Prague (Praha) - A new favorite

So I am really behind in getting these posts done. But I am going to finish this blog with coverage of the last four days. Sorry for one big post - but best way to "git 'er done."

Day 1 - Oh! Such a tourist!
So as I said, the night train was not nearly as fun as I remember them being :( Tired, we arrived around 8am. After hoping the subway to get a bit closer to our hotel we walked about 5 blocks the rest of the way. We were staying in the heart, right off Staromestske Namesti (Old Town Square) in a fun little place recommended by Rick Steves and now by yours truly as well- U Tri Bubnu. Anyways, the entire walk, I felt like such a tourist as I gaped at the architecture, cute side alleyways and quintessential "Europeness" of it all. Both Sara and I where saying, "Oh look at that!" "We need to come back here when things open!" "I want to try that place out!" We were quickly falling in love with Prague, but then reality started to sink in, "How much further?" "My feet are hurting." "Just a second, I think I have the map upside down."

No worries, we made it safe and sound! And we were lucky that our room was ready early so we could freshen up! After a hearty brunch in the town square, we decided to check out the Mucha Museum. This small museum was a great introduction to the artist.

Born in 1860, Alphonse Mucha was always drawing during his childhood but did not get into art school until he was noticed by Count Egon, who paid for him to be schooled in Germany and later Paris. Mucha quickly became famous for his graphic posters which he purposely created as cheaper art to be enjoyed by everyday men and women. He strongly believed that art should be accessible.

I love his Art Nouveau graphic designs. I also enjoyed discovering his oil painting inspired by his nationalistic Slav Epic entitled A Winter Night. Unfortunately I cannot find a good picture of the whole canvas online. In this painting an old woman is sitting in the snow as night (and death) settles around her. She is giving up on life and many reproductions are done showing her very expressive face. However, what really caught my eye were the wolves surrounding her, painted dark like the night sky - they are stealthily creeping up on her as much as they subtly appear on the painted canvas - you almost don't notice them at first.

After the museum we wondered around looking like dazed tourists at the wonderful architecture of the city. For dinner I had a dish with "black spaghetti" and sadly, that adventurous choice left me with an upset tummy that would last well after I returned home! But no rest for the wicked, I still made certain to sight see as much as possible!

Here is a neat statue we saw outside the Estates Theatre
commemorating where Mozart first performed Don Giovanni.

Day 2 - Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Dry Bones!
So of course I had to take the day trip to Kutna Hora. This trip included a tour of the Gothic St Barbara Cathedral and the Italian villa-style Wallachian Court. But of course my main reason for going was to see the Ossuary. Technically in the Kutna Hora suburb of Sedlec, this ossuary chapel was finished in 14th century.

Why so many bones? Well, Abbot Heidenreich of the Sedlec Monastery supposedly brought soil from the Holy Land and scattered it over the graveyard. This meant to many of the miners in the area as well as those outside the area that burial here was equivalent to burial in the Holy Land - made it a rather popular spot. Add on to this popularity the events of plagues (the greatest in 1318 taking over 30,000 souls) and the later Hussite Wars in the 15th century. As cemetery space was limited, bones from "abolished graves" were piled inside the chapel.

It wasn't until the chapel went through renovations in the 18th century that space was created for "designs" using the bones. A woodcarver named Frantisek Rint is the one who actually made the "decorations." According to my guidebook, the decorations of this ossuary chapel are meant to, "remind visitors of the limits of human life and the fact of death. The fact is intended to lead to mutual harmonic coexistence and to respect for life and to make people aware of their responsibility to God." That said, I still can't wrap my head around why display the bones as "decorations." It is interesting, but I don't get it. The pyramids of bones had a more profound affect for reflection (I thought), the "sculptures" themselves just made me go, "Huh..."

Then we went to the 14th century Gothic Cathedral of St Barbara. A little churched-out after the last week, I admit I only picked up that the town was wealthy due to silver mining and this church was decorated with those funds. Instead of focusing on our guide, I focused on snapping some pictures of art that I found interesting :)

Next, we went to Wallachian Court. This Italian style royal residence was the location of the royal mint. We saw samples of old coins, a minting demonstration and then the state and royal rooms. I especially liked the chapel here that we could not take pictures in (sad) but was very interesting because the walls had been repainted in the Art Nouveau style around 1900.

Day 3 - The Castle in the Sky
Okay, so Prazsky hrad (Prague Castle) is not in the sky, but it is on a BIG hill that felt HUGE when walking up in the muggy summer heat. Did I mention Prague was hot? Well it is. Did I mention it is humid? It most definitely is! So it shouldn't have been rocket science that we had a bit of a climb ahead of us, but yeah, we were kinda caught off guard and rather tired when we reached the top. Oh well - it was worth the walk!

Castle and view back down the evil hill.

One of the very neat statues on the main gate.

A castle has been here since about the 9th century. There is a lot to see and this castle is actually in the Guinness Book of Records as the "Largest Coherent Castle Complex." We started at the St. Vitus Cathedral which is pretty popular and crowded with tourists. Get the audio guide. It lets you bypass the line and makes for an easier tour then some of the larger and rather cumbersome groups. Royalty and saints are buried here with decorative chapels and tombs, but again, being churched-out, I took in more highlights.

