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...