Prague
August, 2000
The last place we visited was Prague. I was able to buy more slide film at a shot next to Charles Bridge, so I shot many more pictures than are represented here. These are just chosen from ones that were in a slide tray. If I run across more, I will scan some in and add them here. I'm surprised that I didn't find any slides from Wenceslas Square, for example. I had wanted to visit Prague ever since a guy from Philadelphia struck up a conversation with us on a train in England. He talked us into taking a day trip to Edinburgh, saying it was the second most beautiful city he had seen. I of course asked him what was the most beautiful, and without pause, he said, “Prague.”
We stayed in a hotel near where Mozart had lived there. We were convenient to the Anděl metro station and street cars. Anděl is the Czech word for “angel” and was named for the Golden Angel pub in the neighborhood, not anything religious. Our transit pass got us around easily. The street car system is extensive, and is a great way to see the town.
The Vlatava River runs through the middle of the city. The German name for the river is the Moldau. That is the name we know from the tone poem that is a movement in Bedřich Smetena’s Má Vlast, “My Country.” (At the Smetena Museum, I asked how they pronounce his first name. I had her repeat it a couple of times. It sounded a lot like “Budgie” to me. The name means “Fred Cream,” no joke.) It has been one of my favorite pieces of music since I was in high school. Some time read the description of how it portrays the different sections of the river and then listen to it. Before my trip an online friend told me a CD to buy of what he considered the best performance of Má Vlast, and it was cheap in terms of our money. The Moldau Story The performance by the Berlin Philharmonic is fairly exciting if not as lyrical as the ones I like best.
The castle hill sits above it all, and most prominent is St. Vitus’ Cathedral. Connecting the two sides of the river is the Charles Bridge.
The Powder Tower is one of the original city gates, separating the Old Town from the New Town. Construction began in 1475. Gun powder was stored there in the seventeenth century.
The Old Town Square was the central market place starting in the twelfth century.
The statue of early reformer Jan Hus (c. 1372–1415) is the centerpiece of the square.
Church of St. Salvator
The Old Town Hall Tower was built in 1388. The Astronomical Clock from the fifteenth century is the main attraction in the square. If you can figure it out, it gives even more information than the main face I use on my Apple Watch. Every hour on the hour the doors open, and Christ leads a procession of the Twelve Apostles.
The towers of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn can be seen all over Prague. Supposedly they were Walt Disney's inspiration for the castle in Disneyland.
The Church of St. Nicholas was a Roman Catholic parish church from 1735 to 1870, when it became a Russian Orthodox church. During World War II, the Czech army stationed there did an extensive restoration, working with local artists. After the war it became a Protestant church. Besides services, concerts are frequently held there.
Church of the Nativity is part of a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site.
The castle stands on a hill above the city, west of the river. This is the first courtyard of the castle area.
The Matthias gate stands between the first and second courtyards. It was built in 1614.
The imposing St. Vitus’ Cathedral towers over the city. It was the site of coronations of Kings and Queens of Bohemia, and is the burial place for many of them, as well as nobles and archbishops.
Golden Lane leads off near the cathedral. Houses were built for the castle guards in the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century they were occupied by goldsmiths, hence the name. Sometimes it is called Alchemists’ Alley, though they never lived or worked there, supposedly. In modern times they housed artists and writers. Franz Kafka lived and wrote in No. 22 for a year.
Vladislav Hall is much larger than it looks here. It was used for banquets and other affairs of the Bohemian court and still houses large events of the modern Czech state. They even had jousts between knights, and the stairways were built large enough to accommodate horses for that purpose.
“Defenestration” is a word associated with Prague because of their penchant over the centuries for throwing people out of windows. The most famous of these events was the one of 1618 that started the Thirty Years’ War. I think the window involved was the middle one on the top floor shown below. The defenestrated Catholic emissaries survived the 70-foot fall. Catholics said it was through divine intervention. Protestants said they fell into a dung heap.
I can't recall where this chapel was, maybe somewhere in the castle.
Views from the castle hill
I am sure I took many more pictures in Prague. If I locate more slides, I will scan in some and post another page. Our last evening in Prague featured a farewell dinner at a place called something like Alligator of Crocodile. Live music was presented by a band playing traditional instruments. The musicians otherwise played in symphony orchestras and taught in universities. There were dancers who eventually picked some of us out to be their partners, including Pete and me. Then after a while they paired us with other guests. Pete and I both wound up dancing with young Asian girls.
It turned out that it was Julie’s eightieth birthday. The guide, and therefore the restaurant, had no advanced notice, so they didn't have a cake made. Instead they made swans out of cream puff pastries and put a candle in each. So they were our desserts. The two Long Island couples extended their trip a few days, but for our group, it was goodbye. The next day we flew to Budapest, where we caught our Malev flight to New York.