We next toured the Old Royal Palace which was used from the 10th-16th centuries.

Next we toured St. George's Basilica, an older church which was constructed in the 10th century. It was used as a Benedictine Convent and houses the remains of St. Ludmila. St. Ludmila is credited as brining early Christianity to Bohemia and was the grandmother of King Wenceslas. She was strangled with her own veil after the King's mother became worried that Ludmila had too much control over her own son. The rather grotesque statue in St. George's Basilica is of Vanity. I know, more skeletons.

Then we went to Golden Lane. This used to be the homes of craftsmen for the castle. It is rumored that Emperor Rudolf II kept his alchemists here. Franz Kafka supposedly lived here for a short time as this became a inspirational area for writers. There are now shops here which are fun to look through. I'm happy we got to step inside as you don't really realize just how small these homes are until your step in. They are really tiny! The smallest was about the size of an office.

Finally we visited Daliborka Tower. Part of the defensive walls of the 15th century it now holds a small display of torture devices. What I found the most disturbing here was that other tourists were trying out the irons! I saw a couple girls try to slip their hands into the cuffs of the "baby cage" - this device held a prisoner until they died of starvation (and then some). I was really weirded out by that - I know, the ossuary didn't get me but teenagers trying out torture equipment really did!

We spent the rest of the day checking out puppet shops and other fun places. I love some of the puppet shops in Prague - especially the ones closer to the castle that have more individualized characters. I just had to get a little puppet for Shawn - such a tourist I know!

Day 4 - Art & History - a good end to any trip!
We started the at the Convent of St. Agnes where the National Gallery in Prague houses their Medieval Art. It is much like the Cloisters for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY. Allowed to take pictures of the art here - I think I got some great photos. Unfortunately the photo of the Pregnant Mary didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. They had two statues of Mary pregnant. Mary is usually not shown as the mother-to-be, but these statues did exist - usually in convents. I think it is a beautiful form of Mary. To me it echoes the Mother Goddess of old, but for those who are Christian, I think it is profoundly beautiful and peaceful representation of the Virgin as well.

After the museum and good lunch (of course I was still taking a lot of breaks because of my tummy :( we went on a walking tour of Jewish Prague. Of the Synagogues in Prague, only 3 are still used for services. Instead, most of the Synagogues display the rich history of the Jews here. We ended up touring 5 Synagogues that covered separate areas of Jewish history. However, the Pinkas Synagogue is a memorial with the names of 80,000 Jewish Bohemian and Moravian victims of the holocaust.

A Jewish community was in Prague as early as the 10th century. The Jews faced the same prejudice here as elsewhere in Europe - forced behind a walled and gated community, pogroms (mob attacks sanctioned by authorities) and even expulsions (1541 & 1744). That said, the history here is better then in many other cities. The fact that the community here helped to finance the crown and their wars, helped them survive.

Surprisingly, the museums here are rich with artifacts. I asked our guide and he insisted it was with the support of the Jewish community that these museums are kept - I don't doubt that presently, but I wondered about the past - where did the all these artifacts come from? In later reading I discovered that a Dr. Stein and Dr. Lieben both worked together to start the museums when the ghetto was largely destroyed during a reconstruction project at the turn of the 20th century. Later, Dr. Stein appealed to the Nazis to save and catalog objects from Synagogues, halls and libraries throughout the country from being bombed. They agreed because of the recognizable wealth of the objects (many made of silver) and they said it would record "an extinct race." Dr. Stein, however, wanted to preserve and protect the heritage. With two very different intentions, a collection was kept and the Synagogue museums have amazing exhibits because of it.

We also visited the Old Jewish Cemetery where 12,000 tombstones jostle for position as burials were added, one on top of the other. The bodies were kept separate, but the stones were moved up as more soil was brought in and the ground built up for new burials. Started in the 15th century, this cemetery is considered the oldest, largest and best preserved in all of Europe.

Next to the cemetery is the Ceremonial Hall for the Brotherhood Burial Society whose honor is was to take care of the deceased.

Some Random Pics from Prague
I really think Prague is my #2 city now. (Well, nothing can beat Edinburgh as #1.) It is between Copenhagen and Prague - not sure yet though - may have to travel some more to figure it out ;)

Ah, yes please...

Krakow Wrap Up

Jewish Ghettos of Krakow
We started the next day with a walking tour of the two Jewish ghettos of Krakow. Relatively speaking, Krakow was friendlier to its Jewish citizens then most European cities - that is not to say it was a haven as they were still restricted and taxed heavily. The Jews of Krakow found an early ally in King Kazimierz during the 14th century. King Kazimierz gave Jews more legal protection under the King’s Law - they would answer to the King and not local magistrates. King Kazimierz encouraged them to settle as he found their trades and lending useful. It is even rumored that King Kazimierz was in love with a Jewish tailor’s daughter named Ester. She supposedly had two sons and a daughter with him and was built her own palace. The location of this home is uncertain. One favorite is the current Ethnography Museum which supposedly has a secret passage all the way to Wawel Castle!

