Prague Castle: Every day there's a priest in a box!

Finally we decided to brave the tourist-filled place that every traveller visited, Prague castle. We had already pushed our way valiantly across Charles bridge to see the picturesque view and the iconic statues (wreathed in giant spiders much to my horror), now it was time for the big one. Prague castle is actually rather un-castle like, it must be said. It is more a complex, including medieval streets and houses, churches and other such important buildings. 

We arrived early in the morning to try and beat the crowds, and were rather successful with only a short line for tickets, and an hour or so of normal busyness before the entire place became ridiculously packed. St. Vitus Cathedral was perhaps the most architecturally impressive building in the complex, the original infrastructure dating back to the 900s, although the Gothic church you see today is from 1344. Whilst I rather enjoyed the beautiful carvings on the inside (including one relief work showing st. Vitus being boiled in oil -though he looked more like he was taking a pleasant bath) my favourite moment was when I spotted the confessional box. Yannick asked me If I was going to confess my sins to which I hastily told him -knowing little of the practice- that it wasn't Sunday so I couldn't. He happily asured me that everyday there is a priest in a box! 

The Defenestration of Prague is perhaps what the city has become most known for. There have in fact, been two defenestration, the latter of which was performed in the Prague castle complex and by far the more famous, and lighthearted one. Although we did visit the location of the first defenstrstion -occurring in 1419 - there was little to discern where it happened as it was simply a building with various balconies, no plaque or memorial. Few remember that thirteen council members were in fact thrown from the window and murdered. The second defenstrstion however, is far less gruesome. Occurring in 1618, two regents and their secretary were tossed from the window, some 17 feet. The craziest part was that they survived! Catholics claimed it was the work of angels, and it wasn't until much later that the well known they 'softened the fall with a dung heap' story began to be circulated, many think to try and undermine the otherwise divine explanation. 

All our sightseeing was hungry work, so we stopped off at a restaurant within the huge castle complex for a rather delicous morning tea of cake. 

The view from the restaurant was pretty breathtaking too. 

Our next stop was Golden Lane, a living complex for castle guards and goldsmiths. Dating from the 16th century it was rather picturesque but horribly packed. Many of the houses offered a little peek in, showing the life of someone who once lived and worked there. The room pictured below for example, was once home to Matylda Prušová, a fortune-teller. Her predictions were widely sought after, with clients sending letters all the way from Cape Town! Her frequent predictions for an early end to the war and the fall of the Third Reich meant that she was eventually kidnapped by the Gestapo and tortured to death. 

Each room held another surprise, a tiny kitchen, a lavatory, a cellar. Although it was very crowded, I enjoyed these glimpses back into the past.

Gaurds with rather terrifyingly large guns patrolled the castle area constantly; Yannick caught this one in mid-pirouette much to my amusement. 

My last view as we left the castle complex was of St. Vitus cathedral, standing proudly against the seething crowds.