Today's pictures can be found here on Flickr.
Rather than getting up early to visit the Jewish Quarter,
I saved that for after lunch, which was from the vendors in Old Town Square,
roasting hams and grilling bratwurst. I had a wurst and a Gambrinus beer, with
some pretzel-y thing for dessert (they put dough in a spiral around a metal
bar, then heat it over the fire, then put cinnamon and sugar on it).
The Jewish Museum in Prague is interesting, rather than a
typical museum in one building, it’s spread among several buildings in the
Jewish Quarter, each to be visited in late order so that you can get the full
chronological story of the Jews in Prague and surrounding areas. All of the
buildings are in former synagogues. Rather than stand in line at the first
place to buy a ticket (two tickets, one for the Old-New Synagogue and one for
everything else), there’s a Jewish bookseller on the way that sells tickets and
there’s no line. In the Pinkas Synagogue are the names of over 77,000 Jews, all
hand written and grouped by family and town, sent from Prague to the gas
chambers. Upstairs is an exhibit of artwork by children from the Thereizin
camp. Right next door is the Old Cemetery, with graves from 1439 into the late
1700s – apparently, when they ran out of room, they started burying vertically and
so the stones are all right next to and on top of each other. Many stones are unreadable, fallen over,
disintegrating, and moss-covered, but most of the ones that are near the
footpath have small stones on them, signifying that someone remembers and has
visited. The Ceremonial Hall contains artifacts related to the mortuary that
used to be there and practices of dealing with the deceased, and the Klaus has
exhibits on Jewish life (calendars, bar mitzvahs, weddings, kosher food, etc.).
The Old-New Synagogue (which used to be the New Synagogue for a few hundred
years until a newer one was built) dates from 1270 and is the oldest synagogue
in Eastern Europe. Inside it's so ancient looking and archaic yet with familiar
elements. This was left alone by the Nazis because it was going to be part of
the Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race. In the attic, they say, are the pieces
of the original Golem that protected the Jews of Prague in the Middle Ages. The
Maisel Synagogue covers the history of the Jews in greater Bohemia and Moravia,
which during WWII was the storehouse for the accumulation of looted synagogues
throughout the region (to be used in the Extinct museum). Finally, the Spanish
Synagogue covers the 18th-20th centuries, including a
focus on Therezin and a portion of the treasures from destroyed and extinct
synagogues. In all, it was a very moving and worthwhile visit, and a different
tone than the museums in Berlin, which felt more like “This is what we did”
than “This is what happened to our people” in Prague (which, to be fair, had it
own history of hating the Jews, just like every other country in Europe).
New Town was next, basically a stroll down St Wenceslas
Square and the side streets for the rest of the afternoon. I took Rick Steves’
suggested walk, which showed me some sights I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.
The National Museum is closed for renovations for the next couple years, so I
couldn’t go there, and right next to it is a communist-era building (which really
sticks out) which first housed the Czech Parliament and then Radio Free Europe.
Walking down the square, I took the opportunity to grab a Starbucks coffee
(yes, Prague has its own coffee shops, but they don’t have free wifi) and sit
and observe the passersby. The Square (really it’s the whole street, for
several blocks) is where the people gathered in 1989 to protest the Communist
government in the Velvet Revolution. It’s been a generation since then, and the
street has changed with the addition of grassy medians replacing tram tracks,
but I remember those protests, and
seeing the spot where Vaclav Havel addressed 300,000 people from a hotel room
balcony was still chilling, in a far different way than the Nazi sights of
Berlin. In a nearby mall (that I wouldn’t have thought to go in, if not for my
guide book) there’s a really cool art-deco era stained glass window advertising
the long-defunct Czech radio manufacturer Tesla. Also along the way there’s a
storefront for a treatment in which you put your feet in the water and the fish
nibble at your toes and eat away at the dead skin. I’d heard of it before but
never seen it. Stopped for a beer at the recommended U Pinkasu pub, where I
broke my “don’t drink the same beer twice” rule since all they had was Urquell.
Heading to the right at the bottom of the Square is Na Prikope which runs to
the Municipal House and the Powder Tower, so I headed that way for some more
Art Nouveau architecture. The Municipal House had a concert going on so I
couldn’t go inside to take a look, but the Powder Tower next door (dating to
the 1400s) was a fascinating site because it’s where the city wall used to be
(right now, in the middle of the city) and where they would store their gunpowder.
One of the fascinating things to me about cities like Prague is how they mix
the old and new and nobody thinks twice, there are 500 years separating the
Municipal House and Powder Tower yet just steps apart. Finally, there’s the
Museum of Communism (which was closed by the time I got there) – which is on
the 1st floor of a building (2nd story to us) that is
right above a McDonald’s, and right next door to a casino. I don’t think I
could have taken a photo that was more ironic.
Then I headed west to the River, coming out south of the
Charles Bridge, and from this vantage point you can see the Castle right above
the Bridge, which is about as photogenic as you can get at night. I stopped at Stoleti, a
recommended restaurant near the bridge, and ordered the Eric von Stroheim, a chicken breast with
baked pears and a sweet chili sauce, with a stuffed avocado salad, a side of
pasta risone, bread, and a beer. Combined, that still cost me less than that
club sandwich I had for lunch in Copenhagen. On the way back to the apartment I
stopped at a chocolate shop (even though I hadn’t even started eating the
chocolates I bought in Berlin – I’m weak that way) and among other things got
an Absinthe truffle. They are really big on Absinthe here in Prague, all the
stores and liquor shops sell it, it’s on the menu everywhere, and there are
lots of Absinthe bars all over. I stopped in one Absintherie to check it out –
you can buy a mojito, martini, or caprinha with absinthe, or even get an
absinthe colada. I don’t like the taste of anise and black licorice, though, so
I didn’t buy one. I did, however, buy a Budweiser beer, that’s “bood-veezer”
not “bud-wizer”. This Czech beer existed long before the US beer, though since
A-B has the trademark rights in the US, you can buy a “Czechvar” or “Budvar”
beer at home.
Back at the apartment, I got on the computer and stayed
up til 4am putting together my itinerary for Budapest, my next city. Before I
left home, I had gotten the details for all my stops up through Prague, but I
hadn’t really taken the time to do anything since then, or even try to find a
room in Budapest. I sent out a bunch of requests on AirBNB and spent the time deciding
what to do. I had one more day in Prague, which was going to be the Castle
Quarter and then hanging out, then catch an overnight train at midnight into
Budapest. So at 4am, as I went to bed, I decided that it was finally time for a
rest. Instead of Budapest, rushing around to catch trains and seeing things in
all parts of the city, getting in late and not having down time, I would
instead take those 2 days and R&R in Prague, starting the next day. I sent
my host an email asking if the room was available and made some mental plans on
where to stay in town in case I couldn’t continue to stay in the apartment, and
went to bed.
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