Beautiful Prague

Henry Tower near old town

Astronomical Clock in the old square

Weekend festival in the old square

"16" Cathedral in the old square

Charles Bridge

Sunday Aug 28

One of the best way to tour a city like this is with a bike tour. It takes you out a little further and on foot. We signed up for a ride in the morning. It's a city tour so I told Mike that I get nervous riding a bike through crowds so let's see. I had to practice a little while waiting for everyone to be ready :-) I just don't want to kill any unsuspecting tourists!

Our guide was a young guy named Michael. He was good at stopping frequently to tell us some history. We started in the old square where he promptly declared that the prominent sculptor in the middle was quite ugly. However, one of the figure was one of the most famous in czech history: Jan Hus. Jan Hus started the Protestan movement when he rebeled against the catholic church during the times when greed and power was a dominant feature. He was not popular with the church and had to go into semi-exile to his small village in slovakia. The pope invited him to a gathering in rome and promised him safety. He came and found out it was a lied and was arrested. The pope gave him the option to disclaim what he has preached and tell people he was possessed by the devil, or he would be burned at the stake for witchcraft. Well, he chose the later and became a hero/martyr for the locals.

Michael started out saying that czechs were cowardly people and usually did not fight back any foreign occupation. I would have said it differently, maybe they are just a peaceful people. As in Slovakia the country was under Austrain-Hungarian rule, then german occupation and then russian occupation. The revolution took place in 1989 and by 1991 they were a free country with their own constitution. Most interesting part of the tour was the jewish quarter. For centuries a specific part of the city was dedicated for the "jewish ghetto". Jews were not treated equally and not allowed to live outside an actual erected wall within the city. They could not build out as the population grew so they built up. The cementery nearby was small naturally so they had to bury the dead in layer (as in 10-20 layers per plot).

We rode by the charles bridge which was built in the 13 century and still standing strong today. Part of the reason is the diamond shaped feet column designed to take minimal impact of the water flow, especially during flooding. They really know how to build these things back then. Tour books will tell you that it's very crowded and advised times when you can go when it's more quiet. It's very popular because it's only a pedestrian bridge and has statues along the bridge. You will find many vendors and artists as you stroll across the bridge. I thought part of the charm are the crowds. Besides, it wasn't as bad as people made it sound. You haven't experienced crowded until you are on the champs Elysee on news years eve. Trust me, that's crowded.

Saw the "lennon wall" Just a big wall in a quiet neighborhood where people spray painted whatever they wanted to express. I guess during those occupied times, freedom of expression was a precious thing. Most of the drawings and words were related to j. lennon or the beatles. Someone mentioned that it's actively painted on so that you will see a different wall if you come back in a week.

It was a lovely sunny day and perfect for a bike ride.

Mike went back to dudo by 5pm and I went back into town and got tickets for a classical concert in the Rudolfino theatre. I like the music but I was interested in the building itself. Apparently during the german occupation it was used as headquarter for the german gestapo police. The concert was held in a smaller room with about 200 seats. The sounds was amazing and the czech symphony orchestra (the string section) played some popular collection of mozart, vivaldi and bizet. Loved it. The violinist was amazing, some pieces were so intricate and fast he held the audience transfixed. Prague seemed to have endless number of theatres, I was I had more time!