Travel to Prague, Czech Republic Day 2

See Prague, Day 1

The second day, we went to the must-see Prague Castle that sets on top of the hills near the Old Town area. It is thought that Prague Castle was founded around the year 880 by Prince Borivoj of the house of Premyslides. Today Prague Castle, besides the seat of the head of state, has become an important cultural and historical monument. The crown jewels are kept in Prague Castle, the relics of Bohemian kings, precious Christian relics, art treasures and historical documents.

To get to the castle, you will have to cross the Vltava River using Charles Bridge which was built on 1937. Here are the picture of Charles Bridge and you can see The Prague Castle identified by the green tower and two tower of St. Vitus Basilica.

The entrance to Charles Bridge.

Along the bridge are a 30 statues of saints. One of the statue is St. John of Nepomuck which I don't have the picture here but here is the story. The discord between John and King Wenceslas IV happened after the vicar steadily refused the King’s request in divulging the Queen’s confession. As if he did not think that was enough to infuriate the King, the vicar also expressed his sentiment by publicly declared, "Only he who rules well is worthy of the name of king." King Wenceslas found revenge by ordering no abbot would be elected after the last abbot died.

Ignoring the King's order, John confirmed Odelenus as the new abbot. When the news reached the King, all persons involved in the election were arrested. John of Nepomuch refused to yield even when parts of his body were burned. On Mach 20, 1393, the King ordered that the vicar be chained and led through the city with a block of wood in his mouth. When the parade ended, John of Nepomuck was thrown from the Karlsbrücke into the river Vltava. He was later buried in Prague Cathedral. In 1719, during the gathering of evidences for the beatification, the vicar’s grave was opened and his tongue was found intact.

That's the story of John. Going up the castle you will see beautiful view of the Prague city.
The entrance of Prague Castle are marked by the beautiful Hradcanske Square.
The first prime minister of Prague.

We were in luck because by the time we arrived, the changing of guards ceremony are in place.

As usual when visiting castle, you have to take pictures with the stone-faced guard.

We took Prague Castle – short tour which include entrance to Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica and Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower for 250 CZK. It was a waste of money though because either than the Old Royal Palace which is good but a palace with cheap photostat pictures showing the history, St. George Basilica is another church and Golden Lane is row of shops that you have to pay to get in although it situated the Franz Kafka (famous writer) place. There are a lot more places that are nicer and free around the area.

One of it is St. Vitus Cathedral which is an impressive gothic style building started to be built on 1344. It takes a lot of time to be completed and finally completed by 1929.
See the beautiful stained glasses.

Here is St. George's Basilica which is very different design that St. Vitus Cathedral. While St. Vitus is all about grandeur and stained glass, St. George's Basilica is very simple, full of light and boxy stones. It's the oldest preserved church in Prague Castle. It's construction predates St. Vitus but due to the fire, it was rebuilt. Only the foundations of the building, founded about 920 by Prince Vratislav I, have been preserved.
Then, we went to Golden Lane where house where Franz Kafka used to live, no. 22, which had been turned to souvenir's shop. His stories was among the most influential in Western literature. Some of his works are Metamorphosis and The trial which concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.

We want to take the pictures at Mala Strana but the exits of the castle sits at the other side from where we came in. Therefore, we just went back to the apartment. If you saw Mission Impossible 1, you can see the Charles Bridge, the twin stairs that Tom Cruise run and some of the buildings in Mala Strana.