A Grand Day Out (at Vyšehrad)

And today continues the long-awaited time that I’d actually get out and do something in Prague…in a city with monuments, castles, and all kinds of other stuff that would make any normal traveler go catatonic with sheer glee, I’m here debating whether or not to spend a weekend inside reading a new book (but in my defense, it’s a REALLY good book…).  At any rate, with a little over three weeks to go, I think it’s time I actually got out and started touring like a good American visitor…only without one of those cursed Segways, of course…

Given that my metro pass is set to expire this week, I thought it best to start visiting the stuff farther out first, and this weekend it’s starting off with Vyšehrad Castle.  This picturesque former fortress is several miles south of Prague and is also one of the oldest sites around Prague and the Czech Republic; archaeological digs have discovered items dating from around 900 AD, before any Slavs had settled in the area.  In later centuries it was thought to be the original castle in the Prague area, serving as the basis for the mythical origins of Prague and the Czech Republic (albeit with severe embellishment in the nineteenth centuries).

Today the major attractions at Vyšehrad are the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (unfortunately for us they don’t allow pictures inside the church) and walking around the gardens (built on the former armory) and battlements that ring the entire site; walking along the walls, it’s easy to see why this place was fortified so early; you can see for miles around and almost over the entirety of Prague’s central districts, so it was quite impressive in my opinion.

Of course, the trip wouldn’t be complete without bring Flat Stanley along.  Since I don’t much care for having my picture taken, he got to be the photogenic one for the whole afternoon; there were some odd looks from the natives, but several English-speaking tourists seemed to get the idea…

…oh, did I mention there was a medieval-style ax-fight reenacted while we were there?  Awesome way to spend a Sunday, that’s for sure.

Here we are on the way in…

…wow, these guys were strict about security stuff…

Looking down the main avenue of the place

And another view of the main street…

…these tennis courts seem oddly out of place to me…

Flat Stanley in front of the main gate

Strange, you’d think the main gate in would be stronger than the other one…

Flat Stanley on the street leading to the Church

From a closer vantage point…this place is HUGE…

And there’s the base of the thing…like I said, HUGE.

Right next to the church they have some lovely little park space to relax in.

At the giant map at the opening of the outdoor gardens.

Church as viewed from the side…

Yeah, this place is big…you can see it all the way from the city center, actually.

Like I said, it’s BIG.

At the main entrance to the church

Flat Stanley at the entrance to the adjoining cemetery.

Not sure whose grave this is, but it sure was popular with passersby…

The grave of Karl Chapek, the writer that invented the word “robot.” Yeah, I’m a nerd…

Part of the cemetery here is a monument to recent Czech cultural figures.

That’s the statue topping the memorial

Traversing the giant “maze to heaven.”

And Flat Stanley joins the crowd cheering the guy on…

Part of the battlements have now been made into a theater for local productions.

These walls are surprisingly well-fortified…but then again, this is a castle…

…walking along these things is intimidating beyond belief…

Don’t know who this is, but he’s obviously had a bad day.

Looking back over the river from the battlements to Prague Castle…