After dumping our bags at the Jury’s Inn just after 6.30 pm last night we decided to take a walk down to the Vltava, the longest river with the Czech Republic. To get there you have to walk through the city, in the Old Town Square with lots of people and activities it reminded us both of Florence.

A quickish breakfast at the hotel with the hundreds of other people staying here and we were off for a day at Prague Castle. Fortunately the underground here isn’t difficult to master, so we took it so saving about 40 minutes walking time. Our first adventure for the day (after navigating the buffet with hoards of other tourists) was jumping on the fastest escalator I have ever been on. It kind of took me by surprise, so much so that I had to hang on for the fear of falling… it was the same just on this one for our return journey.

Prague Castle is massive and takes all day to see it all and listen to the audio, something’s that I hadn’t really appreciated when we took photos of it last night. It cost us about $21.00 AUD and the audio was the same ( just one for me today) and it worth it. There is so much to see and it’s become more and more amazing that I am starting to really recognise some of the actors that cast long shadows particularly in the Middle Ages.

Our first stop was St Vitus Cathedral. In past trips I have been all across where we are going and what to when we get there, but not this trip. We’ve just gone with the flow and booked a city ahead and so when I get to this Cathedral I am just a little embarrassed by how much I didn’t know about this country.

This church was founded in 930, with the building we are in being finished in 1344. It’s another gorgeous gothic style church that has the remains of many n important person including Good King Wenceslas… yep. So after having Queen singing “Mama Mia Figaro” in my head, I have “Good King Wenceslas went out on the feast of Stephen…”

This cathedral was the scene of a number of Czech coronations as well of course religious services. But back to the most intriguing story for me, the tale of the Bohemian King Vacaville Wenceslas (921- 935) who was known to be gentle and kind, beloved by his people. The story as we know is that on the Feast of Stephen he would go out in the cold to bear gifts for his people. His brother Boleslaw assassinated him for his throne, this is a common theme. His people were outraged and he was martyred and became Saint Wenceslas. What an unexpected find…

We then moved onto the Old Royal Palace which is mostly wooden. It was built in the 9th century and has been remodelled over the last few centuries.

It was here at this castle where three Catholics were thrown from a window by a group of Protestants. This act is known as “defenestration” and it occurred in 1618 sparking the Thirty Years War. This religious civil war was devastating for the people and it was a struggle for the balance of power in Europe. By the way the three survived, those thrown claimed divine intervention, those that did the throwing said that the fall wasn’t that great, the experts years later say that they survived no doubt because of the softness of what they landed on.. we will never know.

Next stop an exhibition called The Story of Prague Castle. It provides you with the history of this location in chronological order. It was fascinating starting with Mammoth bones that were found on site.

It’s a great exhibition with so much information in it. Archeologists were able to trace settlements of people in this area back until 530.

From here to St George’s Basilica the second church within Prague Castle, with some parts of this building dating back to 920. In 973 when the Benedictine nuns were founded the church was enlarged.

This church is more Romanesque in style, and has a number of people buried within its walls.

Then back to the hotel for a quick stop before heading back into town to the top of Old Town Hall. We took the lift up and the stairs down – perfect arrangement. We timed it so that we would be there at sunset, just beautiful.