Prague, Czech Republic

July 9^th, 2012

standing with the guard of the castle

what's up Prague?!!

Dad and Crystal in front of the castle

inside the cathedral

so many people!!!

from up in the tower overlooking the city

The Claw admiring the town square

me and dad at the Prague castle

Crystal and I roaming the streets for some night pics

the Jewish cemetary

Dad and Crystal at the monestary

Czech money!!

Well right now I am sitting in the front seat of a car, being driven by some shuttle driver named Tomas, and Dad and Crystal are in the back. We’re on our way to Hallstatt, Austria, after 3 wonderful days in Prague. I met Dad and Crystal in Vienna on Thursday. After carrying two huge suitcases, a backpack stuffed to the max, a giant shopping bag filled to the brim, and George (my 24 year old stuffed sheepdog) from Graz to Vienna, I was exhausted and so thankful when I finally found my dad on the street! It’s hard to find someone in a huge capital city without cell phones! But it worked out just fine.

Dad and Crystal’s luggage didn’t make it to Austria the first night, so that was a bit of  a problem. But we made do with what we had, bought a pair of underwear and a clean shirt, and hoped it would come the next morning. They told us that the luggage would arrive in Vienna the next morning around 8:30 am, and that a taxi would take the luggage to our hotel right away. We were supposed to catch a 12:30 train from Vienna to Prague, so we were hoping it would come pretty early in the morning. Well breakfast came and went, and around noon we still hadn’t heard from the airport people. So we changed our train schedule, and hoped to get on one at 2:30. We waited at the hotel eagerly for the luggage to be dropped off. Fifteen minutes pass, then thirty, then an hour, next thing we know it’s 2:00. Just when we started trying to decide what to do if the luggage never showed up, a cab pulled in. The driver opened the door, took the final puffs of his cigarette, threw the cig on the ground, and went to open the trunk. We realized it was ours, hurried to grab it out, and to try to catch our train. We went across the street, and jumped in with the taxi driver that looked the fastest. We told him we had to hurry, to get to the train station as quickly as possible. By that time it was 2:08, and about a fifteen minute ride to the train station. It was gonna be close. The driver was awesome, and drove on the tram tracks to pass a bunch of cars and get us there fast. He dropped us off at 2:29. We grabbed our bags, ran with our suitcases down the ramp, found the right platform, ran onto the train, stepped inside, closed the door, and the train left within about 45 seconds. Out of breath and still realizing what had just happened, we went to find a seat. Whew. Made it. Off to Prague we go.

After five hours on the train, we made it there just fine. The concierge of our apartment met us at the train station to give us a ride back to the apartments we were renting. Her name was Johanna, and she was so great. Seriously sweetest little thing. We got settled in, and went to get something to eat. Great first night.

The next day, we were up and at ‘em and ready to take on Prague! We started off at the Prague Castle. We went inside a few different churches and the city hall type thing. Everything was so ancient. There were buildings from the 12^th century, still in use. We saw the castle guards, standing perfectly still and with no facial expressions. I was watching them, and one had sweat slowly dripping down his face. I can’t imagine not being able to move your arm and wipe the sweat from your face. I sure hope those guards get paid well. We walked through the courtyard of the castle, and I could just imagine royal children hundreds of years ago playing there. So cool.

We stopped and got some lunch at a traditional Czech restaurant, which used to be a hangman’s house! Dad and Crystal ate goulash soup with dumplings, but I wasn’t feelin’ it, so I just got a salad and some potato dumplings. Great place. In the afternoon, we walked to the Charles Bridge. This was the first bridge that was built in Prague to cross the river, and it was built by hand in the 13^th century. It’s very elegant, with statues all along it. I’m sure people came from very far away to get to the bridge to cross the river.

