March 4th, 2015

Have got to finish off this Europe X-mas travelogue. Previous installments had us in Vienna, Salzburg and (the greatest city on Earth) Budapest.  Our final few days were to be spent in Prague.  Had determined that the best way to get from Budapest to Prague was by train, and so as to not lose an entire day of time on board, that there was a sleeper train that left at 8ish in the evening, and arrived at 6AM.  We were all pretty excited about the prospect as none of us had ever been on that type of ride before...also, everyone knows that a night on the sleeper train always ends up in murder.

While not luxurious, accommodations were clean.  Our cabin even had a bathroom with a shower (the other two in our group didn't and they had to use the communal toilet...ha ha).  Drank a couple of beers from the club car, did a little reading and don't remember much else from the ride.  Sorta waking up here and there when the train slowed down, but other than that, very smooth and uneventful.  And everyone made it off alive.  If you ever get the chance, was a fantastic way to travel a long distance without losing valuable sightseeing time, and was about a third of the cost of staying that night in a hotel, so win win win...

As we got in early, our hotel wasn't ready to let us in, so we arranged to take a tour of the central area.  Earlier in our trip, we were hanging with an Israeli medical student that had just been to Prague, and she said we should go on a tour with Sandeman.  These tours are scheduled, but free.  They tend to be larger groups and you pay the guide what you feel is fair at the end of it.  We weren't expecting much, but our guide gave an excellent tour, we saw a ton and learned a lot.  It is recommended to give 4-5 euros per person, but we gave a lot more than that and it was still a screaming deal.

Central Prague is compact and centers around Old Town Square.  We went through it a lot...to go up in the Old Town Hall Tower

 For the best view of the city.

  Or to watch the Astronomical Clock go off at the hour

Or to have a monstrously delicious/deliciously monstrous kielbasa.

I know I've seen that Astronomical Clock in movies before, but it was one of the coolest pieces of machinery I've ever seen.  For one, it's over 600 years old.  It has so many interesting features, like the 12 apostles that rotate in the windows when it chimes, the  four figures representing vanity, greed, death and pleasure (the skeleton representing death rings a little bell...how cute).  There is a clock for the time, bit also one that shows the position of the moon in the zodiac, a ring that contains the 400 names in Bohemian society, etc...awesome...check out just how so here.

Should mention that also in the square is an enormous statue of Jan Hus.  Jan was the first church reformer...was before Martin Luther and Calvin...and met his untimely death at the hands of the Catholics.  The Czechs have been lukewarm Christians ever since and the term Bohemian, while meaning people from the land of Bohemia, has an alternate meaning in the west that dates back to this era. 

Our Sandeman guide also took us to the Old Jewish Quarter.  The synagogues here were some of the oldest and most famous in Europe.  One is the legendary home of the Golem.  The tour guide said that the Jewish section and synagogues in Prague were in pristine condition despite the fact that the Nazi's occupied Prague by 1938 and had pretty much cleaned the city of Jews early in the war.  The reason for that was that Hitler loved Prague and planned to retire there.  He wanted to have the Jewish section of the city as a museum to show how the Jews lived before he rid the planet of them.  Chilling.  We also walked past the Jewish cemetery...for hundreds of years, the Jews were confined to this small portion of the city and were denied the ability to bury their dead outside of their ghetto walls, so they had to stack the dead.  The cemetery is a small block, but it raises over 20 feet high and is estimated to contain over 150,000 bodies.  We had planned to go back to check it out, but did so late on a Friday afternoon.  The fake Jew in me forgot that all things Jewish shut down at sundown on Friday.  You can sorta get the gist of how tall it is from this...

