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Published: March 22nd 2008
Taa daa! I have finally made it to the lovely capital of the Czech Republic: Prague.
Well, technically I was there once before, but I don't know if flying in and freaking out behind my tutor's back actually counts as visiting. Hahahahha. This trip was much more successful. ;-)
There was a nicely-sized (24 people) group of international students who went to Prague, including myself. I got to take my first ever train ride! (So cute, right? I felt like I was in Harry Potter...) The ride to Prague lasted about two hours and I had the pleasure of meeting two other international students, who are from Lebanon. We were in a compartment with a Czech man who was silently laughing at our misguided attempts to pronounce Czech words and our often inane conversation. He was quite nice though and informed us that the town in which he was raised (Pardubice) was the place of origination for gingerbread. This is a (ahem) slight exaggeration, but the city is actually quite famous for its gingerbread production. I am trying to convince my roommate that we should make a gingerbread pilgrimage. ;-)
When we arrived in Prague, we promptly took
Random Building by the Hostel
Pretty self-explanatory. I thought it was cool! ;-) our bags to the hostel and then began our journey throughout the city. One of the first sites that we saw is the theatre in which Mozart first premiered "Don Giovani," which is Prague's Estates Theatre. We also went to the Old Town and the saw the Astronomical Clock. The city is already bustling with tourists (I would not want to be there in summer) and the Old Town is having a special celebration for Easter, which includes special desserts, foods, and decorations in a fair-like atmosphere. (The crepe-pancakes called palacinky are very yummy, especially when filled with Nutella! Mmmmm!) We toured different parts of the city all day, then took a small break for independent dinner and rest.
Perhaps the most memorable part of my day was my evening. (What clever phrasing, I know!) We met our guide at the metro station and went to a very odd television tower building, called ikov Television Tower. You can take an elevator all the way up to a large circular room that gives a fabulous view of the city. We went at night and were able to see the city lit up. Prague is truly beautiful by night and by
The Powder Gate
My hostel was quite close! day. I mentioned that this building was odd looking; it has large babies "crawling" up the pillars. Supposedly the babies were put there to make the somewhat phallic building look more attractive. I would have to wholeheartedly disagree. It is ugly in any form (although the view from inside is another matter). Afterwards, half of the group went to a bar/club with our guide, Jan, to relax and hang out. I didn't want to stay out too late, so I decided to make my way back to the hostel with a large group of people who said that they had a general idea of where to go. I was torn: I knew they probably didn't know how to get "home", but I know better to wander around a strange city by myself, at night, and I didn't want to wait for my guide (as I knew that little party wouldn't end until very late). ::Sigh:: I went with the group. We ended up wandering around the city for an hour and a half and even made a giant circle. It was quite absurd! When we finally crossed the threshold of our lodgings, I jumped straight into bed and fell fast
Estates Theatre
Home of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" asleep. (P.S. I also made sure I knew where I was going next time!)
Day 2
Unlike the hostel in Budapest (which was much nicer, I think), this hostel had simple but abundant breakfast food, of which I took full advantage! We met at 10 am as a group to look around the city some more fun sites. To be honest, I have kind of gotten confused about what we saw on which day... Suffice it to say, we saw a lot the first two days, including: The Bethlehem Chapel, Church of Our Lady of Tyn, Obecni Dum, Petrin Tower (Prague's own "mini-Eiffel Tower"), the Powder Gate (in fact, our hostel was right by this giant structure), Prague Castle, Wencelas Square, the Old Quarter (Stare Mesto), New Quarter (Nove Mesto), Lesser Quarter (Mala Strana), and of course, Charles Bridge!!! We also saw Hradcany Quarter (which is the "home" of the Czech president) and lots of sites specific to the aforementioned quarters. Sorry... I am kind of a bad tourist to not remember each of the spots... Actually, I saw the Hradcany Quarter on the second day; I was present for the changing of the Guard and was able
House of the Black Madonna
This is an homage of sorts to the Cubism "movement" which is found in art, music, and literature... Think Picasso paintings...I thought it was neat as we have discussed it a lot in literature recently... to see the formation of a protest against the US putting spy satellites in the CR and missiles in Poland (I believe I have that correct). Needless to say, the Czechs are not really thrilled with the idea of American satellites and missiles being close to home! I saw the Petrin Tower in the early evening of the same day. It stands at the top of a quite steep hill. It is not so great in itself, but the hill does provide a beautiful view of the city if you are willing to hike a bit.
Like the previous day, we were able to go on our own to explore and get food for a few hours in the early evening. We then met our guide later that evening to visit a little peninsula under one of the bridges next to the Charles Bridge. It was a lovely little spot on the river and gave a beautiful view of the city. I even managed to get back to my hostel afterwards with NO problem!
Day 3
Sunday was perhaps my favorite day because I got to do a tour of the major Jewish sites, mostly by myself. Jan
Obecni Dum
I believe this is a gallery of sorts... and Katka, our guides, took us on a cursory guide of the sites and the former ghetto and then I bought a ticket and was able to actually go in several synagogue-turned-museums and even a graveyard. I learned a lot of interesting information, most of which was specific to the Czech Republic. The information in the synagogues built upon each other and told the history of how the Jews came to be in Czech Republic and how they were treated throughout the ages, including much overt and continuous discrimination, history of trades and occupations, importance of education, and burial practices. There were even some beautiful artifacts like Torah shields wrought from silver. Did you know that the Nazis were not the first ones to think up a brand or mark for the Jews? Centuries before they were made to wear special hats (for men) or hairstyles (for women) and later a yellow strip of cloth on their arm. This practice was abolished eventually as Judeo-Christian relationships became more open and reforms were made against discriminatory practices. Here is another particularly fascinating piece of information that I learned: when the idea of Zionism began to take hold here, the communist regime
Rip OFF
This ad makes me laugh, because it offers a "deal" to create your own menu for a really expensive price. It is clearly aimed at tourists (and as I live in Brno, this is REALLY expensive!) The price is 1290 czk which is about $80!!! supported the formation of Israel as a nation because they assumed that it would adopt communism or fall under communist control. When it became clear that Israel would not give loyalty to the communists, they quickly rescinded their support and opposed it as a Western, capitalistic country.
One synagogue had pictures drawn from children located at Terezin, which was a concentration camp located just outside of Prague. It was immensely sobering to see the often intricate artwork from the hands of little children who were in the midst of Hell. Terezin was often a holding place before many were sent to their deaths to one of the many extermination camps located in the surrounding areas. Loosely defended by the Nazis as being "only a work camp," the terrible conditions and lack of proper nutrition, housing, and food were enough to kill of a large number of people, including numerous children. It also had the names of the Czech Jewish victims of the Shoah, or Holocaust, written on the walls. It filled up many rooms and was humbling and terrible to such such space needed.
It was interesting to visit each synagogue by myself and get to really appreciate
the information with which I came in contact. I did have to rush a bit to make it back to the hostel on time to leave for the train station, but it was well worth the time. If ever you are in Prague... visit these sites! I think that I must come to Prague again to visit the Museum of Communism and a production of "Don Giovani".
The entire group met back at our hostel at 14:30, got our luggage, and went to the train station to catch the 15:30 train. It was a nice ride back and I am happy to be back in Brno. I really like the small-city feel of Brno and the politeness and general hospitality. Each time I travel, I am reminded how nice it is to come back to the dorm and have hot water, my own food, and clean sheets on a fairly comfy bed. Ahhh, home sweet Brno. ;-)
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Erin
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Ah! Liz and I went there....actually about this time! I remember everything!!