Flying solo

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Today was pretty busy, too, but I'm thinking I may want to go sleep it off rather than write about it all night. 😉

We started off with our new favorite tram #8, which zips us from our flat in Florenc right into Náměstí Republiky (Republic Square) and the old town. We started with an unexpectedly large meal ("rich breakfast" on the menu might have been a clue) at the Obecní dům, an Art Nouveau municipal and performance hall with a lovely café in front. The mad tourist rush when we arrived was not to be believed, but even more amazing was the speed at which the place emptied out and got dead quiet again at just about exactly 9:55 AM. All the tour groups must be meeting at that time! We got a bonus: since the tourists had run them out of croissants, we got free apple strudel instead (did I mention "rich breakfast"?).

We spent the morning doing our trademark relaxed pace through Josefov, the Jewish quarter (formerly ghetto), basically all of which is one giant museum. A single ticket gains entry to seven different sights, including the famed Starý židovský hřbitov (Old Jewish Cemetery). Jews were only allowed to bury their dead in that one place in Prague, so as a result the ground is probably 6-8 feet higher than the street outside... when space is limited, build up. The completeness of the museum system is impressive... all aspects of Jewish life, culture, religion, and experiences, with particular focus on Prague and Bohemia/Moravia. Nonetheless, the most moving display (for me) was the Pinkas Synagogue, which is empty, and on every single one of its white walls is painted, in small but readable letters, the names of every Bohemian or Moravian Jew murdered by the Nazis, organized by hometown, and showing the date each person was last known to have been alive. The socialist government neglected the names and they deteriorated, but were repainted after 1990. The 2002 floods did severe damage to the names and the synagogue itself, but all was repaired and repainted again. It's really significant to realize that all these people have no other graves or markers anywhere, and many of them have no surviving family to remember them, so that synagogue is the last place for anyone to know or care that they ever existed.

After Josefov, we stopped for a refreshing mineral water (sparkling, please) and then headed back to our flat for a nap before Drea's train. We arrived at Nádraží Holešovice (the north-end train station) with a bit of time to spare, so sipped mediocre coffee and mediocre beer until it was time for her train back to Berlin and Hamburg. Now I'm on my own in Prague, and although the first thing I did was get caught out in the rain without a jacket, I later managed to feed myself (roasted "pork knee", no kidding, and I think that's exactly what it was, with potato dumplings) and find a very nice internet café in which to while away an evening. Yes, this is what passes for nightlife at my age. 😉

Tomorrow I hope to catch a bus tour up to Terezín, a former Nazi concentration camp north of Prague. We'll see if I can get up early all by belf. Na shledanou (bye) until next time!

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