Our guide was probably in his early forties, and he was telling us about growing up in the time of the communists...while he was still young, his memory of that time was his first hamburger when he was about 10 years old...how amazing it was and that he can still remember everything about it.  He also told us of one of his relatives that developed the modern soft contact lenses in Communist Czechoslovakia, but that due to the system, he made no money from it and died poor.  (I looked it up...true story).  Another interesting story came from the Velvet Revolution...when the Czechoslovakians tossed out the Soviets...the people stood in peace in the main square and jangled their keys symbolizing that it was time for the Russians to go home.  The breakup into the Czech Republic and Slovakia came two years later and was called the Velvet Divorce. 

That first day in Prague also happened to be December 31st and had booked a Medieval Dinner in an old building that night.  It was in the basement of an 700 year mansion, but as the Czechs still allow smoking in restaurants, the basement became unbearable and we retreated upstairs.  We still got the full show (belly dancers, lute players, fire spinners, etc...

 Was a bit of a rip off...expensive and the food was not great (although they gave more to each person than several huge dudes could ever possibly eat), but still a decent night.  We walked outside and caught the people powered firework show in the Old Square, counted down to midnight and popped our champagne.

Day two was New Year's Day.  We set off to walk across the legendary Charles Bridge, and as we are walking through the old town, stumble across the sports nesting doll shop. (Sorry, from Betty's camera and cannot rotate in the diary)



 

They had every team from every sport I could think of...baseball, football, soccer...even rugby and Australian Rules football.  Could have (and probably should have) bought 100 different ones and given them as presents, but was selfish (and we were in the middle of the playoffs) so only bought the Seahawks.

Without opening it up, the store guy knew the names, in order, of all the Hawks inside, including SB 48 MVP Malcolm Smith (who I can never remember).  We were mightily impressed. 

The Charles Bridge is the iconic one in Prague, 700+ years old, gorgeous and full of history.  Sends you back in time as you approach it.

 Is lined with statues of Saints, and on several of them, it is said if you touch certain spots, then you will be alternatively blessed in divine ways.

 Never did figure out why the pooch was rubbed raw, but I never miss any possible blessing opportunity...I might not believe in God, but I definitely have the right to pray.

 And fabulous views of the city from it (St Vitus Cathedral in the background)

Epic any time of day.

At the far side of the bridge is the Lennon Wall.  Tucked away in an alley near the bridge, during the late stages (1988) of the Communist regime, students would write graffiti on it in protest of the government.  It started with a portrait of John Lennon to signify the protests were rooted in "peace and love" and was also directed as a double entendre for Lenin/Lennon.  The original graffiti has long been covered up, but it is constantly being updated...

They do indeed.  Having a couple hours to kill, we took the funicular up Petrin Hill to see what we could see.  Would have been much better in the summer when the gardens were in bloom, and I only mention this diversion as they had a Hall of Mirrors there that provided plenty of entertainment.

Prague has a tradition on New Year's Day that I think all cities should do.  On NYE, it is kind of a free for all with drunken revelers shooting off fireworks and boozing in the streets, but the city does their official fireworks show at 6PM on New Year's Day so families can all come out and watch them.  Civilized, no?  We grabbed a bite and then joined the throngs by the river to watch the show.  The street was full where we were, but we only had a peek-a-boo view of the show unfortunately.  Was a bit disappointed by that, but it was OK as we had pre-purchased tickets for a 7:30 show at The Estates Theatre

This was my favorite thing we did in town.  Had walked past it on our tour the previous morning and went back to see if we could catch a show as it sounded so cool.  It was the location where Mozart debuted several pieces, most notably Don Giovanni, it provided the interior for the concert scenes from the movie Amadeus and is the only concert hall still standing where Mozart performed.  They had an hour or so show of Mozart greatest hits that night, so we initially got tickets for the adults to go, then decided that the kids shouldn't miss this one either. 

Again, not a huge devotee but appreciate Mozart on an intellectual level.  3 piece woodwind, tenor and soprano put on a whimsical performance. 

The dude looked just like Ryan Stiles from Who's Line Is It Anyway.  While the performance was fine (and mercifully short), the real grab was how beautiful the room was.  Intimate (compared to the more cavernous opera houses we had seen) time well spent imagining what it must have been like to be watching Mozart live.

