What Do The Simple Folk Do?

“Stay there until you leave.” ~Luke 9:4

Feb 16, 2013
Last night was another rough night sleeping, even with the building being empty and dead quiet. I woke up a little later than I’d wanted to, so I rushed to get ready to go. As I re-read some information in my books, I debated between a couple of itineraries for the day. At the castle, I still wanted to see the main palace, the cathedral tower, the treasury, and the art room. I also still wanted to see St. Nicholas Church. I figured all of that would probably fill my day.

It was snowing again outside although the cold wasn’t quite a biting as yesterday. I caught the tram and rode it to where I could transfer to the 22. I again noticed how quiet the tram was. The few conversations going on around were softer than the thoughts inside my head.

When we got to the transfer station, two teenagers got off where I did. They didn’t look Czech—their body language wasn’t quite right—but I couldn’t immediately tell where they were from. As the boy turned around, I had a pretty good guess. His sagging jeans, which revealed striped boxer shorts, gave him away as an American. I hadn’t seen sagging pants since I left the states. I’d asked Ivana about it and she’d said she had seen them before, but didn’t think European people would wear them.

The 22 came within minutes of waiting for it. When I got on, the tram smelled like vomit. I found a seat and tried to ignore the smell. There was a man snoring in the very front row of the tram. I later learned when I got off that he was what smelled like vomit.

In short order, I arrived at the Castle. Walking into the courtyard, I felt very professional. I knew exactly where everything was and how to get there. But as I started to cross the Main Courtyard into the Third Courtyard, I heard the sound of trumpets blaring. Looking across, I noticed a large crowd was queuing in the corner. I walked over to see what the fanfare was all about it.

We were on the wrong side of the wall to see the whole event, but through the matrix of windows and pillars, I saw the main gate into the castle. It was very impressive. How had I missed that the day before? As the trumpets continued to play, we watched as two small armies of soldiers met in front of the gates. Swords were drawn, guns were shoulders, and trumpets played various decrees.

It was the Changing of the Guard.

After the ceremony concluded, I went into the other courtyard to see the palace. Walking by the cathedral and through the winding little alleys, I noticed things I hadn’t seen before. Parts of the outside of the cathedral where gilded in gold. The snow runoff from the roof proved that the gargoyles’ artistic form also served a valuable role in their function. Water came spilling out of their ferocious mouths and splattered into mud puddles below.

I hadn’t eaten before I left the dorm and my stomach was again quite hungry. I saw a small café tucked into one of the castle walls. A Czech menu hung on the door and, while I couldn’t read it, the prices were all around 50 koruna. I decided that was within my budget and I stepped inside.

The woman running it was taking orders at a counter and then a young girl was delivering them, to tables. I got a hot chocolate and a chicken sandwich. When it came, it was warm and handmade. The chicken breast was thinly sliced along with pieces of gooey camembert cheese. There was a bitter red sauce on it and the whole thing was stuck between two slices of pistachio bread. It was fantastic! The hot chocolate this time was a more traditional milk cocoa, but was just as thick as the white one I had yesterday.

The café was very busy. Once again, there were Asian, European, and American languages all around me. At one point, a large group of Americans came in. Their voices dominated the room. As they shuffled up to the counter, one of the women tripped over my table jarring it completely.

“I am so, sorry,” she said in a loud enunciated voice. I smiled and she walked away. It was quite humorous how Americans treated people they perceived as “foreigners.” They seemed to think that talking slowly and smiling a lot would get them what they wanted.

I finished my lunch and went to the palace. It was on the west side of the cathedral. It was actually a rather plane looking building, nothing like the drawings or logos we associate with Disney movies. Again, photography was not allowed inside and guards throughout the palace strictly enforced this policy. This is another great shame because the absolute magnitude of it is hard to describe.

Tourists start out in the ballroom and can travel out and up to other wings from there. Most of the signs throughout the castle are in Czech, but there is some occasional English. The ball room was used for events such as dances and coronations. The age of the room is evident in the faded designs on the walls, but the architecture and craftsmanship was amazing.

The first tower we could go up was the Ludvick Wing. Its spiral staircase was so wide, five or six people could easily stand on one stair and still have room to move their arms. Most of the bedrooms in the wings were locked but a few of the administrative offices were open.

