Relaxing Days in Prague

The next two days were less touristy as we spent the first morning with Pavlina (our host) and her two children (Dave had gone to work) before heading into the city for the afternoon.  Our short day in the city center was focused on seeing the Jewish Quarter and its five synagogues and the old cemetery.  Each synagogue was unique, however the first and last stood out from the others most significantly.  The first was a memorial to the Czechs who were taken to gas chambers by the Nazis.  Every wall was covered with hand-written names of the people who lost their lives, although only a few were originals, since the Communists had erased almost everything during their control.  It was a very moving memorial.

Prague - with the Castle in the background

Some of the others were set up as museums, displaying artifacts and explaining Jewish customs.  I learned more in those few hours than I had ever retained in the past 25 years.  Sara and I were surprised to read about the custom that if a woman's husband died, his brother was obligated to marry her, unless she took off a special shoe for him, at which point they were not forced to marry.  Who knew?!

Our last day in Prague was spent with Dave, who showed us around a bit more, taking us to a beer garden, on a walk along the city wall, to a few of his favorite bars, and a few other locations.

Spending Koruna, or as I Liked to Say, Kroner in Prague

Arriving in Prague meant a new currency - the koruna - and a new language - Czech.  While dividing every price by twenty wasn't very fun, it wasn't as hard as trying to figure out what anything meant in Czech.  My first, and most entertaining mistake with the language?  Calling their currency kroners!  How I came up with that one, I have no idea, but it stuck and that's what I called it the rest of the trip.

Sara and I spent one of our three days at Prague Castle.  Well, we spent a good chunk of that day getting lost on trolleys that changed routes without warning, very limited signage, none of which was in English, and a map that was only in Czech. Up to this point on the trip I enjoyed or at least pleasantly tolerated the adventure of getting lost, but given the lack of signs or English, Prague had me frustrated.  However working together we finally made it to the castle, which really is a walled fortress with many buildings within its boundaries.

The most noteworthy part of the castle was actually in the Cathedral of St. Vitus which featured, among other more expected features such as colorful stained glass windows and beautiful woodwork, the tomb (sarcophagus) of St. John of Nepomuk. The tomb is made of approximately two thousand pounds of silver!  Definitely stunning and no doubt a massive tribute, but I'd call it over the top.

The Old Royal Palace also surprised me as I learned that men used to joust inside of the Great Hall.  While the room was huge, I struggled to figure out how there was enough room for men on horses to charge at each other, until I learned that they would ride up the entrance stairs to start their attack!

We filled the rest of our afternoon by walking throughout the old part of the city - across Charles Bridge and into Old Town Square.  A much prettier part of the city than we had seen yet, I loved the mixture of architectural styles and decorations of the buildings.  I was enthralled by the 16th century astronomical clock, which told Bohemian time, modern time, sunrise and sunset, orbits of the sun and moon, signs of the zodiac, and the saint of the day.  So cool!

Sara and I stayed with one of her friends from high school who is living in Prague - it was wonderful to stay with Dave and his family and have some home-cooked meals!