Has Anyone Seen the Old Royal Palace??

I got up bright and early so I could get a jump on my visit to the Prague Castle. It is a very popular place with tourists. I found some good connections on the bus and Tram and was there by 8:30. There were already several large tour groups going around in this big gaggle of humanity. They were of different languages--but the largest contingent was the Japanese. I wanted to get a tour guide or at least one of those audio guides that you take along your way and listen to the information at your leisure.

The ticket office wasn't opened until 9:00 so after wandering around a bit I went over to the ticket office to wait. There were some people already there so I took my place among them. A few young women came past us (they worked there) to open the door to begin working. A few from the group came to the door in the attempt to go in (it was 10 mins. before 9) and she rudely shouted (in English) "Okay! We don't open up until 9:00!" Of course, she would assume that these pushy people must be Americans. (they weren't--they spoke another language) When we were finally let in at 9:00 on the dot, I went to the counter to get information. I wanted a guide and I was told that I had to get an audioguide. (It cost 450 Kr--over $20) When I had gone the other day we were told that it was free for the disabled. (this is apparently not true). The woman was not helpful or friendly she acted like she was put out at having to wait on me. I took the audio guide and left--what happened to Czech hospitality? (must be the left over negativity from communism--although I think it was over before this gal was born!)

I went first to the St. Vitus's Cathedral. It usually gets really crowded so I wanted to get in there early. I got to skip the line which really had no one in it--to go in through the exit. It was so interesting as I listened to the history of each one of the areas. There were many tombs of the saints buried there. The beauty and grandeur of the place was very humbling. Everywhere you looked there was beauty and art. The stained glass windows were just so intricate and detailed--each one with it's own flavor of the time. I spent over an hour in there absorbing the feeling--I really didn't want to leave but I had more to see.

I tried to go to the Old Royal Palace--but kept getting lost. The map showed it but there weren't any people around to help so I ended up at St. George's Basilica. It is said to be the oldest of the churches there. It was very plain--with a few of the tombs of the saints interred there. There were some steps that I couldn't go up--but I think I got to view most of it. Going over the stones to get to some of the buildings we extremely difficult. They were really textured and stood out enough for me to have to almost pop a wheelie over each one.

I went back where I thought the Old Royal Palace was. The brochure and books I read said that the entire Castle is wheelchair accessible so I was counting on getting to see a lot. I went down this very steep textured cement ramp to something called the Story of Prague Castle. At the bottom was a rather small building with a small step to get in. I popped myself in okay. Then they had these two very steep metal ramps heading down some steps. I figured I could probably get back up that okay--but was worried about the long ramp I had gone down to get there. There wasn't much too look at there--lots of reading which I wasn't in the mood for and some artifacts in glass cases. I made my way out--and headed up the ramp. I made it up half of it until the tough part. I figured if I looked like I was struggling (which I was) someone would come and help me--and they did.

I actually saw several other disabled people out today! (gimps day out?) Some were pushing themselves--it gave me some hope for these people. I hope they had better luck with the accessibility of the castle than I did.

I went to the picture gallery where they housed lots of paintings. Most of them were religious in nature but not all. The gallery did have these small lifts to get me to several of the different levels. Again, after viewing the pictures I tried for the Old Royal Palace. (was it hiding from me in plain sight?) I happened to run into one of our program coordinators there. (Margaret) She helped me to find the Old Royal Palace which happened to be a place that I had passed and checked several times. There were stairs into the entrance but I found a lift which climbed the stairs. However there wasn't anyone there to run the lift and it required to key to work. Margaret went in to ask for someone to operate the lift for me. I waited....and waited. Finally a lady came out and said there was no one there to help so I would have to wait ten more minutes. I did. Then she came out with another lady saying they were going to carry me up the stairs since she didn't know anything about the lift. I refused this as they didn't look like they could handle helping me. (I had a feeling they would have dumped me.) Then she told me to go around to the exit where there weren't any stairs. So, I bumped and bounced my way over there--and when we came up to it, there were stairs. The longer, wider ones--but not ones I could negotiate on my own. The exit lady was pretty rude too. I left there feeling frustrated with the whole situation.

I had been there over four hours and decided I'd had enough. I went back to the ticket office to return my audioguide. There were long crowded lines in which people pushed in front of me not caring as long as they got what they had come for. (sometimes I just hate tourists) I got my driver's license back, which I had to leave as a deposit and left there. I thought it would be nice to enjoy lunch there before I left. Many of the places I tried had steps so I headed to the tram stop. I passed one restaurant that didn't have steps and had an outside patio. I went and sat down. It was quite expensive but I decided that I would eat there anyway. I had grilled chicken breast. It came with nothing else and you had to buy any other sides. I had some potatoes and a salad with it. It was okay but not worth the $30 that the lunch cost. The best part was my gelato I had while waiting for the tram home.

I was hot and exhausted when I got home, It kept thundering and threatening to rain but never did. I was glad it was cooler today than the past week had been. I'd have to say that I was disappointed with the Prague Castle. Their boasting of it been so accessible is more hype than truth. Maybe I just needed a real guide to show me these entrances. I never did get to see the Old Royal Palace...oh well.