Last full day was dedicated to the Castle.  Must say that Prague continued the European trend of efficient and excellent public transportation.  We took trams, subways and buses all over town and they were simply excellent.  Took the bus up the hill to the Castle complex...it dominates the city and touches on all of Czech history.  The day was wet and cold, pretty much our only bad day in two weeks.  Maybe it was the weather, or the fact that I wiped out a couple days before, but I found the complex a bit underwhelming.  Regarding the injury, my knee maladies are well documented and am diligent in minimizing high impact activities and am super careful around ice and snow, but I missed seeing a slick patch of ice when making a turn and down went Frazier.  The swelling had masked the fact that I tore some more meniscus, but by day two after, it was throbbing bad. 

The highlight, and really the only truly memorable thing on the castle area, was St. Vitus Cathedral.  Over 700 years old, fantastic example of Gothic design.  The rain that day made for some fun gargoyle vomiting action.

The most extensive use of flying buttresses I've ever seen.  Remember studying this period in history in 4th or 5th grade and flying buttresses making an impression on me then, obviously cause of the word butt, and they still make giggle Beavis style.

Of course, the inside is equal parts mesmerizing and intimidating...great way to keep the uneducated in line.

 

The castle had a bunch of other buildings that were interesting, but not exceptionally so.  We did see the Window of Defenestration.

A defenestration is when you get thrown out of a window and the act is unique to Prague as far as I can tell.  Religiously motivated, the two most famous defenestrations ultimately caused wars to be fought in their aftermath 250 years apart. 

Oh yeah, the castle complex also had this statue.

Never did figure out what it was, or why the penis was rubbed raw, and subsequent but brief searches have proven inconclusive, but Paul and I both felt compelled to touch it.

And we did stop for this amazing snack on the way off the hill.

The public art in Prague was good.  Franz Kafka was a German speaking Jew that lived in Prague...was good to get a chance to understand him more.  The Prague-ians/ites/sters(?) seemed proud to have him as a city son.

And I became fascinated by modern sculptor David Cerny.  Betty has a better shot of this that I do not have, but it is a reflective pregnant woman, and you can stand up in her uterus

Go check out some of his work at this link...you will not be disappointed. 

I do have to mention the finest urinal I have ever been lucky enough to use...

Pretty simple trough design, and that it was clear glass was aesthetically pleasing, but the crowning touch was the liberal use of lemons and limes in the target zone.  Have always been a fan of the crushed ice and seeing how many I could melt in one movement, but peeing on citrus gave off a fresh scent that was pleasing. Even though he resisted as he didn't have to go, I talked Paul into stopping by and he was not sorry he did.

Speaking of citrus, the food in Prague was fine.  We had a couple of decent sit down meals, but nothing that shook me to the core like those in Budapest.  I did think the street food was quite good...as long as you are down with a Pilsner and kielbasa, in Prague, you are good to go. 

Ann-Marie and Sophie left early that final morning, but we had a few hours to retrace some steps from our first day to see the street art, load up on some fine salamis to take home, watch the astronomical clock again, and ride the elevator to the top of the Old Town Hall for the spectacular 360 degree view of Prague.

Time for a yummy breakfast and off for the long ride home. 

I really want your honest opinion now.  So I know that I am as lucky a dude as there is to be able to take these amazing trips...but do I come off as a braggart in any way?  Here is why I ask...just read this post on Facebook...

"Mother daughter NYC trip 2/2015. Karina said she wanted to go to NYC for her winter break so I took her, and even though I drove her from tennis classes to swimming classes to reading lessons to math lessons all month, she still had such a great time that she didn't want to come back! As a mom I try to make sure she learns a lot but still has time to enjoy her childhood"

That sounds totally messed-up to me.  Hugely narcissistic and the definition of humblebraggery.  Of course, the worst part is the comments from her friends..."you are such a great mom".  I just wretched.  Please call me out if I ever let one of those slip through the wickets?  Please...