St. Vitus, Prague
This post is not winning any headline contests. Per yesterday’s entry on Prague, I wanted to post a few additional photos of the St. Vitus cathedral, located up on the big castle hill in Prague.
But first, who is St. Vitus? According to Wikipedia, he is a Christian saint from Sicily (nice!), and is also considered the patron saint of actors, comedians, dancers, and … uhhh … epileptics. According to Wiki, “He is also said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping, and is the patron saint of Bohemia.”
So, Bohemia … now we’re getting somewhere.
This is the most important church in Prague, designed in Gothic style (living in Europe has definitely improved my architectural vocabulary), and is by and far one of my favorite churches in Europe. I think right now, my favorite cathedral is still St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but that’s kind of like saying your favorite food is chocolate cake. It’s just obvious (at least to me). Maybe at some point I’ll be more creative.
The present-day church is located where three holy buildings have historically been constructed for the dancing saint — with the founding of the current church, pictured below, in 1344. So, it’s wicked old, making it even more awesome.
Here are some more outdoor and indoor pics, including some from our climb to the top (others included in last Prague post).
Past Due: Prague
So, the problem with blogging is that I’m inconsistent. I admire backpackers who can travel for 6 months, and blog for 160 of those days, while sleeping in hostels with spotty internet or crashing on a stranger’s couch. Then there’s me — I come home to a nice apartment, with pretty reliable internet (by German standards) and can’t manage to blog more than every other trip — on which I stay in hotels or bed & breakfasts.
Just two days ago (in real time), we finished a tour of the Rhine River and Romantic Road in Germany. However, since I never finished blogging about our Eastern Europe trilogy (Austria, Bratislava, and Prague) that happened in February, I will now post some pictures and commentary from Prague.
And to complete the timeline for you — Prague happened in February; then there was a trip to London in March, when we got to surprise Breighton (more on that later), I got to see “Spain Kate” who I haven’t seen in ELEVEN YEARS, and Jeff and I survived horrific food poisoning; a trip to the US (for me) in March/early April; a trip to Oslo in late April; and then the Rhine River/Southern Germany tour. Clearly, we’re turning on the travel heat since we’re leaving in less than a year. Oh, and I still am working (as is Jeff, obviously) so we’ve been a little busy.
PRAGUE
I would say the highlights of Prague are as follows, and in no particular order:
- Free NewEurope Prague tour. This was about three hours and hit all the main sites. It was also a foundation that the company used to build groups for their paid tours. We also did a paid Prague Castle tour, which frankly, wasn’t as good. Pictures from both are below (more on the Castle and the Jewish quarter later!).
- The beer. Cheapest in Europe — half liter, about a Euro. And generally, it’s pretty inexpensive.
- King Charles Bridge, the building of which began in the 1300s. Not overrated.
- St. Vitus Cathedral up at the Prague Castle. Most amazing stained glass I’ve seen, and also some of the most elaborate tombs for Holy Roman Emperors and Bohemian Kings. This has Westminster Abbey beat by about 1,000 points in my book (more of those shots in next post).
- The clock tower is pretty cool once you know the history; but before that, you wonder why it’s so famous. Then, you learn things like this: the builder/engineer of the 600-year old astronomical clock was blinded and muted (tongue cut off) so he could never build another clock like it elsewhere. Who needs confidentiality agreements, non-disclosures, non-competes, or any other legal brainchild when you can just poke someone’s eyes out and cut off their tongue?!
- Climbing the clock tower for a great view of Old Town Square.
- Pretty much everywhere you look there’s something awesome and ornate to look at. Prague was not bombed at all in the last century’s wars, so it’s pretty well preserved.
The “low lights”:
- Prague in February is FREEZING. Seriously, FREEZING. Thank God for my robe-like puffy jacket, hot wine to drink, and hot pastry.
- I think that’s it. Really, in the spring, this place would be perfect.
Here are some pictures. I took well over 500, so it’s hard to pick. But this is a rough sampling… I actually have more on the iPad of the Prague Castle that I will upload in the next post! Also, these are completely out of order because WordPress is currently having a temper tantrum, but you get the idea.
Old Town Square — view from the clock tower.
Views of Old Town square and church from the clock tower. One tower is actually larger than the other — said to represent masculinity (Adam). Or, just a clever story to cover up the work of a sloppy architect.
Town Square at night.
Back of St. George’s Cathedral, up at the Prague Castle.
St. George’s cathedral to the right.
St. George.
View from steps heading down from Prague Castle.
The sparkling St. Vitus.
St. Vitus
More St. Vitus
Rear view and flying buttresses, St. Vitus Cathedral, up at the Prague Castle.
Inside St. Vitus Cathedral. The light through the stained glass gave the interior a watercolor finish.
I believe this is inside St. Nicholas church. Outside shots farther down!
Rose Window, St. Vitus Cathedral.
Heading back down from the Prague castle.
castle
St. Nicholas cathedral, or simply “the Santa Claus Church.”
Old town square, church towers.
Clock tower. You can see the red piece of building in the middle, which is all that remains of the original town hall.
Up-close on clock. We learned that in addition to the time, this clock tells you what “day” it is — but not in the traditional sense. Every day is associated with a saint’s name. So, back in the day, you would have a birthday and a “nameday.” Also, the statues from left to right are: Vanity, Greed, Death, and Infidel.
Stairs and elevator up to the top of the clock tower.
One of the towers, Prague.
A reenactment being performed by members of our tour group.
A “selfie.” You can see the snow flakes coming down.
In this shot, you can tell we’re still novices when it comes to the self portraits. However, the real highlight here is the cheap beer!
Old town square, church towers.
One view from the Charles Bridge at night.
Delicious pastry made on a rotating spit. Goes well with hot, mulled wine.
The making of a delicious pastry.
The conscience of Don Giovanni outside of the Estates Theater.
Estates Theater — the only theater that held Mozart’s operas that is still active today.
Best night shot we took of the Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge. I wanted to try for more, but the fingers were shaking and purple.
We didn’t go to the museum, but we were amused by the signs.
John Lennon wall.
John Lennon phone booth.
Just strollin’
Strolling.
A quintessential Jeff shot — beer, cake, and map.
The dancing house — Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The “stop taking pictures; I must find coffee NOW” face. I am pretty sure I’m also making this face now because this blog is taking FOREVER. I also must have coffee. So more shots to come later from what remains on camera!
A European Adventure 