Keys To The Prague Castle

Well, it was my last day in Prague. I’d already seen the castle. Nice – but I wasn’t wow’d. In fact, I had been underwhelmed by Prague overall.

The old town is certainly beautiful and rich in history but I found it way too touristy. Everyone raves about Prague, so I suppose I had come with too high of expectations. My time there was spent dodging the VERY! LOUD! tour guides leading people all over the city with their stupid umbrellas. Perhaps I’d find something in the city’s much-hyped about nightlife? Not so much. But maybe that’s because my night out left me soaked in a raging thunderstorm at three in the morning with nowhere to go.

I admit most of my Prague perceptions were based on unfortunate circumstances. But you know what was really missing? My usual mingling with the locals.

I didn’t get a chance to meet many Czech people and I think that has everything to do with why I didn’t feel fulfilled while I was there.

I learned a lot about the country’s role in WWII, its Gothic architecture, its interesting communist history and Velvet Revolution.

But I didn’t feel the cultural energy. I didn’t get to see the inside of a Czech family home. I didn’t get to share a home-cooked meal with a Czech family. I didn’t go to the farmer’s market with a Czech mother and watch her interact with her community. These are the things I crave when I come to a new city, and I didn’t get that.

On this last day, however, what I did get was a couple cute Czech firemen with keys to every imaginable door on the Prague castle grounds.

Oh yes I did.

I had spent my morning alone, walking up to Petrin Park to enjoy the hilltop views of the city and write out some postcards. It was a gorgeous day, but painfully hot and humid. I was sticky and icky and almost opted to take the funicular railway down.

Instead, I decided to stick it out to enjoy a pleasant walk back to the city via the Prague Castle. It was my last day, after all.

A good idea indeed!

As I neared the castle, a jolly bald Czech guy named Lukas started chatting me up. What started out as small talk with a friendly local stranger would turn into my absolute favorite experience in Prague.

Turned out, Lukas had some castle hook-ups – his buddies were resident firemen of the Prague Castle and they just happened to be working that day! Lukas was well-acquainted with one of them, Petr, because they had met while cycling through South America a few years ago. Um, did I just meet some super cool peeps or what?! What amazing travel stories they had! The other fireman was named Tibor and he had an uncanny resemblance to a Tibor I once dated back in Orange County. It’s one thing to have the same unusual name, but to look nearly identical to him as well? Weird.

Anyway, I was delighted to meet some local people and was ready for whatever adventures awaited us. Petr and Tibor were bored silly – the Prague Castle hadn’t had any fire emergencies in all the time they’d worked there and these guys were thrilled to have something to do. They grabbed a humongous set of keys and off we went.

We bypassed all signs, warning “Nepovolaným Vstup Zákazán” (No Unauthorized Entry).

And we always managed to find the correct key. Even if we had to try all the wrong ones first!

After a series of spiral concrete stairs, heavy mystery doors, and many successful *click clicks* of the magic keys, I found myself on the inside balcony of the Prague Castle’s St. Vitus Cathedral, looking at this:

This balcony runs along the entire perimeter of the cathedral, and my Czechs and I are the only people on it. Below us is a majestic sight of Gothic architecture, the reflecting lights of old, stained glass windows…and…the suckers who paid to see it from the ground. I was giddy and awe-stricken at the same time. What a sight this was! I’d seen the Prague Castle the day before, but definitely not like this.

How lucky was I to meet these guys! And how perfect was our timing that the sun was positioned to shine right through those amazing stained glass windows at that very moment!

But WAIT.

There’s more.

Petr and Tibor also had access to the castle’s highest tower point, which offers awesome views of the city. Now, anyone can pay to go about halfway up this tower, but no visitors are allowed to go to the very tip of it. So naturally, I jumped at the opportunity!

It was no cake walk though. After huffing and puffing our way up about 300 spirally tower steps, the firemen led Lukas and me up through some hot, stuffy, dark attic-like rooms (note that this tower was originally built in 1396 and last restored in the 1800s). We climbed up old rickety ladders in pitch blackness, over suspiciously wobbly wooden planks, and through several thick cobwebs. There were even birds nesting in there!

At last, we reached the top. It was terribly windy and scary up there, as I could feel a slight swaying of the tower. It was obviously not designed to have people standing on it, which made it all the more exciting.

We were rewarded with this vantage point of the courtyard below:

And this spectacular view of the city:

It was a perfect way to end my visit to Prague. Thanks Petr! Thanks Tibor! Thanks Lukas!

But I didn’t leave the castle grounds without first insisting on sampling some firemen gear. I even walked away with a Prague Castle Fire Department T-shirt.

Winner!