Czech Republic is marked as my first time traveling to Eastern Europe. In Slavic, Prague means "threshold" and has always been a natural entry point to the East. The history behind the city of Prague is unlike that of the cities we have traveled to this semester. Over numerous centuries Prague has seen its share of history rumble though its cobble stone streets. People across Eastern Europe have looked toward Prague as the region's culture capital and standard bearer for shunning imposing ways and embracing their deep Slavic roots. The 20th century was especially difficult for Prague, with over four decades of communist rule the city was able to escape many bombs from the world wars - making it uniquely preserved. Prague's Old Town Square resembles something like Disneyland with colorful buildings and castle like churches.
We arrived in Prague around 1am and had a shuttle service bring us to our hostel which was set up like an apartment, kitchen table and everything. Since it was so late by the time we were checked in and settled down we crashed for the evening with alarms set for an early morning wake up. 8am came and our alarms were ringing - time to see Prague, we needed to capitalize on every second of the day since we only had one day to see everything Prague had to offer. Our hostel gave us maps and directions to the nearest ATM and Old Town Square. The currency in Prague is the Czech Koruna (Crown) and there are roughly 25 Czech Koruna to 1 Euro going to the ATM was an experience in itself, we had the options to withdraw 500, 1000, up to 10,000 Crown. With 2,000 crown in our pockets we were off for a day in Prague.
The Old Town Square is considered Prague's dramatic centerpiece, it originated as a market square n the 11th century and later the Town hall. It is home to the Jan Hus Memorial, symbolizing the long struggle for czech freedom, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Jewish Quarter, the Old Town Hall, and the Astronomical Clock. Christine and I walked around the square, found a cafe to enjoy a Bohemia pie and cappuccinos. While strolling through the Old Town Square Christine and I came across a Free Tour signed and inquired with the tour guide what the catch was. He replied that there was no catch, his company gave tours in which they work for tips only. .
Old Town Square
Bohemian Pie
The walking tour began with the Astronomical Clock. With revolving discs, celestial symbols and giant sweeping hands this clock keeps several versions of time. There are two outer rings which show the Bohemian time and modern time. The times of sunrise and sunset are arching lines and moving spheres to show the orbits of the sun and the moon as they rise through the day and night. The circle below the clock shows the signs of the zodiac and a ring of saints names - one for each day of the year. There are four statues flanking the clock representing the 15th century outlook on time and prejudices - hedonism, greed, vanity all in the face of death. At the top of the hour Death tips his hourglass and pulls a cord, ringing the bell; windows open and 12 apostles parade by, finally a rooster crows and the hour is rung. Honestly the ringing of the hour is quite a let down, but the clock is incredible especially learning that it was built in the 15th century, the fact that people had such knowledge of the sun, moon and times ...
Our walking tour was around two hours and covered the majority of the Old Town, branching out to the Jewish Quarter and Charles Bridge. We walked up Parizka street a few blocks from the Old Town Square and came to the Jewish Quarter. A well preserved neighborhood the Jewish Quarter is home to Prague's Jews treasures. As the Nazis decimated Jewish communities, Prague allowed them to collect and archive many belongings. The Old Jewish cemetery with tightly packed and over 12,000 tombstones is a small piece of land in which the Jews were allow to bury their loved ones. Tombs were piled atop each other because of the limited space. After visiting the Jewish Quarter we walked to a cafe to warm up and grab a quick snack.
Next stop was the New Town or more importantly Wenceslas Square. The square is actually a broad boulevard that was named for king Wenceslas and functioned as a stage for modern Czech history. The creation of the Czechoslovak state was celebrated here after more than 300,000 Czechs and Slovaks converged at the square to claim their freedom against the Soviets in 1989. Our tour then looped back around the Old Town to see a few more famous sights in Prague. We walked by the Power Tower which was originally the gate of the town - this tower portrays Czech kinds and is considered one of the best sculptures in town. Our tour ended back in the Old Town Square where our tour guide Jeff told us one last story about the Old Town Hall, which was partially destroyed in World War II and how they left the building exactly the way it was following bomb damage symbolizing the national pride Prague had and ability of a bunch of civilians to fight a division of the trained German Army. The tour came to an end and Jeff mentioned that he would be running a tour of Prague's castle in the afternoon....
No comments:
Post a Comment