The coolest thing in the wing was the Defenestration Window. If you haven’t heard of the Defenestration in Prague, I’d encourage you to read about it here. It was a series of two events, the second of which actually led to the Thirty Year War in Europe. The basics of what occurred were that a group of Protestants stormed the palace and through two of the catholic leaders out of the window (I’m sure this won’t happen at the conclave in March…although it would be an interesting way to remove some of our own government officials.) Staring down from the window, I could see why the Catholic Church recognizes the survival of the two men as a true miracle.

In another wing over was the throne room. It looks just like I’d always imagined a throne room would. There was an ornate golden chair with red cushions at the front of the room. Red benches faced the throne, but were also a bit angled so the occupants could see each other. In a display case off to the side were the crown jewels. I was surprised at how they looked both crafted and slapped together at the same time. The stones were not gently chiseled gems, but rather solid rocks of sapphire and ruby. The golden crown was not sculpted, but bent and welded together to hold its shape. Nevertheless, they were impressive.

In another upstairs room, the ceiling was painted with crests of the various kings that had lived in the palace. It is my understanding from the few signs I could read that these were not originals but added recently as a way of tracking the history. This room also contained broken fragments of the palace that had been destroyed and replaced over the years. There were gargoyle heads and fragments of pillars, all in displays cases for the public to admire.

With that, we exited the palace down a long, dingy staircase made actually from bricks. It was probably the most poorly constructed staircase I’ve been on in Prague (including the pubs.) Each of the stairs was too long and they were all slanted down. If it had been wet and the tourists had been given inter-tubes, it probably would have made a great ride at a water park.

I walked around the courtyard to the tower of the Cathedral. According to the sign the tower had been added years after the cathedral as a way to house the cathedral bell. When I stepped inside, the woman asked to see my ticket. I showed it to her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Tower not part of tour. Ticket sold separately.”

I thanked and decided I would just have to buy a ticket. I decided that I’d first go use my ticket to see the treasury, but I learned the same thing when I got there. The only room left on my ticket was the art room and it wasn’t at the top of my list to see. So I went back to the “informance” office to buy tickets for both the tower and the treasury.

The initial man at the ticket window didn’t speak enough English to understand my question. He directed me to the woman across the counter from him and she was able to help me. The tickets for both the tower and the treasury each cost more than my “long ticket admission” had been. I decided to just do the tower today and I’d come back later to see the treasury.

When she handed me my ticket, she also gave me a gold coin in a small plastic box. “This free with ticket,” she said.

No, I thought, that’s why ticket costs so much. I thanked her and went back to tour the tower.

Last summer, I went to the top of the Sears (or rather, Willis) Tower in Chicago. The Sears Tower is the tallest freestanding structure in North America and one of the tallest in the world. On the elevator ride up there was a monitor that showed our altitude and our speed. On the walking climb up the Cathedral Tower, there were only tourists who complained that there was no elevator.

I enjoyed the walk up the tower. The staircase was very narrow and each time I passed someone I was reminded that personal space did not exist on this continent. Every few yards up the stairwell there were small windows to see inside the Cathedral and up into the bell.

When I reached the top, there was a small room with a door. A young girl sat next to the door. This was apparently a part time job for her as she was busy reading a book. The sign on the door was in Czech so I had no idea what the instructions were. In keeping with the risk taking spirit I’d started with, I opened it and went outside.

The view was amazing. Normally, when you Google Image “Prague” you get picture after picture of red roofed buildings (I did this for several months so I know.) In the distance, I could see the Atomic Clock. Down below I saw St. Nicholas Church. From each side, I could look into the castle and see all of the charm that I’d been surrounded by for the past two days.

The deck was crowded with Americans, who ironically were bashing American culture. They were loud and I tried to stay on the opposite side from them.

When they left, that was when I became aware of the silence once again. I was reminded of a bible verse my pastor had told me before I left. It was Luke 9:4 when Jesus tells the disciples, “Stay until you leave.” Its message was the importance of being present in the moment, without worry of the past or fear of the future. It was a verse I was trying to live on this trip, and it suddenly came to life on top of that tower.

I did ask a couple—who turned out to be French again—to take a few pictures of me. They obliged and then I returned the favor. When the cold began to chill my nose, I decided to walk back down. On the descent, I counted 279 stairs.

Leaving the Castle was bittersweet. I was proud of how well I’d gotten here and navigated on my own. I loved the beauty and history of everything I’d seen. For some reason, I felt at home here.

But there was so much more of Prague to see. As of today, I had been on the ground in Prague for a week. That meant that 1/16^th (more than 5%) of my trip was over. Time was flying by and I needed to stay busy in order to see it all. So without hesitation, I hopped onto Tram 22, and descended down to find St. Nicholas Church.