The top tourist attraction in Prague is Prague Castle, located in the Hradcany district. (Hrad = castle, cany = hill.) So, since we only gave ourselves one full day in the Czech capital, we decided to bring Tessie up the hill for a visit.
I love little details like this because they remind me that this isn't a movie set or Disneyland - it's a real, working city:
Tessie charms her way past the guards...
... and we're in!
We wandered inside the castle for a while, past the massive gothic St. Vitus Cathedral (above), but the throng of tourists in line to enter dissuaded us from viewing the interior. That's the tail end of the line visible in the photo above. The entry is almost all the way on the opposite side of the cathedral.
So we did some more wandering, then arrived at the front gate just in time for the daily Changing of the Guard ceremony. We actually lucked into a great standing spot, as the main court was cordoned off and crowded with spectators and we ended up looking through the giant cast iron gates at the guards as they entered, performed their rituals, passed the ensign, and filed back out to their posts.
Since we were already outside the castle gates at this point, and there were so many people inside, we decided to head elsewhere for the rest of the day. The gates, by the way, are topped with enormous statues showing the kind of treatment those who enter the castle grounds without permission should expect:
Down the hill we went, pausing to again admire the view:
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