We went to Old Town, and saw a famous church called Our Lady of Tym. It was huge, right in the main square. There’s a famous clock tower there too, that we went up in. You can see the whole city from up there. I loved it! Dad is a little bit afraid of heights, so it wasn’t really his favorite part of the day, to say the least, but we had fun and got some great pictures. After walking some more, we stopped in the square and got some drinks. Great people watching from there. They come in all shapes and sizes! What else… Oh, the whole city is cobblestone.  That was pretty cool, but hard on our feet after a while.  Anyway, Saturday night we went to an Irish Pub. We drank beer/wine/cider and ate fish and chips. So much fun!

Sunday, we tried to go to a church service at one of the churches, but must have gotten the time wrong or something because no one was inside. So we went to the castle to finish our tour there. We went to the “Golden Lane,” which is the street merchants and artisans of the castle used to live. We saw the housing of the old medicine man, the local seamstress, the fortune teller, and a few others. We also went into the “towers” of the castle, which used to be used as prisons. You go down, down, down, into a big stone room where prisoners were kept. We saw cages that looked like dog cages, where people were kept. There was a “leading fork” with spikes that went around the person’s neck, used to guide them where they wanted them to go. There was a “Spanish boot” that had spikes on it and would tighten around the person’s ankle. Ouch. There was a contraption that tightened around a person’s neck, also with spikes of course. And the worst one was the “human cage.” It had shackles around every part of the person’s body, and was connected to a pulley. For the really bad guys, they would put the person in the human cage, and then lower them into the basement dungeon of the tower, where they would stay. They would drop the prisoners down some bread and water whenever they wanted to. One guy we read about stayed down there for a few years, with nothing but bread and water, until he was eventually beheaded. The tower was used as a prison until the mid 16^th century.

Later in the afternoon, we went to the Jewish part of Prague. We went into the Jewish museum, dedicated to the Jews from Prague who were killed during the Holocaust. The names of the people were written on the walls, and it seemed like they were never ending. There were also many displays of children’s artwork, which were done by Jewish children at some of the nearby concentration camps. They tried to make life in the concentration camps seem as “normal” as possible for the children, and taught them to cope with their feelings through art. A famous artist from Vienna was also imprisoned in the concentration camp, and gave many lessons to the children. Their artwork was dark and depressing, but very interesting to look at. The majority of the children at the nearest concentration camps were eventually deported to Auschwitz and killed in gas chambers there.  We also walked through the Jewish cemetery, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. The bodies were buried in those quarters ten layers deep, because there wasn’t enough room. The tombs were pulled up and thrown around as more and more bodies were put into the same ground, so the cemetery looks ridiculous and completely chaotic. The tombs look like they were just thrown inside. The chaotic look fits quite nicely with the persecution of the Jews though, I guess. We also went into the Spanish synagogue, which was gorgeous.

Sunday night, we went to a nice dinner at a restaurant close to our apartment. We got home around 10:30 or so maybe. Around 11 or 11:30, Dad was fast asleep, but Crystal and I decided we wanted to go back out to see the city lit up at night. I figured we wouldn’t be gone long, just take a few pictures and come back. Well, we got a little turned around. I know it sounds crazy, me getting lost and going the wrong way, but it’s true just this time. Anyway, we accidentally walked all the way to Wencelas Square, which was where we’d wanted to go earlier in the day but decided that it was too far away. I’m not sure how we ended up there, but we sure did. We were walking and thinking, “Hmm, how’d we miss this busy street earlier today?” and “Well look at this long square, it must be the shopping area or something?” So funny. So we walked pretty far, getting so turned around, but eventually found our way home around 1 am. Oops. But at least we got some good pictures out of it!

Monday morning, we got up and ventured off to the Prague monastery. I was hoping to see some chanting monks, but “no cigar” on that one.  We went into the library, saw their brewery, walked along the orchards and vineyards of apples and grapes, and headed back to our apartment. We set up a ride with a shuttle service to take us to Hallstatt. It was actually less expensive than taking the train, and much more convenient than lugging our huge suitcases down the cobblestone and changing trains three times. So here we are, driving through rural Czech Republic and excited about Hallstatt this evening! Home sweet Austria, here I come  J