From Petrin Hill, I wander aimlessly around Old Town Prague in the light rain.
On a narrow path, approaching tourists lift their umbrellas high when they pass me.
One young woman, with a young man on an arm, looks me straight in the eye as she approaches.
She is determined that she will not lift her umbrella and will try to force me off the path.
Since stepping off the path would get me hit by a passing car, I hold my line.
I duck at the last second to save being poked in the eye, and quickly lift my head up inside her umbrella as she passes, pushing it up with my head.
She gasps as I pass and I smile to myself for my mischief, while still looking over my shoulder to see if the boyfriend is taking undo exception.
Later, as I’m looking at some architecture, a British couple stops near me.
The man says to his wife, “Well here I am doing the touristy thing; I’m out walking.”
I chuckle.
I pass a sign – Unique Chocolate Beer – and though I’m intrigued, and though I enjoy the taste of both chocolate and beer, I can’t imagine I’d like them together, so I carry on.
I follow a large group of tourists who seem determined to get somewhere.
I follow them up a staircase – 208 steps in all – despite having no idea where the steps lead.
At the top, a freakin’ Starbucks.
Can you believe it?
Bloody Americans…no wonder most of my investments are in the US market.
And, oh yes, at the top of the staircase is also the famous Prague Castle.
An advertisement states that the Bohemian Crown Jewels are on display.
I chuckle at my impure thoughts, though I’m sure they mean rings and crowns and other jeweled artifacts.
I wander around the castle grounds, which is packed with tourists, and I wonder what chaos this place sees at the height of the tourist season.
While there are many interesting architectural features – I am at one point absorbed by the little statues on a gate for the twelve horoscope signs – I am captivated primarily with watching a couple of young female workers making repairs to the pillars of the Great South Tower of St. Vitus Cathedral.
They are applying a lightly-tanned grout to the cracks between the stones.
It is fascinating watching them work and I wonder if I might volunteer myself for similar work.
Ah, yes, to work on a great cathedral, to have that feeling of adding some small thing to something greater than myself.
I wonder if they see the glory in their work, or if they think it’s just a job, which, I guess technically, it really is.
As I leave the castle grounds, I chuckle again at the advertisement for the Crown Jewels.
