Karlštejn Castle

On Thursday we took Grandma Zona and Lois to Hrad Karlštejn for an excursion outside of Prague. We had a fun time on the train and poking our way up through the little town (which mainly consists of tacky tourist shops and beer gardens).

Karlštejn looks magnificent on the way up, but once you get up to the castle there's not much to do besides wait for your tour (and watch the Polish bride and groom have their picture taken). We had read our guidebook so we knew that to visit the most important and impressive rooms in the castle you have to make reservations in advance, which David did the day before. The girls were so patient during the 100 minute tour. Eleanor got into it and was asking questions - she impressed the other people on the tour with her knowledge of history. Little did they know she comes by it honestly. I told Claire about how Uncle Buddy and I used to look for St. George and the Dragon everywhere we went in Europe, so even Claire managed to entertain herself on the tour. She got a kick out of donning the special slippers over our shoes so we didn't scratch the Renaissance floor tiles.

The highlight of the castle, and dare I say any castle in Europe, is the Chapel of the Holy Cross. It is a truly magnificent room - encrusted in gold leaf and semi-precious stones and decorated with 139 saints painted by Magister Theodoric in the 1360s. The Chapel was closed for over 10 years for reconstruction (including when we lived here before so this was my first visit).

The most exciting time of the visit came when the tour guide was explaining why visitors are limited to 15 people per hour now. She said that previously they let in up to 150 people/hour and the humidity from their breath and bodies contributed to damaging the precious chapel. Now visitors are limited and the scientists monitor the humidity in the room. Claire, with the perfect timing of a 4 year old, chose this moment to whisper in my ear, "I really need to go to the bathroom!" Now, we're at the top of the tower and there are at least 7 locked doors and numerous staircases between us and the WC, so I whispered back to Claire, "It's OK, just try to go a little peepee in your panties." The 100 minute tour had been too long for Claire and she SOAKED her clothing. But, thankfully, she did it very quietly and no one noticed - not the tour guide, not the other visitors, not even Papa or ever-vigilant older sister. It was a secret between me, Claire, and the scientists who were going to check the machines and wonder why there was such a spike in humidity around 5:00 on June 5. Perhaps Gregory the Great and the other saints noticed too.