Second Day in Prague

Our second day in Prague, we went to Church and then to the Jewish quarter. I was impressed by the various forms of persecution that the Jews experienced, including limiting what professions they were permitted to engage in, limitations on where they could live, expulsion at whim, et cetera. And yet they still endured.--Dad

While the first day we logged over 16,000 steps, today was only 10,000.--Dad

A tombstone from the Jewish cemetery in Prague. The caption begins: "An upright and faithful man . . ."

Just in case you need some high-heeled sneakers

Back in the old town square

Posing with the street mimes

The next day was Sunday. Church started at 9 (!!), but we made it in time to get a great seat in the back next to the stack of Children’s Friend magazines and crayons and paper they have stocked there for kids. A missionary translated the service and did great until the last speaker who was an older man and must have been using a lot of idiomatic phrases, because everyone in the congregation was responding with laughter, etc. but he had no idea what was being said. I feel like that sometimes in Germany. Just when you think you are understanding church pretty well, someone will get up to speak and you are sure it is a completely different language. I think I counted at least 7 sets of missionaries there.

After church we went to the Jewish Quarter, starting with the Spanish Synagogue, which is built in the “Moorish Revival Style”, which seems to mean there is a central dome, and the walls and dome are intricately painted in the Moorish style--dark background with gold interlocking designs. It was beautiful. On display there were different Edicts from the Prague government both forbidding and then granting rights to the Jews. Definitely a long history of persecution there. The Synagogues and the Jewish Cemetery are all run by the Jewish Museum group, and at each Synagogue there is a different type of display set up. At one of the synagogues the walls were covered with very neat, precise lettering indicating the names and birth dates of all of the Bohemian Jews from that area who had been killed in WWII, in another there were displays of textiles used to cover the Torah or the alcove where the Ark was stored in synagogues--all of these were dated as being donated to the museum during 1942-45 as part of the Jewish Artifact Recovery program, and one of the Synagogues explored the history of Judaism in Prague (that was the kids favorite--ha ha--I wished I could have had more time in that one, though). Then we went to the Jewish Cemetery, which is the largest in Europe, and spans a time period from the early 1400s-1786. The Jews in Prague were a force to be reckoned with, but were also repeatedly discriminated against and when they weren’t allowed to be buried in the city graveyard, they decided to make their own--without permission. It was a sobering and sacred-feeling site. The tombstones are literally on top of each other. Some are still vertical, others have collapsed sideways, some are still legible, others not at all, and many close to the walkway have small stones placed on them--apparently that is a Jewish tradition that perhaps evolved from earlier times when stones were placed to cover graves and indicate where they were, but that now shows respect and love for the deceased, and that they are not forgotten.--Mom

First Day in Prague

We have been blessed in Germany, for the most part, with fairly smooth flowing traffic. We have only been caught in one or two Staus. Heading off to Prague, made up for it. We were in about seven different Staus. One detour around a Stau even had two Staus of its own. It took us three hours to travel what normally takes a half hour. Fortunately, just after Nürnberg after the traffic headed off to Berlin, the traffic cleared out. So it took about eight hours for what was originally estimated as a five hour trip. As a result we got into Prague much later than we had hoped.–Dad

Stau! What the photograph does not show is the movement of the vehicles. That is because there wasn't any.

We got in really late. We didn’t get into the apartment until 11pm.–Noel

We found a great apartment to rent in Prague with 3 large bedrooms, beds for everyone, a living room, great kitchen, and two bathrooms--one with a tub!!! Our house in Heidelberg does not have one, so that was exciting for all the kids.–Mom

It was really cool. The apartment is wonderful, it has a TV, office, a great couch, some really cool stools, a really good stove, two bathrooms, everything you need, and enough beds.–Noel

Prague is an ideal medieval town.–Noel

Prague is a medieval town, but has a lot of beautiful buildings from other times as well.

A lot of walking. The train was really fast. Prague is so beautiful, majestic and picturesque.–Rebecca

If we were writing a travel brochure we would say “Come to Prague, the ideal medieval town: So picturesque and majestic, you’ll be snapping photos.”–Samuel

At the Charles Bridge.

