August 31st and we set off on our latest adventure, this time a trip to some of the places in Europe we have never been to before, some of which have been on my wish list for a long time.
This trip has been a long time coming, planned before the pandemic struck and travel was halted. Initially a two centre short break to Vienna and Bratislava, it has been postponed twice and during that time it has evolved into a three week, six centre trip with an exciting itinerary and the promise of many new experiences.
I have deliberately not read up on the places we are to visit, prefering to arrive with my limited preexisting knowledge and ideas, and hoping to be surprised and delighted in my discoveries.
Prague has certainly lived up to and exceeded my expectations, its bridges, spires, architecture and pretty squares ideal for wandering and thankfully a lot less lively than the stag party destination I had been warned of and envisioned with some trepidation.
We spent our first day high above the 'Lesser Town' (which is not any lesser or inferior than the rest of Prague as its name unfortunately suggests)
exploring the towering castle complex, arriving just in time to witness the elaborate 'changing of the guard' with its procession and ceremony, before entering St. Vitus cathedral and gazing in wonder at its towering columns and vaults similar in style to some of the English perpendicular gothic cathedrals like Gloucester. After slowly taking in its beautiful stained glass windows, 'golden gate' mosaic and the spectacular Chapel of St. Wenceslaus, beautifully adorned with semi precious stones and 14th century wall paintings, we climbed the 287 steps of the tower to enjoy far reaching views of the city and Charles Bridge over the Vltava River.
It was perhaps as well that our next stop, St. George's Chapel, was completely contrasting in style, being the oldest surviving church in the castle complex, dating from the first century, romanesque in style and built simply from limestone. Despite its humble appearance, St. George's had a gentle and tranquil ambiance and its age and history were tangible, its mausoleum holding the tombs and remains of saints and the historic Premyslid dynasty.
Back into the sunshine, it is not difficult to imagine the castle as the home of the Bohemiam crown jewels and the seat of power for Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and Presidents of Czechoslovakia, with its grand Baroque palaces, gothic cathedral, churches and open squares covering around 70,000 square metres. The part of the Palace open to the public though I felt was somewhat underwhelming, and did not provide the visual experience of grandeur that I had expected, its grand Hall and large rooms being devoid of furnishings or decoration other than the Land Rolls Room with its many coats of arms covering the walls and ceilings.
The castle was, however, also home to ordinary but skilled people such as goldsmiths, seamstresses, blacksmiths and alchemists and examples of their more humble abodes and workplaces can be seen in Golden Lane (named after the goldsmiths), which also houses a tavern and a prison.
After our Castle experience we had time to relax, enjoying traditional local food and wine, and live music in one of the many jazz bars.
The next day after taking a quick peep inside the lovely St. Nicholas' Church, we crossed Charles Bridge, a medieval stone Bridge sandwiched between the renaissance style Judith Tower and the Old Town Bridge Tower and decorated by 30 baroque style statuettes (much like the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome).
We headed to the Jewish Quarter (Josefov), much of which has been lost over time and what is left being dedicated to the retelling of the torrid history of the former Jewish Ghetto which began in the 13th century when Jewish people were ordered to leave their homes and settle in this one area of the city. From then on they were persecuted and forced to endure ongoing and changeable rules and restrictions at the whim of whichever leader or Emperor was in power at the time, much the same as was seen across the rest of Europe later.
Fortunately, despite frequent remodelling, many significant historic buildings were saved from destruction including six synagogues, the ceremonial Hall and perhaps most remarkably, the old Jewish cemetery. A tour of these buildings tells the story of life and repression for the Jewish people of Prague from the 13th to the 20th century and makes for sombre viewing, but the synagogues themselves are beautiful and varied in style and the fact that they remain standing are testament to the determination and resilience of the Jews in Prague.
The old Jewish cemetery is an incredibly spiritual place where 20,000 people are buried in a very small space, with higgledy piggledy tombstones crammed next to and on top of each other and one can only imaging how deep the graves are underfoot.
All in all it provided the basis for a day of reflection and also hope, that lessons have been learned and that these sort of atrocities are now resigned to history.
Our final day was spent wandering around the old town, people-watching from cafes and reading on the banks of the Vltava.
We visited an exhibition showing the life and works of Alphonse Mucha, thoroughly enjoying his distinctly stylised and decorative artwork and admiring his dedication and optimism.
Next stop was the Kafka sculpture, a huge metallic rotating head by David Cerny, 11 metres tall and made of 42 rotating panels, each one mechanised and rotating individually providing a very entertaining show on every hour.
Finally, after an hour reading on the banks of the Vltava, we made our way to the Franz Kafka museum on the Lesser Town banks which offers insight into the life and works of Prague born Kafka and houses many of his letters as well as excerpts from his diaries and some first editions of his work. Although undoubtedly one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, he seemed unable to settle into his life, shunning the people who tried to get close to him, resenting his job which he saw as taking him away from his writing, and indulging himself in his many frustrations. Add to that his contraction of TB and sunsequent untimely death, he was quite a sad character.
After this contemplative couple of hours, we strolled back up to Malostranske and enjoyed Czech tapas with a couple of glasses of wine before heading back to our hotel to prepare for our journey to Vienna by train, tomorrow.
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