Prague Castle

Looking up at the gargoyles on St. Vitus Cathedral
Inside the cathedral

Mosaic over Golden Gate: bodies rising on left, saints praying in center, bad boys being sent to you-know-where on right

Outside of cathedral - note the flying butteresses

Palace gate commemorating some heroic battle

Prague Castle sits on a hill across the river from the Old Town. It is very large but since most of the exhisting buildings were built in the 16 – 1800’s for living and administration it doesn’t look much like you would expect a castle to look. But right in the middle is St. Vitus Cathedral. And that definitely looks like you would expect a cathedral to look. The stained glass windows were fantastic. The old part of the cathedral was built in the 1400’s but the new part wasn’t finished until the late 1800’s so there were windows in both old and new styles. And the mosaics! Both inside and outside. I especially liked the window by Mucha (an art nuevo artist) and the mosaic of Judgment Day over the Golden Gate entrance. Which side of the panel do you want to be on?
We walked down off the hill through what is known as the Little Quarter. When it was built there were no house numbers so your mail was delivered to “the house of the goat” i.e. the house with the relief of a goat over the door, or “the house of the Virgin” i.e. the house with the picture of the Virgin Mary painted over the door. Most of the buildings there are still the originals, but now with shops in the downstairs which cater to tourists.
Speaking of tourists, the place is crawling with them! The business parts of Prague must not be in the same part of town as the tourist stuff. Every other person you see is carrying either a map or a guide book, and they all have cameras around their necks. Now, Bear’s camera is nothing to sneeze at but he is definitely outclassed around here!