Christopher Robin went down with Alice

They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace -
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
"Do you think the King knows all about me?"
"Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea,"

Says Alice.

The lines of this childhood A. A. Milne poem (and thankfully not the illustration to his Brownie) ran through and through my head yesterday afternoon on my way back from the Sternberg Palace. It was no Buckingham Palace, to be sure. (It houses the National Gallery of Prague's Collection of Old Masters. Not my favorite stuff, but a fine way to spend a Friday afternoon.) But I did catch the Changing of the Guard at Prague Castle.

Growing up seeing movies or television shows or whatever depicting the Guard at Buckingham Palace, reading about their rigidity, lines like "A soldier's life is terrible hard," had me prepared to see a brief and sober ceremony. But for the guards last afternoon, none of that old-fashioned stoicism! There were two guards coming and two guards going, and three of the four were smirking. Almost as if they were holding back a guffaw. One, once he arrived at his post, even cocked his head with a half grin at some squawking teenage British girl tourists.

I know I read something of the Changing of the Guard at Prague Castle, but I can't seem to remember the details. The tradition, I believe, was modeled after that of Britain, and therefore is less historically or culturally important, in a way. However, I don't believe the guards are supposed to be catering to tourist cameras. As surprised as I was, it was refreshing to know that a few of these cranky Czech people could take even the Changing of the Guard at Prague Castle lightly. And after having a small chuckle and gathering a few snowflakes in my hair, it was time for tea.