Day 22: Another Castle — Matt Goes Exploring

Prague Castle was unlike the others I have seen so far on this trip. Rather than one stronghold it was more of a wall surrounding a bunch of other buildings and gardens. Nothing wrong with that, just wanted to point it out.

I let myself sleep in a little this morning, maybe not the best decision I've ever made, but it was nice. I woke up to dark grey clouds threatening rain. Undaunted I put my rain jacket in my bag and set out for the castle.

As the first rain shower of the day fell I stepped into a restaurant for lunch. There I had a spicy pasta dish that wasn't really that spicy. UNTIL the final bite, when I must have bit right down onto a seed from hell because never have I experienced the kind of heat I experienced at the end of this meal. I finished all of my water and all of my bread and ultimately had to chew a piece of mint gum to fight off the heat. Tears leaked from my eyes.

But the rain had stopped and I continued my way towards the castle. I came upon the entrance to a park. Immediately I wanted to go into the park but I hesitated. I didn't know how much time I needed to get to the castle, let alone how much time it would be open when I got there, so I almost didn't go into the park.

But I still did. The curious and open mind prevails.

I'm very glad I did because this was perhaps the most interesting park in all of Prague. First of all, a small pond right by the entrance contained a surprising piece of art. In the middle of the water, two white legs stuck out of the pond. I could not explain why, but I thought it was great.

As I explored the rest of the park I heard a loud cry. I had no idea what could have made this noise. Eventually I found one corner of the park was populated by peacocks. There were several males with their tails in full form. A little girl ran around throwing bread for the birds. Pigeons stole what they could, but they got out of the way when one of the peacocks came around.

Don't be afraid to say yes to an opportunity, even if it's out of your way. You never know what might be waiting around the other corner.

After spending some time with the beautiful peacocks, I continued on my way to the castle. Eventually I found the entrance, which was a long uphill path to the castle. Once inside the walls I first explored the gardens. These gardens had a spectacular view of all of Prague.

I then explored the inner part of the castle, which included a very impressive church. As I walked around it I was surprised to hear organs through the walls. I didn't know the church was still in use, but that explains why they wouldn't let anyone go inside.

Also inside Prague Castle was a street called the "Golden Lane." I'm not sure why it's called that, but it was a very cute little street. I mean that literally, the houses were tiny. It's like I had found Hobbiton prematurely (foreshadowing to New Zealand in a few weeks). Some of the houses had shops on the bottom floor, but I couldn't tell if anyone lived there because some of them had second floors. I thought it would be interesting to live in one of these houses, but after thinking about it, your back would probably hurt from having to duck from the ceilings all the time. (For the picture of this, see the thumbnail at the top of the page)

After wandering around the castle the rain returned, this time in much greater force. The castle started to shut down and I made my way to the exit. My rain jacket finally came in handy. I've only used that jacket a few times since Ireland, but I'm still glad to have it, especially on a day like this.

With daylight fading and rain falling I started the walk back to the apartment, keeping my eyes open for dinner options along the way.

So ends my journey in Prague, tomorrow I am off to Vienna. I will miss this city, it has been good to me, but of course I look forward to the new adventures that await me. I now only have two European cities left on my journey, Vienna and Budapest. Then on to Tokyo, Sydney, and New Zealand. With a tentative return date for early August, I only have about a month left on my journey. But that is all I will say about that. I still have so much exploring to do.

Before I wrap up my writing of Prague, I have to say something about the room I've been sleeping in. The bed is a loft above the rest of the room, I actually have to climb a ladder to get up to it. It's so much fun and so nice. I will add some photos here to make the image clearer. I may eventually base a room of my own off this design.