I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and sometimes I take that for granted.
Recently we realized that our daughter, Isabel, who is 4, had never been to Prague Castle. Which
The tunnel linking the two sides of Jelení Příkop. This was a new feature for me.
means it’s more than 4 years since I’ve been there myself. Of course, the 1st time visitor to Prague tours the castle. If they are sharp, they will also come at night, because it’s spectacular when it’s lit up. If you stay in town a little longer, you may come round a few more times because there are several art museums on the premises. There’s also a toy museum. The gardens (that is a deliberate plural) are worth a visit. They often have concerts. They sometimes do Shakespearean plays. There is more to do and see in Prague Castle than there is in most cities in Europe. But, after you’ve lived here a while, you run out of reasons to go up there, except occasionally when somebody from back home visits Prague for the 1st time.
So, it had been 4 years. We came in at the entrance where the old Riding Academy is and I gave the kids the choice, castle or garden, and was quite surprised when they picked the garden. First, we saw some falcons and owls and there was a guide there, with some Spanish tourists, and the lady was trying to take a picture and the guide said “Wait a minute, he’ll turn his head” and I wondered how she knew that and then she put her hand in front of his eyes and he turned his head, swiveled that sucker right around like Linda Blair in the exorcist.
We walked on through the garden, the kids wanted to dip their hands in every fountain and Isabel required strict watching because she loves picking flowers for Mommy, and I’m not sure she’s clear on the boundaries yet. The garden is much larger than it was the last time I was there, and goes right down to Jelení Příkop (Stag Moat in English) an incredible wild spot in the middle of the city. You can walk the length of it now but it used to be divided into two at the bridge which now has a really cool tunnel under it. Sam had been there before, with school, but it was a first for me.
Then, we went up and into the Castle proper, stepped into St. Vitus for a second to be awed by the stained glass, walked to the gate at the top of the stairs where you get a spectacular panoramic view of Prague over the river, gave a couple of coins to a guy dressed as a statue but Sam had to do that because Isabel was afraid of him, and shot streams of water at each other at the drinking fountain in front of Malostranska Metro station until some older people got annoyed with us.
It was a great day.
www.gurukalehuru.com 