Excursions to Prague - is the same excursion really the same?

On Thursday, May 9, 2019, 2 more classes (3SB and 3EA) went to Prague to the Castle and the Museum of Communism. It seemed to be the same, but for example as soon as we arrived at the security gates we were surprised to find fewer other visitors than the week before. There was a problem when buying, not with overtaking guides, but with the contrived rules of the lady at the ticket counter... there was no problem at the next ticket counter. Even at St. Vitus Cathedral there was no queue. But unfortunately we kept bumping into other groups inside. On the positive side, these were school groups of younger children.

In the cathedral we were once again welcomed by the genius loci of this incredible place. One could say that the atmosphere itself made our expedition quieter the closer we got to the oldest parts of the cathedral. This time, the old sacristy was lit up, and we were able to see the hanging bolt that is the motif on the hundred-crown note.

We had to walk very carefully at the far end because of the large number of people, but we made it. We moved closest to the wreath of chapels, and we saw the sarcophagi of Czech kings - for example, Premysl Otakar II, whose reliefs were decorated with statues of lions at the feet of the sarcophagus. We also listened to the interpretation of a teacher of a primary school, when she told how Jan Nepomucký was killed because of a confessional secret, so we immediately put it right.

We left the cathedral behind and headed to the Old Royal Palace, followed by a visit to St. George's Basilica. We had been discussing since the morning whether we would skip the Golden Lane, but the students themselves decided that we would go there even though we would have to "pedal" a bit afterwards. The alley was relatively free, someone went to see the torture chamber in Daliborka and we slowly headed out of the Castle. We were stopped by a changing of the guards, and as we stood there in the 2nd courtyard, one of the bodyguards indicated that we would see something in a moment. Three cars pulled up, the President in the passenger seat of the second.

And now we were just heading downtown. We still had to see the House of Two Suns, where Jan Neruda lived, stop under the St. Nicholas Cathedral, and on the Charles Bridge we were entertained by young artists from the conservatory with well-known melodies. We missed the Astronomical Clock, so we hurried past the Estates Theatre to the Municipal House and on to the Museum of Communism. Here there were discussions about Tuzex, the possibilities of emigration and most interesting was a film documentary tracing the history of communism in our country. The period footage, for example from 1968, but especially from 1989, was very shocking.

And so, in fact, no two excursions will ever be the same.

Mgr. Ludmila Petržalová