The first day we figured out how to get a pass for the trains/trams since you can’t purchase tickets on the tram itself (find a main train station and buy them from the machine--luckily there was one not too far from our apartment, and also fortunately it had an option to translate into English). Then we headed into the city on the subway to go to the castle. I’m pretty sure that the many public transportation opportunities were a highlight for most of the kids.--Mom

The light at the end of the tunnel of the longest escalator of the trip, ascending from the subway in Prague.

My three top experiences: the castle, the Charles bridge, and the Faschings parade with people in costume.–Rebecca

Faschings on the Charles Bridge

The castle in Prague

The changing of the guards at the castle was quite a production with trumpets and marching and fancy costumes, and the guards even switch over the sunglasses from the old guard to the new one.

They're changing the guard at Buckingham Palace (oops, wrong place, wrong rhyme)

Waiting for the changing of the guards

Thanks to the changing of the guards, the line to get into the castle itself shrunk from about 30 minutes to 10 minutes (yahoo!). According to the Guinness Book of W. R., the Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world. It is really multiple buildings that make up the castle complex. The most impressive building to me was the St. Vitus’ Cathedral. It was huge and so beautiful.

St. Vitus' Cathedral

The cathedral from the back

There were stained glass windows and soaring ceilings, beautiful golden mosaics on the walls inside and out, a special side chapel dedicated to King Wenceslas, beautiful stone tombs of Kings and Queens, stunning artwork in the side altars, and one of the prettiest organs I have ever seen.

The Cathedral interior

Stained glass inside St. Vitus'

Prague sustained very little damage during the World Wars, so the views from the castle on the hill over the old city were also much as they have been for centuries. They call Prague the “City of a 1000 Spires” with good reason.

City of a thousand spires

We also walked through the Old Palace (from 1029), the Golden Lane--mostly old shops, including fortune tellers, and pubs with doors that only reach up to your shoulder, the torture Dungeon, and the beautiful courtyards. It seemed that everywhere we looked was a great view of something.--Mom

In "the golden lane". If you want to feel tall, just visit a medieval building.

What I liked best about Prague was the giant bubbles that one person was making in a park. What I liked about the bubbles is that they were huge.–Spencer

Blowing bubbles in the park

The next famous site we saw was the Charles Bridge, begun in 1357, which until 1841 was the only way to get across the Vltava (Moldau) river. Now there are 8-10 bridges.

The Charles Bridge over the Moldau

On the way there we were delighted by a woman using sticks and strings to blow enormous bubbles, and bubbles within bubbles in the park, and also by flocks of swans gathered along the banks of the Moldau. The Charles Bridge is exclusively pedestrian. It is 10 meters wide and about ½ mile long. There are 30 statues positioned on the sides of the bridge (now all replicas, the originals are in a museum).

A statue on the Charles Bridge

There are also street vendors, performers, and some beggars as you walk along the bridge. There are three bridge towers, and some of us were able to climb one of them to see the fabulous view of Prague’s old town and Jewish Quarter, as well as the view across the river to the castle on the hill.

The east tower on the Charles Bridge

The rest of the day was spent walking through the old town, arriving in the square just in time to see the Astrological Clock chime (we might have thought it was more impressive if we hadn’t just recently seen the amazing one in Munich…), looking at shops filled with Bohemian jewelry, traditional puppets, more Bohemian jewelry, and eating turtlenecks. :-) --Mom

The astrological clock

The old town square in Prague.

Traditional marionettes

A “turtleneck”, actually a “Trdlo” (plural “Trdlnik”), is a traditional pastry made by wrapping dough around a wooden form and then setting it on a rotisserie over hot coals. It is then covered with cinnamon sugar, with or without nuts. It can also be slathered with nutella, caramel, strawberry jam, etc. on the inside, or they make special ones in the shape of cones that are filled with cream or ice cream.

Trdlnik (turtlenecks)!

Of course, we had to try them all in various locations (except the ice cream one, much to Sydney’s dismay…) and we highly recommend them! --Mom

We discover trdlnik.