If a fairytale city were to come to life, it would be Prague, Czech
Republic. What a beautiful place. Too bad it rained all day. But we
persevered.
This is really a fancy hotel. Our breakfast area sits on top of our
conference area from yesterday. It’s like being in a fishbowl out
there.
The rain hasn’t really started yet, but we all know it’s coming.
We’re getting ready to head toward the old Jewish quarter of Prague.
That pyramid thing up there on the hill is supposed to be some kind
of giant metronome.
Misha says it is standing on the base of what used to be the largest
statue of Stalin in the world. She says the metronome is supposed to
move, but it’s broken.
That’s what it looked like when a destitute Prague received the
“gift“ of the statue in 1955. Misha says the joke was that everybody
thought it looked like a monument to people standing in line for
meat. (She says that even in the worst times somehow Prague seemed
always to have enough bread, but they really missed their meat.)
Central Europe has embraced capitalism. We were gathered
outside a Rolls Royce showroom.
Let’s walk into the Jewish quarter.
Statuary everywhere.
This is the Old New Synagogue. It was originally called the New or
Great Synagogue and later, when newer synagogues were built in the
16th century, it became known as the Old-New Synagogue. Completed in
1270 in gothic style, it was one of Prague's first gothic buildings.
They won't let you go in the attic though.
The golem is up there.
That’s a clock with Roman numerals, and another clock with Hebrew
numerals. Franz Kafka wrote about seeing them from a coffee shop.
See? Statues. These are doing the heavy lifting.
Telephoto shot of a marionette performance venue we'll visit later.
The Pinkas Synagogue is the second oldest surviving synagogue in
Prague.
Today, the synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague
and commemorates about 78,000 Czech Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Look at the walls.
They're covered with the names of Jewish citizens of Prague
murdered by the Nazis and they go on seemingly
forever.
Memorial to those exterminated in Nazi death camps.
Drawings by children who were sent to die.
The Old Jewish Cemetery, one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in
Europe, (the oldest is in Worms from the 11th century) opened in
1439 and closed in 1787. The cemetery is located on a small plot of
land between the Pinkas Synagogue and the Klausen Synagogue. During
the four hundred plus years that the cemetery was active, about
200,000 Jewish people from the ghetto were buried there.
Because the cemetery was only capable of holding around ten percent
of the number of Jews buried there, the graves spanned about twelve
tombs deep. The most famous tomb belongs to Rabbi Loew, who was born
in 1525 and died in 1609. Loew is thought to be the creator of the
Golem, an artificial man made out of clay. The “Golem” was brought
to life by placing a tablet with Hebrew inscription in its mouth. I
mention this only because it’s a spooky cemetery we’re looking at
here.
The Jewish Museum in Prague is a museum of Jewish heritage in the
Czech Republic and one of the most visited museums in Prague.
Pooped? Road Scholars? Not a chance.
Its collection of Judaica is one of the largest in the world, about
40,000 objects, 100,000 books, and a copious archive of Czech and
Moravian Jewish community histories.
More artifacts.
An old torah.
Lots of tourists come to remember.
There's even a souvenir shop. Just look at all the golems.
And the rabbis. Lots of rabbis.
Lots of high-end shops in the former Jewish quarter.
See?
The architecture is impressive.
But some of the street art? That’s a
statue near Kafka‘s house. I don’t know; you explain it.
The Prague Astronomical Clock is a medieval astronomical clock. The
clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest
astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating.
I'll put video of it doing its thing in tomorrow's pictures.
Occasionally we had nice weather, but drizzle was a common
occurrence.
So let's go for a walk in the drizzle.
Charles Bridge is a historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in
Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the
auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the
15th century. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge
(Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been "Charles
Bridge" since 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava
(Moldau) until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important
connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and
adjacent areas. This "solid-land" connection made Prague important
as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.
But St. Stephen and his halo are watching over us.
So Bill's happy.
Who is this guy? I've seen him before (some character dressed
like him) in storybooks. But where? He's always a background
figure, somebody observing the main character, the king or whatever.
I dunno. But I'll keep thinking.
More pretty canal.
Let’s go hear a lecture on Central European composers.
The Bedřich Smetana Museum is dedicated to the life and works of the
famous Czech composer. It is situated in the centre of Prague in a
small block of buildings right next to Charles Bridge on the right
bank of the river Vltava in the Old Town.
That's the river Vltava, or, in German, Moldau. “The Moldau” is a
symphonic poem by Bohemian composer Bedřich Smetana that evokes the
flow of the Vltava River—or, in German, the Moldau—from its source
in the mountains of the Bohemian Forest, through the Czech
countryside, to the city of Prague. It's a gorgeous symphony.
You can listen to it here, if you like.
That's Smetana.
I was so looking forward to this, to hearing the Moldau while the
actual river flowed by outside. But we sat for two hours
listening that woman talk about Smetana, and she never once played a
note of the Moldau
How many of us have our eyes open? See if you can find
somebody. This really was the only disappointment of the trip.
There was a nice display of artifacts related to Hungarian
composers, though.
Had to have a little fun before we left.
Will the drizzle never stop today?
It's a wet crowd gathered in the courtyard of the Kafka museum.
I think I'll come back some other less drizzly day.
I went back to my hotel room for a little while to wait out the
rain, and then I struck out on my own. I wanted to get a bite to eat
before going to a marionette show tonight.
Decorations in the Powder Gate.
At least it's no longer drizzly.
Mmmm...more street food.
All this looks good. The food stalls are along the edge of the
square. I had a small bowl of that potato gnocchi/bacon/sauerkraut
concoction. It’s called “halusky” and it was pretty good.
For dessert I had some Trdelnik. What’s that? It’s a pastry they
sell to tourists, claiming it’s an old Czech tradition, but it
really isn’t. It’s good though. To make them, thick dough coated in
sugar is wrapped around a thick pole which is rotated slowly over a
fire until the sugar caramelizes over the outside to a golden-brown
color.
Misa says calling it an "old Bohemian specialty is nonsense.
It's just something cooked up for the tourists.
It’s nearing 8 o’clock and it’s time for a Mozart opera: Don
Giovanni performed by marionettes. Misha assured me that attending a
performance is a very Czech thing to do.
When in Prague, do the Czech thing.
I think Mozart never intended Don Giovanni to be a slapstick comedy,
but that's what we got tonight.
Don and his sidekicks.
This is a scene from the show. Don’t ask me to explain.
Lots of laughs and a monster at the end. What more could you
ask for?
It was great that Mozart himself led the production. It was very
well done and quite funny at times. A fine way to end the day.
