Prague

One of the things I have wanted to do for a long time is visit Prague, and I finally did just that last weekend with Mom. The trip, though short, was incredible.

Friday we flew SkyEurope and arrived in the afternoon. Our first impression (while we made a mad dash to the Jewish Quarter, so we could see the synagogues before shabbat (nothing was open on Saturday)), was how beautiful the architecture of the city was, and how sad it was for an entire Jewish population to have been expelled and exterminated...

Our mission was to visit the "Jewish Museum" of Prague, which is really a collection of 6 synagogues and the Jewish cemetary. There is only one operational synagogue and the rest are for visiting and host exhibitions of various themes.

We first visited the Pinkas shul. This shul has been turned into a memorial for the Czech victims of the Holocaust. You can read or hear about how moving it is to see the names written in teeny tiny script covering all the walls of the shul... but it is quite another thing to see it in person. When I walked in, it literally took my breath away and immediately I felt incredible sadness. We located Granny's family on the wall, which of course made the whole experience even more personal. After a solemn walk through the downstairs, we went upstairs and saw the collection of drawings that were done by children of the ghetto in Theresienstadt and concentration camps.

Appropriately enough, the Jewish Cemetary lies next to this synagogue so we walked through. The stones are piled on top of each other, and there are over 100,000 people buried in layers underground!


From there we saw an exhibit about the Jewish rituals of death (yes, very light-hearted) at the Klausen synagogue, followed by a walk through the Spanish synagogue. The most touching thing I saw in one of the exhibit cases there was a postcard in German from someone in the ghetto to a relative. I couldn't understand all of it, but what I did understand was the postscript - something like "P.S. - uncle xx is dead". It was so matter-of-fact, and so tragic.

From there, we had some time before evening services, so we located both of Granny's apartments (close to the Jewish quarter). When we returned, we could not figure out when services were starting at the Altnei Shul, and no one would tell us. It turns out that was kind of a security measure; promptly at 19h30 the doors opened and after some intense questioning we were allowed inside. This synagogue dates back to the 15th century! We sat in the womens' section, which was all but blocked off to the men's section aside from some narrow slits in the thick concrete walls, through which we could peer into the main sanctuary.

Afterward we had a delicious meal at King Solomon kosher restaurant. Here is Mom in front of the very cozy place:


Saturday, we walked through the old city (Stare Mesto), across the Charles Bridge and up the stairs to the Prague Castle. Here's a photo from the stairs


The castle is really a collection of courtyards and the notable St. Vitus Cathedral - amazing!

We then followed a walking tour from my travel book, which took us through the palace Gardens, then to Wallenstein Palace. What a find! There was beautiful artwork on the ceiling of the Baroque Wall:


... and a fake stalactite wall which supposedly has themes of gore and horror...


...and in the garden, some surprise friends lurking behind the bushes:


From there we had a delicious lunch at a parisian cafe, then ended up in one of the most peaceful parks I have ever visited (Vojan gardens). Despite the number of people in the park, you could hear nothing but birds singing. We had a nice rest on the bench:


From there we walked further and saw the flood levels of 1890 and 2002, the "John Lennon" peace wall, a giant water wheel, and then headed back to the old town. We took in a classical concert at the Municipal House:



...and then had a traditional (= heavy!) meal afterward. Here is a sample of the type of food you can order:


Unlike Copenhagen, though, they do have a many more vegetarian options to offset the ample offerings of pork.

And how to better finish off an evening than a little dessert?? It has always been my personal philosophy that every day must end with the taste of something sweet...

All in all it was a most memorable weekend!