thankful for a solid nights sleep (midnight until 10:30) and more importantly an uninterrupted slumber in which Teah logged 11 hours of cellular regeneration. All restored and ready to conquer the day, we headed out to fuel up before visiting the Prague Castle.

We were pleased to stumble across a traditional Czech pub & restaurant named Kulatak where Sam worked on his meat carving skills while Teah looked on with drool running down her cheek. The food was really good and the pork knee that Sam ordered tasted just like carnitas back home. The tasty refreshments and grub hit the spot and of course Teah took a nap before we got ready for our next stroll across the river towards the immense compound where Prague Castle stands.

We headed across the Charles Bridge and of course had to fulfill Jennifer’s sweet tooth with a stop for some ice cream, followed shortly by a little snack stop for Teah. Good thing we had stuffed our selves full and had energy for the never-ending stairs that lead up to the entrance of the castle. Upon reaching the top of the stairs we were pleased to take in a new view of the city and excited to begin exploring the castle.

As the largest castle complex in the world, Prague Castle is a massively fortified village dating back to the year 870 and housing important Prague sites and ancient crown jewels. After trying to distract the guard at the entrance with some giggles from Teah, we passed through and decided to do a self-guided short tour of the St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, Basilica of St. George, and Golden Lane. 

The cathedral makes an immediate impression with both its size and beautiful French Gothic style that has been credited as a significant influence in late gothic architecture. Once inside the Roman Catholic Church, we made our way through the crowds to see the various chapels, tombs, and treasures scattered throughout the immense structure. Just outside the cathedral we had to take a brief stop to look at the massive Great Tower clock while many of the people passing by couldn’t help but give Teah smiles and greetings. 

Up next, we entered the Old Royal Palace that holds an amazing view of the city thanks to its prominent location on Prague's western hillside. We wandered through narrow and curving stairways to take in all of the treasures on display that date back nearly 1,000 years. One of our favorite details of this structure was the beautiful doors and hardware that adorned the many passage ways throughout the palace.

The oldest structure along our tour was the Basilica of St. George, built in 1142.  The narrow nave design with a beautiful wooden roof stands impressively similar to how it did when 12^th century parishioners would visit the church for weekly and daily mass.

Our final stop along the Prague Castle tour was Golden Lane, a 16^th century tradesmen’s quarter of tiny houses in the castle walls. In other words, this is where the common folk would live, have their small little blacksmith or convenient shops and gather together for drinks and meals. Artillery including canons, catapults, crossbows, swords, guns, and all the outfittings of armored soldiers from medieval times adorned this area of the compound as its location was crucial to defending the castle. Before exiting Prague Castle we were educated on one of the darker sides of ancient life… the sentencing and torture of criminals and enemies. Below the Golden Lane there was a “dungeon” that had little cells equipped with primitive but effective iron restraining devices that served as true punishment to the thieves and various unlawful citizens in Prague. 

Teah summed it up for the three of us on our trek back to the hotel as she threw a temporary fit and then crashed out like a sack of potatoes in daddy’s arms. With Teah out we decided to take the scenic route back sucking in all the beauty of Prague from a bird’s eye perspective as well as strolling various burrows and parks that would later serve as a good running location for our marathon training. 

After taking turns to log a couple 4-mile runs, we washed up and headed back out to get a bite to eat. Along the way we headed toward the Jewish Quarter taking a peek into the Jewish Cemetary that houses some 12,000+ graves dating back to 1439. The cemetery had been so popular that by 1787 when they ceased to use the site, graves had been stacked up to 12 layers deep.    

Our journey to and through the Jewish Quarter had taken many times longer than we had expected so by the time we found a place to eat it was already 11:00 p.m. and we were torn between just racking out or stuffing our faces like a Thanksgiving celebration at Rosie and Steve’s. Despite not getting home until midnight, Teah was ready to put on her disco gear and head out for a little dancing Czech style as she was all smiles and giggles in our king size bed that she tried to ham away from us.