October 13th, part III - Continuing a full day in Prague.

Here are some more pictures of the beautiful stained glass in the cathedral.

The first picture shows the arched ceiling, as well as the stained glass windows over the altar at the east end of the cathedral.

The second shot shows the morning sun beaming through one of the huge windows.

The third is of the rose window over the two western entrances.

Full size images here, here, and here.

At the eastern end of the cathedral, right behind the altar, was this incredible piece of silverwork. I didn't think it was a tomb, but my good friend Liz set me straight. It is the tomb of St. John Nepomuk.

There were angels and what is most likely a saint on the top, holding a crucifix. A full size image of the second picture can be seen here.

I stand corrected.

The royal crypt was underneath the mausoleum on the main floor. It was open for people that purchased the all-areas passes, so we went through it as well.

The pictures are awful; the lighting down there was so low, I could barely see my own hand in front of my face, let alone enough for the camera.

The chamber where the royals actually lay was a bit better, that's the third picture (with Tracy and Rob). The others are very dark, and it's hard to tell what you're looking at.

There were numerous paintings around, hanging on walls as well as painted directly onto the stone.

The first photograph is of two paintings that were hanging next to a neat little door. I should have gotten a shot of the door itself, but I didn't.

The second one is of paintings (or mosaics, I couldn't really tell from where I was) on the stone in one of the little alcoves along the side of the cathedral.

We spent several hours in wonder, inside the cathedral. We had seen almost everything there was to see, while trying to dodge the huge tour groups that seemed to be everywhere. The guides were leading them around with streamers on a stick (so they could be seen in the crowd), and they made seeing some of the items quite difficult. But, we survived, none worse for the wear.

This picture is of a plaque on the wall, on the way out the door.

We finally stumbled out into the bright autumn sunlight, blinking. The first picture is of St. George's Basilica, as seen through an archway on the south side of the cathedral.

The second is of the end of the cathedral facing the Basilica. Inside this end is the altar. As was common with landmarks, it was partially shrouded in scaffolding as restoration seems to be a constant process.

The third and fourth pictures are of the southern face of the cathedral, and the clocks on the tower we climbed.

Our next stop was the palace itself. Only a small portion was open to the public.

Above the main entrance into the church (the palace had its own church inside) was a series of crests. I think that means 1029 AD, but I'm not sure about the characters between the 10 and 29.

As usual, the ceilings were breathtaking in the main hall.

The throne room was up a small spiral staircase to the left. The pictures of the monarchs came out fine, but the one of the throne itself sucked. My camera couldn't do any better with the glare from the windows on either side.

At the top of the staircase was a room completely full of crests on the walls and ceilings. I got yelled at by Helga The Palace Guard when I tried to take pictures - I had missed the sign saying no photographs were allowed. I thought she was going to kneecap me or something.

Beyond that was a room with a display case and some books, but for some reason I didn't take pictures of that. *boggle* That room opened into the throne room.

We could go out onto the southern parapet of the palace through a doorway from the main hall. The view was spectacular - it looked out over Old Town.

The first two pictures are of Old Town from the parapet, with its bridges and onion domes. The second two are of a small walkway, complete with benches and beautiful blooming flowers.

Here I am, standing on the southern parapet, with Old Town in the background over my shoulder.

The second picture was taken in the room leading out to the parapet. The stones were fit incredibly well. I didn't really understand the ridges - those were actually raised, and would trip a person up pretty easily.