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Those of y'all who know me, this is no surprise. But it's interesting, I was reading elsewhere here that some intrepid young traveler has arrived in Prague for a 12-day stay. I just cannot imagine staying in one place for that long!

And, of course, with the surprise windfall of two extra days next week, I've every intention of cramming in at least one more city. :) Stay tuned.

Yesterday we saw more of Praha (Prague) than I ever imagined possible. We headed off to Pražský Hrad (Prague Castle) with every intention of spending the entire day there. On the way, I thumbed through the Rickster's guide and he says that most of the castle sights are skippable. We were pleased to take his advice, and of the critical five he recommends, we even skipped one more. This left us with a really pleasant, leisurely pace through:

* Kaple sv. Kříže (Chapel of the Holy Rood/Cross)... our first and possibly my favorite sight, which is so low-key that it isn't on any of the castle maps or signs and we found it entirely by accident. It's a door off the courtyard gift shop which is normally kept closed but happened to be ajar. I, nosy American, stuck my head in and we were treated to the most amazing ceiling murals and other art, pretty much entirely to ourselves for as long as we wanted it. Highlight: alternating Biblical heroes and heroines near the ceiling including Ruth, Esther, Deborah and Judith.

* Katedrála sv. Víta (St. Vitus' Cathedral)... spectacular. We skipped the 25% of the inside that requires a ticket, and found the free 75% (including the Mucha stained glass window and King Václav/Wenceslas' tomb) to be more than satisfying enough. Bazillions of great opportunities for photography, both souveniry and artsy.

* Leisurely lunch in an overpriced castle café, just before the tour groups descended upon their reserved tables.

* Skipped Starý královský palác (Old Royal Palace) and Lobkovický palác (Lobkowicz Palace) as these would have put us way, way over our daily museum limit. Buying some extra time for our feet definitely reaped benefits later; read on....

* Paid for admission to Bazilika sv. Jiři (Basilica of St. George), which wasn't even on my original list, and enjoyed it very much. The tomb of St. Ludmila (King Wenceslas' mother) was just lovely, and someone is making sure fresh flowers are kept there.

* Paid for a walk through Zlatá ulička (Golden Lane), which I really don't think was worth it. In prior years, these quaint little mind-your-head shops were operated by real, working craftspersons whom one could observe at their trade. Now they're pretty much just young clerks staffing overpriced tchotchke shops. But, one has to get down the hill to the gate one way or another, so this didn't add too many extra steps.

* Skipped the Toy Museum, although Drea swears she would have indulged my Barbie habit if I'd been in the mood. She's a great travel companion, though, and I definitely don't need to push my luck with that. ;)

* Finally, the view of Praha (Prague) from the lower castle gate is just spectacular. No wonder the kings, and later the socialist rulers, made their homes here.

But wait! There's more!

At supper time, we decided to brave the somewhat cryptic overland tram system because we were tired of shuttling all over Prague on the underground Metro and missing all the scenery. This worked out well, and we found ourselves in an outdoor café smack in the middle of the Staroměstské Náměstí (Old Town Square) with a panoramic view around the square of Staroměstská Radnice (Old Town Hall), the Jan Hus memorial and the Kostel sv. Mikuláše (Church of St. Nicholas) in front of us, Kostel paní Marie pred Týnem (Church of Our Lady of Týn) behind, and a tasty dark Czech pivo (beer) to accompany it all.

After supper we strolled (occasionally, limped) around the Staré Město (Old Town), just missing the hourly show of the Pražský orloj (astronomical clock), but thoroughly enjoying the enchanting, winding, confusing streets. We found ourselves on the Karlův most (Charles Bridge) precisely at sunset, and I got some wonderful photos to rival any picture postcard.

We agreed that what distinguishes Prague from, say, Dresden and Berlin is that they've preserved the entire, huge Staré Město (Old Town) neighborhood with almost no intrusions from the modern world. If you're out of sight of Na Přikopě, the street that divides the old town from the Nové Město (New Town), you can walk for hours through nothing but charming old buildings with beautifully-preserved architecture. It's magical. Thank heavens they managed to keep the socialists from mucking this up.

Now, I don't know what Rick is talking about when he says Karlova street is overflowing with internet cafés. We walked its entire length twice and only found one, which closed early. :P

We finished the evening with coffee and cakes back on the square, enjoying the panoramic view again but this time by night.

We stuck to tourist areas throughout the day, but we no longer feel bad about that (speaking for myself, anyway!). We're in Prague for the express purpose of seeing its most famous sights, and it doesn't make much sense to be surprised or annoyed that the rest of the known world wants to see them too. In fact, we've been amazingly lucky where crowds are concerned, and they've almost never slowed us down. Even when occasional Americans (and Germans) are annoying or embarrassing, it does pay to remember that they're the ones who care enough about the world to bother to come here. The ones we should worry about are the ones who stay home! (In fact, Prague is overflowing with an amazingly diverse bunch of travelers... German, British and American English, Japanese, Greek, Italian, and Spanish are some of the languages we've recognized along the way.)

The final piece of excellent news: Czechs now look pleasantly surprised when I say "děkuji" (thank you), and they often smile and reply "prosím" (you're welcome). This is a major improvement over the blank stares I was getting before, so I think I might be getting the hang of pronouncing it!

Dobrou noc (good night) for now, all!

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