Early, the Jewish population settled near the Rynek. However, they were forced from this area and moved outside the city center. Kazimierz became the Jewish ghetto in the later 14th century and is one of the most historically famous Jewish ghettos in Krakow (and yes they named it after the King that was fondly remembered by them). Side note about the use of the word ‘ghetto’ - this Italian term was originally used by the Italians for the Jewish Quarters. In early history this term would be more akin to area/district and these communities were very vibrant. These ghettos were not slums like what Americans associate the word ghetto with today. Of course, the ghettos under Nazi occupation would take on a new and more sinister meaning. But let us get back to the tour…

Our first real stop was where was one of the old gates used to be - Jews were always expected to be back in the Jewish Quarter after sunset. The courtyard off of Jozefa Street is a neat little enclosure now with a few cafes on the ground floor and apartments on the 1st. However, this area, and all of the Jewish Quarters we saw, were in extreme disrepair until as recently as the 1980s. In fact, Spielberg used this courtyard in the film Schindler’s List with little need of dressing it down - it was a ghetto as we now use the term at the time. The filming of Schindler’s List in Kazimierz helped to revitalize this area. Although Kazimierz was not the Jewish ghetto at the time of the Nazi occupation, Spielberg mostly used this area for the film.

Another interesting fact we learned from our guide at this point was the Jews living in the ghetto were in a largely isolated community. Speaking Polish only outside the walls for business, the language spoken in the ghetto was Hebrew. It would not be uncommon for those who did not work outside the walls to not speak any Polish at all or very little.

We next visited the site of the old market, Plac Nowy. Today it hosts a continual flea market during the day and restaurants with hip jazz clubs overtake the sidewalks at night. The center building you barely see peaking out is the old kosher butcher.

Most of the Synagogues in Kazimierz are museums now. The Isaac Jakubowicz Synagogue was stripped during the Nazi occupation. After the war, Jews from Russia used this as a home. It later fell into disrepair and was not adopted by a historical society until 1980s. This brings up another interesting side fact we learned on the tour. Many homes and buildings were vacant after WWII and Poland’s borders were shifted when it was again formed into a state. With all the movement of people, it became common for people to take up residence wherever there was space. Our guide’s own family moved into an empty building after the war. They still live in this building today. It just struck me at how much turmoil this country was in where ownership went back to the basics of ‘if it is empty, make it yours.’

As we walked, we saw more examples of just how deteriorated the Kazimierz ghetto was around the time Spielberg started to film Schindler's List. The second pic shows how rapidly the neighborhood is being improved.

Here is a surviving example of the old wall that used to surround the Jewish ghetto of Kazimierz.

From here we walked across the river to the site of the Nazi formed district of Podgorze, this is the ghetto of Nazi occupied Krakow. Sometimes as many as 18,000 people were crammed into 320 one to two story buildings. Jews were moved to concentration camps from here starting in 1942 and then on March 13 & 14 1943, the ghetto was ‘liquidated.’ If not killed on the spot or transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, they were moved to another concentration camp, Plaszow, a forced labor camp and the home to ‘Schindler’s Jews.’ These pics are a replica of the ghetto gatehouse, the empty chair monument to those liquidated, and finally the front of Schindler's factory (now a museum).

Part of the wall of the ghetto still stands today. The Nazis purposely made the fence with the dome on top to remind those inside of Jewish cemetery stones.

Before WWII more than 64,000 Jews lived in Krakow. Today the community stands less than 1,200 and many of them displaced from other countries than Poland.

Archaeology Museum
The last day in Krakow was a Monday, when most museums are closed. However, the Archaeology Museum was open. This is a small museum overall but has a great collection of Egyptian and Peruvian artifacts. For Polish pre and early history it has an easy to follow timeline. But for me, my favorite was viewing this beautiful carved 'Swiatowid' pillar up close. This four faced deity is from the Ukraine but a common figure among the early Slavic pre-Christian peoples (before 10th century in this area). The deity is often seen in archaeology of this region but relatively little is known about it today. (The first pic is just a shot I had to take of the beautiful garden before entering the museum)

Goodbye to Poland
We said goodbye to Poland and took an evening train for Prague. Before we left we had more touristy food. Here are some pics from the last two days - lard and bread (yes lard and yes it was gross - I couldn't eat it), assorted platter and borscht!

The night train was not nearly as nice as I remember. I had the top bunk and was tossed forward every time the train came to a stop - I'm much too old to sleep through that! So I had a lousy night of little sleep :( Add on the fact that our conductor was very adamant that we should keep all three (yes 3!) locks on our door firmly latched as there was a danger of gypsies stealing on board during the night on our route! Of course I then got the song "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" stuck in my head for the remainder of the trip! All joking aside, that was a wake up call as I had read about the problem with gypsies on the trains in guidebooks but had yet to hear of anything concrete until our very strung out conductor told us. (I must say, he would be my stereotype for a former gypsy - bald, earrings, and blood-shot eyes - maybe that was why he was assigned our route?)