Blog Archives

Golden Lane

25/4/2015

Golden Lane is one of the most popular attractions in Prague Castle. The adorable little assortment of multicoloured houses first originated in the 15th century. It still gets to me just how old a lot of the buildings are in Europe. In Australia the oldest structures are from around the 1880s. The houses are a part of the castle grounds, originally used by castle guards as living quarters. Later on they became home to the palace archers and the street was called Archery Lane. It's name changed to Golden Lane when a number of goldsmiths moved in, though local legend suggests that alchemists tried to turn metal into gold here. It is so fascinating that such a tiny little street has such a long and varied history. The houses themselves were inhabited well into the 20th century, Franz Kafka lived in his sister's house here in 1916-1917. Now though they are mere replicas of the homes they once were. Displays struggle to show what they might have looked like in the past. There are some odd little stores in some of the houses. One store was full to the brim with handcrafted wooden puppets, another with work books in Czech. It was certainly a beautiful place to visit, but it left one feeling slightly sad for all those lives lived there. Without the tourists you see, it would resemble a ghost town.

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Dungeon

19/4/2015

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“This exists. It can be seen. It can be touched. These in pace, these dungeons, these iron hinges, these necklets, that lofty peep-hole on a level with the river's current, that box of stone closed with a lid of granite like a tomb, with this difference, that the dead man here was a living being, that soil which is but mud, that vault hole, those oozing walls, --what declaimers!”
- Victor Hugo, "Les Misérables"

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Prague Castle

17/4/2015

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Like any little girl, I dreamt of living in a castle. I dreamt of wandering it's halls in pretty dresses and silk slippers. Of eating from expensive crockery and dancing in a ball room. As you get older, reality creeps further and further in. I still dream of it, though I dream of it in a slightly different fashion. I dream of chance meetings and being whisked away from adoring crowds. It is the vain part of me that hopes for that.

This castle though did not fulfil those dreams of living in grandeur, though the castle did have it's fair share of the spectacular. Large, iron gates separate the castle from the commoners and the fences encapsulate a lot more than merely one palace. There is a whole town hidden within the walls. Laneways filled with little homes, which used to be occupied by castle staff, twist and turn and provide a cobblestone maze through the wonders that are always present in castles. So while I didn't get to live there, it was fun to pretend for a day.

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Saint Vitus

15/4/2015

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This spectacular cathedral is part of the magnificent Prague Castle. Saint Vitus' Cathedral is really all sorts of beautiful. I bought a photography pass so I could take photographs of the building. Wandering around, it was easy to get caught up. You could spend hours trying to take in every detail. It is just that full of interesting things. From the windows to the candles, there was something to look at everywhere you looked.

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View from the Castle

11/4/2015

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I do love a good view, especially when the view is over my lovely Prague. This view over the red roofs of the city is from Prague Castle. The walk up to the castle from Charles Bridge is pretty beautiful too. Mel and I stopped on the way up to get some hot chocolate with a candy cane in it. Then we wandered all the way up, window shopping and people watching. We both bought these possum fur hats, as it was freezing up there. Then we sat at the entrance to the castle for a while, gazing out over the view. It was pretty difficult to leave actually. Eventually we managed to pull ourselves away long enough to make it in to the castle itself. Took a lot of effort though. I mean, look at that view!