Crazy, Dangerous Elevator...

The following morning I surprised Jimmy with the craziest thing we did while in Prague, thanks to Atlas Obscura. We grabbed some baked goods near our hotel and headed to City Hall...

…where we saw some lovely stained glass...

…and this crazy attraction: a paternoster lift. This type of doorless elevator that never stops was invented in 1868 in Liverpool. It caught on especially in government buildings in Eastern Europe throughout the first half of the 20th century. The last ones were built in the 1970s. 

Definitely had never seen an instruction like this before: If you forget step out on highest or lowest floor, ceep calm and stay in cabin. You go through the attic or basement safely. Although the instructions said two people could travel together, there was another sign saying that due to COVID-19, only one person was allowed in a cabin. 

Probably no surprise that Jimmy rode first. This particular lift was last renovated in 2017 and we saw that is it regularly used by government employees. It looked like something straight out of Hogwarts.

You might have noticed that Jimmy was on the left side of the notice on the photo above, but was on the right side here. Although the lift makes a loop, he just rode it down across the dark basement and up the other side. Here’s a good example of how it operates.

Probably also no surprise that I was pretty chicken about stepping on...

…and nearly missed my chance. 

I rode it up across the not-so-dark attic...

…and down the other side. 

Jimmy couldn’t resist riding it all the way around for a few loops. 

Definitely an intriguing and cheap form of entertainment.