Castles, Churches, Communism, Oh my!

"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." -Vaclev Havel



Prague, Czech Republic June 8, 2008 10:30 pm

Greetings from beautiful Prague, with its winding medieval streets, lovely old churches, art nouveau stained glass windows, and live jazz bands on Charles Bridge. This city is gorgeous, and the old town is overflowing with a character unique and fabulous, despite the throngs of humanity that fill it up every day.

[Quick wrap-up on Hungary: My last night in Budapest I went climbing up to the top of the Citadel, which afforded a lovely view of the city at night. I went with a girl I had met at the hostel, and we wandered back down to the hostel around 10:30 or so. I managed to sleep, and I got up before 6am to take public transport to the bus station. The metro turned out to be reasonably navigable, and the bus to Prague was lovely . . . I slept during much of it. The countryside wasn't as beautiful as I expected, maybe because we were on a major highway. My hostel in Prague (Hostel elf) turned out to be VERY close to the bus station, so that was lovely.]

My first day in Prague I was still feeling a bit rough from the bus ride, so I just had a bit of a wander down through Stare Mesto (old town) and through the big old square. I got to watch the astronomical clock change the hour, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Astronomical_Clock), had a bite to eat, and wandered back to the hostel to get a good night's sleep.

Yesterday was a big full day! I crosses Charles Bridge and headed to Prague Castle at around 10 in the morning. On the walk there I bumped into a Canadian from the hostel and we explored around the castle together for a bit. We saw the changing of the guard at noon, that included lots of marching and a brass band. After that the Canadian took off and I bought a discounted student ticket to see a bit more of the castle. The most exciting part was the cathedral of St. Vitus which had an incredible Art Nouveau stained glass window by Alfons Mucha. I also came across a toy museum within the castle grounds/area, that advertised a Barbie exhibit. Well, this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I actually collected Barbies when I was younger. I was thrilled to visit the Barbie exhibit, which started with the very first Barbies (from 1959) and worked up to the present. The outfits were fun, and it was interesting to see how Barbie had changed . . . I was exceedingly happy after viewing it! It made me want to go home and get out my Czechoslovakian Barbie (which was only possible in the short few years after communism fell but before the Velvet Divorce -- the split between Czech Republic and Slovakia).

I grabbed a gelatto to keep me going, and I headed for the Loretta, a Baroque place of pilgrimage, filled with religious bits and pieces. The most exciting parts were the skeletons of two saints that had been dressed in outfits, and had wax melted over their faces. Also their was a large painting of St. Starosta, a crucified bearded lady. The Loretta treasury was filled with gold, silver and diamond monstrosities that were somewhat interesting to look at.

Next, I headed further into Mala Strana and visited the Strahov Monastery which looks down on Prague. In addition to affording lovely views and photo ops, the library of the Strahov is particularly impressive. Although the libraries themselves were gorgeous, I think the most interesting bit were the whale penises that were on display amidst other strange things from the sea.

At this point it was almost 4pm and I was desperate for food. I ate in Maly Buddha (little Buddha) and had some delicious eastern food. Before crossing back of the Charles Bridge I visited St. Nicholas Church which was large and lovely. I think I visited a couple more churches as well on the walk home, but at this point it was mostly a blur :-)

This morning I took a guided tour of the Municipal building, which had been highly recommended by lonely planet. Mucha was heavily involved in the decoration of this building which was built at the beginning of the 1900s and was an important work of Czech nationalism. It was lovely, although I'm not sure it was worth the $10 tour. It did get me fairly excited about Mucha, however, and later in the day I visited the Mucha museum which was lovely. I had a traditional Czech lunch . . . beer, beef and bread dumplings. I spent a good bit of the day wandering, visiting random churches (including, Our Lady of the Snows), and stopping at cafes for a cappuccino. I spent the early evening poking around in English language bookstores before getting some food at a vegetarian cafeteria for dinner.

Tomorrow morning I fly to Stockholm to visit Josephine!

Lots and lots of love
Anna