Pension lawyer meets world: Prague

Well its the most famous site in Prague so I decided to start the trip with the obligatory visit to the Castle complex. Also given a wet forecast I assumed there might be more things under cover.

But first stop before the climb was St Nicholas' Church - an admirable example of Baroque lack of restraint. And there were many more examples to come.

Prague has a great number of beautiful doors - more to come later.

The old fashioned way of dealing with pagans - a crozier to the jaw.

So you get the picture - very lavish.

On to the Castle.

The climb up is quite a steep one, but worth the effort rather than getting a bus up.

See what I mean about the doors?

Now very reasonably a ticket for the Castle is valid for two days. Not that you can't do all the sites in one day - but you would be pushing it. Especially if you make the mistake of using the AccoustiGuide as I did to begin with. Its just far too detailed.

To start with the weather wasn't favourable, but then again light drizzle isn't going to put off anyone from Britain. And it gave some of the courtyards a certain attraction with the wet stonework.

St Vitas cathedral

Early zombies?

Now for some sights within. The first is a little palace originally used for the young ladies of distressed gentlefolk. I am sure you can imagine there could be no better cause than how one can bring up young ladies of noble birth but no money. So they were interred here, allowed to attend opera but not comedy theatre, presided over by an abbess, attending to their needlework and the like until they could attach themselves to a gentleman of breeding who wasn't put off by their lack of cash.

The ladies had a good view

This place also contains a rather nice exhibition of gargoyles and stonework

The bastion at the end of the complex offers the fine views one would expect, even in misty drizzle.

Next up, Golden Lane, a row of impossibly twee little shops set into the Castle Walls. Originally workshops and dwellings of the poor, now a combination of knick-knack shops and a museum/armoury.

A collection of torture instruments

Are we sitting comfortably? Perhaps not on this

Some of these helmets just got out of hand

Go on, imagine a more twee souvenir shop than this

Now the Dalibor Tower, used as a jail. Needless to say a Castle jail isn't quite up to the standard of modern open prisons. A stay here would be rather more of a deterrent to failing to pay your TV licence.

For when just a pair of handcuffs doesn't offer enough restraint

Not designed for comfort

A fully-kitted out designer dungeon.

St George's Basilica is one of the oldest bits of the castle complex. Its a Romanesque church, re-built after a fire in the 12th century, given a baroque makeover but then restored again to its more austere origins. So overall quite an interesting building and a nice change from the Baroque overkill of for example, St Nicholas'.

And I like a good crypt

But back to the Baroque for comparison. Don't you just love those cheery cherubs?

By now, drizzle had turned into torrential rain such that even Noah would have thought someone was taking the piss. At least it did mean one could take photos of the courtyards sans tourists.

A gargoyle on the cathedral showing its real purpose, as a rainspout

For fans of flying buttresses

So, back inside again for shelter and onto the Royal Palace. The most impressive part of this is the Gothic Vladilav Hall. It s just such a beautiful space. And as you can see, a very big one. With complicated tracery that has a slight art nouveau feel.

Replicas of the Czech Crown Jewels are here. An interesting comparison with our own, which of course date from a much later time with greater technological advances. Here its all gold and colour. The stones are polished, not cut, so they just come in whatever shape they started with.

The New Land Rolls, decorated with the crests of the clerks who worked here. All computerised now no doubt....

The rest of the building is now a museum of history.

Then there is St Vitus' Cathedral. A big project this, started in the 14th century but only completed by 19th and 20th century architects and artists (they say Wembley overran...), it is undoubtedly a stunning gothic masterpiece. And dry.

Nice art nouveau stained glass, this designed by Alfons Mucha

Now this is the Tomb of St John Nepomuk, a big saint locally (and the patron saint of bridges, having been thrown off one). This is solid silver, yes I repeat, solid silver. And its vast.

This is the St Wenceslas Chapel, yes Good King Wenceslas (who was killed by his brother (presumably Bad) King Boleslav). Where there are any gaps in paintings on the walls they are filled with polished gemstones.