Welcome to the Golden City: Prague Day 1

I got in last night at around 8:30 after a sleepless flight. The flight was uneventful, and the city looks gorgeous!! I had a driver get me as I knew how tired I'd be and was glad I did. With only a 30 minute nap in 24 hours, I was pretty zonked, but rallied when my friend Kim arrived at 10:30 pm. We were slow to wake up this morning but by 9 were ready for breakfast at the hotel.

The hotel, Maximilian, is really cute and I'd recommend it so far. It's a small boutique hotel with 71 rooms and a lot of nice touches. The staff was really friendly and helpful, and when I got to my room, I saw a little sign on the desk that says "Do you miss your pet? We will be glad to provide you with one of Maxmillian's fishy friends during your stay. Just ask Reception to provide you with a goldfish." I love it!! Driver was wonderful and gave me a history lesson of the Czech Republic (which I promptly forgot, but do recall the German and Russian occupation.) I was all excited to practice my rusty from-high-school German, but he said everyone pretty much speaks english except for older folks.

The hotel has a wonderful full breakfast with a large buffet: fruit, vegetables, breads, cereals, juices, pastries, meats and cheeses, eggs in a couple of styles, bacon and sausage, etc. They brought coffee with steamed milk, which was a nice touch. We left the hotel and made our way to the Jewish Museum, a cluster of synagogues and historical areas in the old Jewish ghetto, called Josephov, after the Emporer Joseph (Joseph II).

First we went to the Spanish Synagogue (Old School), Spanelska Synagoga. In Prague the Jewish town emerged before the 12th century. The people of Prague are Ashkenazi jews, though there is a tie-in to sephardic jews (thus Spanish Synagogue.) The building was Romanesque architecture originally, but was updated in the 15th C to include gothic touches. Unfortunately none of the buildings in the Jewish museum allow pictures. This one was incredibly beautiful with burgundy, navy and adorned with gold leaf everywhere.

This was the first temple to implement reform during the Jewish enlightenment, implementing vernacular in services in the 1800s. The Jewish Enlightenment was the second half of the 18th century in germany, and spread in Europe through the 18th and 19th centuries. German was promoted over yiddish. The Emporer oseph was responsible for reform for cultural and social development of the Jewish community, and in 1783 founded a Girls' Jewish School.

The first Jews settled in Prague in the 10th century, and by the end of the 16th century the Jewish Town emerged from the medieval ghetto with a town hall, administration building, synagogues and 300 houses. The entire area is really small, and only a few city blocks in either direction. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Jewish commmunity in Prague was one of the largest in Europe., and in 1850 the ghetto was incorporated into the city of Prague and known as Josefov.

We then went to the Pinkas Synagogue, built in 1535. In the late 1950s it was turned into a memorial to the Jews of Bohemia Moravia murdered by the Nazis. Over 80,000 names are represented on the walls and it's really striking. The last names are in red, and if there were multiple family members, the surname is only listed once followed by all of the names in the family and the date of birth, and the last known date. Most of the people represented by the names were killed from 1941 to 1945. It was sombering. There was also an exhibit of art from the children of Terezin, a concentration camp an hour outside of Prague. Only 242 of the over 8,000 children under the age of 15 deported from Terezin remained alive in 1945. The camp was used as propaganda by the Nazis to show what a work camp represented, and most people were shipped out to other camps to be killed. Githic arches adorned in paint vaulted the ceilings, and stained glass with simple colors and cuts are on the wall. The rest of the building is pure white with lists of names all around. The names were destroyed and replaced four times due to water damage in the building.

We then walked to the Jewish cemetary where over 12,000 people were buried beneath sandstone headstones. It's in a single city block and tombstones are stacked almost on top of each other. There were a few mausoleums but mostly stacks of tombstones.

We also toured the Maisel Synagogue, the Klausen Synagogue and Ceremonial Hall, which has a beatiful silver exhibit. Last was the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest surviving Synagogue in Europe and the oldest working synagogue outside of Israel. It was built in Gothic style in the mid 13th century.

I was surprised to see such a substantial Jewish area in a large city, though I read that Hitler decided to keep it there and planned to make it a museum of an extinguished race after he anhialated all of the Jews. What a horrid thought.

We left Josephov and walked toward the Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti), flocked by several beautiful churches. It reminded me of several large squares that could be found in Spain or Italy, with a large open courtyard flocked with  open-air restaurants. It was so beautiful that we decided to stop for a coffee and take in the sights. A traditional Czech folk band was playing, and the music was gorgeous. It sounded very celtic to me with a bagpipe and drum.

There was a museum with two exhibits that we decided to visit. The first was Alfons Mucha, who is known for his art of seduction. Most of his paintings are of women with "streaming hair, delicate colours and decorative style add up to an unashamed act of temptation." He was born in Bohemia when the country was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empore and died shortly after being interrogated by the Gestapo in July 1939. I didn't know who he was, but recognized some of his work from Moet Chandon wine bottles and ads.

Then we went to the Salvador Dali exhibit. Not really my style, though he was an incredibly talented man. The detail that he put into many of his paintings and sketches was exquisite.

Next we checked out the Astronomical Clock and then walked to the river where we saw the Charles Bridge. We'll cross it tomorrow, but decided to stop and get a drink at an outdoor place overlooking the bridge and Prague Castle. It was so beautiful! We decided to eat a late lunch and since it's chilly, got some soup and a cheese plate. I got goulash, which Kim tried for the first time. Very different from what I've had, but good. Kim got a cream of mushroom soup and we split a cheese and fruit plate. It was only around $20 with tip, and we got two drinks each (I tried a Czech wine which was very good.)

This city is so stunningly beautiful and we haven't seen anything like it. It truly is amazing and everywhere you look is a more incredible view of some of the most amazing architecture I've ever seen. I've heard that Prague is one of the few cities not partially or mostly destroyed in World War II, and the city reflects that with the intricate carvings and artwork in the architecture. It's simply amazing.

We walked back towards the Old Town Square and decided to climb the tower over the Astronomical Clock to enjoy the view of the city. Wow! We then climbed down, went into the Tyn Church, walked down through Stare Mesto (Old Town) and to the Old Town Market. The market is a street lined with a buch of outdoor booths and tons of different food: interesting chips made from fresh potatoes cut in curly shapes by a power tool, which was pretty funny! Sausages, potato pancakes, more sausages.. yum. It smelled delish but we were not hungry yet, so we decided to go back. We decided to go back to our room to unwind a bit and warm up as it's getting cold now that the sun is down! It's in the 40s already and still getting cooler. Egads.. my Phoenix blood isn't used to this. It was in the 50s during the day which was quite nice for travel weather.

It's 8 pm and we're heading out for a snack and some drinks in the neighborhood. I thought it would be an early night as I usually have a tough time with jetlag and interestly I feel pretty ok. I usually fly into europe in the morning though, and maybe since I flew in in the evening it helped. I fell asleep before Kim arrived, though woke up to catch up with her when she got in and we talked until around 12:30 when we passed out. I'm catching a second wind, so I think I need to take advantage of that.

Bye for now!
s