Prague, Czech Republic

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Prague is the largest city in the Czech Republic and contains about 1,300,000 people. A popular tourist attraction in the city is Prague Castle and its history dates back over a thousand years. It is the largest coherent castle complex in the world and comprises an area of about 70,000 square meters. There are uniformed guards at the castle and the changing of the guard takes place every hour on the hour. At 12:00 noon, there is a special flag ceremony which takes place with the changing of the guard.

During the second world war, the Germans invaded what was then the country of Czechoslovakia. During the occupation, Prague Castle was the headquarters of the Nazi administration of the country. The deputy director to the officer in charge was Reinhard Heydrich. He was later assassinated when Czech partisans threw a bomb in his car as it slowed down for a curve. In retaliation, Hitler had the village of Lidice razed and, later, the same treatment was administered to the village of Lezaky.

The Museum of Communism is a museum which covers the era during which the Soviet Union occupied the country. Life sized statues of Lenin and Marx are located inside the building. The museum is easy to navigate as the explanations are all in Czech and English. There are displays of items relating to the Communist occupation which takes the visitor through past decades. There's even a separate room with the door marked "Interrogation Room" and this conjures all types of situations in one's mind on what might have taken place in one of those rooms. The older lady sitting at the entrance, who tears off the stub of the ticket, appears as though she might have been happier in those days. After touring Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, we all felt like calling each other Comrade. Those were the good old days when the government took care of everyone. There are those in the U.S. who would like to take us back to that era and type of government. Anyone who advocates higher taxes must think that governments are able to spend money more wisely than those who earn it. They don't stop to think that all governments do is collect money in the form of taxes from those who earn it and distribute it to those freeloaders who are sitting around looking for someone to take care of them. Socialism or Communism - there isn't much difference except the spelling.

Another museum that is quite interesting is the Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments. All types of instruments relating to torture during that period in history are located here. There's the Iron Maiden, the rack, hand guillotine, and other pieces of equipment which were, no doubt, invented by people with diabolical minds. These types of torture, which ultimately led to death for many, make the modern methods of execution around the world seem pretty humane.

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