i apologize for the lack of posts lately! now that's the weather is finally starting to be kind, i am trying to take avantage of it during my time left in denmark!
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| prague's main train station |
i left off with my trip to vienna. from there i took a train ride to prague where i met up with eva, another friend from grinnell studying in prague for the semester. we hopped on the metro to her apartment where we met up with all of her housemates for a delicious potluck dinner that got us sufficiently stuffed. afterwards we all went bowling and eva and i stopped at a pub on the way back to the apartment, where i got my first taste of some traditional czech beer.
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| church of our mother of god before týn |
the next morning, eva and i walked to the city center together, and as she headed to class, i made my way down the street to the alphonse mucha museum, which held a number of his beautiful works. mucha was a czech art nouveau painter and decorative artist, known for his distinct style as seen in a number of paintings, illustrations, advertisements, postcards and designs.
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eva and i in front of the astronomical clock
tower, first installed in 1410, making it one
of the oldest clocks still working |
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| old town square |
i took a quick turn around the old city before eva and patty (another grinnellian studying in prague) came out of class and made excellent tour guides as they walked with me around prague's main sites and attractions. it was a sunny, hot(!), and overall beautiful day!
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| the jan hus memorial, commemorating the 500th anniversary of jan hus' martyrdom |
we stopped for lunch/dinner at a little pub "hany bany", where i had a traditional czech meal of fried cheese, a heap of french fries and beer. that night we went to one of prague's many beer gardens, situated on a hill that overlooked the entire city. it was a perfect spot to sit and admire the twinkling lights of the city at night.
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| st. charles bridge |
the next day we started our day at mama coffee, a cute little coffee shop where i had a delicious bagel with vegetables and hummus (to balance out the less than healthy dinner from the night before) and a perfect coffee in a beautiful ceramic mug.
we continued touring the sites of prague that were a little farther away and first headed toward charles bridge. packed with people, it is prague's all-pedestrian street, where vendors sell a mix of kitchy cartoon drawings and a variety of arts and crafts items. the bridge band, a jazz band of six men playing a banjo, washboard, tuba, trumpet and sax, brought a very lively, yet romantic feel to the bustling and touristy bridge.
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prague is no exception with the love locks
along the canal in mala strana |
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| me, eva, patty and vanessa at the johnlennon wall |
after making a wish on one of the statues of st. john of nepomuk, which not only guaranteed my wish, but also a return to prague and good luck, we made it to the other side of the bridge and headed towards the prague castle.
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| mucha's stained glass |
once at the top we sat for a good while overlooking the city and then went into st. vitus cathedral, which is situated entirely within the prague castle complex. it was so beautiful inside, and the stained glass windows, one of which was entirely mucha's work, were certainly to beat.
we took a walk around the castle's green spaces afterwards, where eva and i had some dance ensemble fun ;) that night, eva, patty and i went out to a bar called "the big leboswki" where we sipped on yummy czech raspberry beers and paid what we wanted for them. needless to say, compared to copenhagen, during my entire stay in prague i felt like i was paying dirt for everything because it was all SO CHEAP.
on my last day, eva had some work to do, so i made my way into the old town again to catch some of the sites and spots i had not yet visited. first on the list was prague's jewish quarter, where some of the most high- end boutiques and flamboyant looking buildings are found next to classically beautiful synagogues and quaint gardens.
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| the spanish synagogue from the 19th century |
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| the high synagogue from the 16th century |
most of the quarter was demolished between 1893 and 1913 as a part of an initiative to model the city on paris. what was left were only six synagogues, the old cemetery and the old jewish town hall. the jewish quarter is now mostly built with buildings from the early 20th century, so it is difficult to appreciate exactly what the old quarter was like when it was reputed to have over 18,000 inhabitants. while i wish i could have seen more of it, i was particularly entranced by the tiny view i got of the old jewish cemetery, which is speculated to have been around for over 1000 years. its ancestor was a cemetery called "the jewish garden", which i think would be a more appropriate name for it now seeing as there are 12 layers of graves in the cemetery, where tombstones sprout in all different directions, each seeming to vie for their own space.
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| view of the prague castle above the river vltava |
from the jewish quarter i walked along the water toward charles bridge, through mala strana, up nerudova street (or kings road) and toward the castle once more while munching on a classic trdelnik, rolled dough wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnuts.
my final stop was the kafka museum in mala strana. with various items from kafka's life, including pictures, letters, diary entires, notes and sketches, the museum first takes the viewer through a journey of kafka’s perspective on prague,
which contributed myth, obscure magic, and an abhorrence of clarity. the museum then becomes almost a literal metamorphosis as one begins
to learn about his many works via a labyrinth of frightening red lights, white
tunnels, sound effects and flashing images that created an atmosphere that was
so claustrophobic and surreal, i found myself literally running through the exhibit in an attempt to get out. so, i guess the museum
did its job? but i wouldn’t say it was the most pleasant experience…
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| in front of the kafka museum are these statues by the czech artist and sculptor, david cerny. the two male bronze statues pee quotes of famous prague residents with the stream of water. they move realistically with an electric mechanism that swivels the upper part of the body while the penis goes up and down. very odd... |
after a lunch of traditional czech bread dumplings, meat, gravy, cucumber salad, and wheat beer, i made it onboard the overnight train that would take me back to copenhagen. i enjoyed 15 hours in my own cabin, where i lounged, looked at the beautiful czech landscape until night, and slept a good 8 hours in a surprisingly comfortable bed. i don't think that was quite the experience most people get on their first overnight train ride, but i could certainly not complain. after the train steward knocked on my door letting me know copenhagen would be the last and final stop the next morning with my complementary breakfast coffee in hand, i made it refreshed and well-rested back to copenhagen on sunday morning. while the weather was certainly cooler in denmark (no surprise there), the sun was shining bright as i returned home with so many wonderful memories from a truly fantastic week.
