Many of Josef Sudek's beautiful photographs were made in St.Vitus Cathedral. So of course I needed to make a pilgrimage there. St.Vitus Cathedral is part of the Prague Castle complex. The foundation for St.Vitus was laid in 1344. It was finally completed in 1929. It is an incredible building.
I set out for the castle at about 10AM. It took me a few hours to get there, not because it is far away from the hotel, but because I made quite a few stops on the way, for coffee and czech bread, to gaze lustfully at crystal chandeliers, and just to drink in the beautiful day.
When I arrived at the outside of Prague Castle, there was a huge line up to get into the 'first courtyard.' I started chatting with an older lady from Boston. Neither of us was actually sure if we were in the line to buy tickets. When we got to the front of the line (which actually moved quite quickly), it turned out we were going through security. We passed security, and then walked into the 'second courtyard.' There was ANOTHER enormous line to buy tickets. It turns out you can wander around the palace grounds for free, but if you want to go into any of the buildings you need tickets. My new friend said that she was finished. The walk up the hill to the palace had given her enough of an idea. She turned around and left.
I got into line and waited. If Josef Sudek could carry all of his camera equipment up that hill with one arm, then I could stand in a line for 20 minutes. After buying my tickets, I got into ANOTHER line to go into the cathedral. I am so glad I did. St.Vitus cathedral is stunning. There are different styles of stained glass and sculptures throughout the cathedral, representing the centuries of decoration.
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