paternosters in prague!

one of the oddities in prague are paternosters, which are defined in wiki as:

a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments

(each usually designed for two persons) that move slowly in a loop up

and down inside a building without stopping. Passengers can step on

or off at any floor they like.

there are 27 working paternosters in prague, which are listed here. i first saw and used one last week at the prague 1 municipal offices, where i went to try to rent a vegetable/herb planter for the garden at the church very near our apartment (they were full up). today i saw a paternoster in the pasáž Paláce Lucerna, one of the grand internal shopping passage ways in prague, built by vaclav havel's grandfather. below you can see pics i took of a man getting on and going up.

no waiting for an elevator! contrary to things you read on the internet, they're not that hard to use, or that dangerous. you just need to get the timing right. i find using the grab bars helps. but they do have this warning: