We woke up to a very chilly day in Prague. We grabbed a quick coffee and breakfast. Then, strolled to Old Town Square to meet our lay of the land Hostel Culture walking tour.
They were having an early Easter celebration in the square.
So much delicious smelling food and drinks. This cinnamony cone treat has been calling our name but we still have not tried it. One day this week, it will happen.
We joined our group for the next two hours and started off to see Prague. Our tour guide Joseph gave us a Cliff notes version of Czech and Prague history. Highlighting important facts like that Czech people drink the most liters/person/year - 160 to their closest rival Germany at 130.
First stop on the trip was to see the astronomical clock. The clock is the oldest operating astronomical clock, installed in 1410. Not only is it unbelievable that something built in 1410 is still operating, but it is not just any clock. It had so many elements to it: the zodiac ring, the old Czech time, the sun and the moon. Supposedly, it has a little show at various times during the day. But Joseph reenacted it for us and said we should not feel gripped, he felt his reenactment was much more interesting. If we happen across the show this week, we will see if it is true.
Estates theater, opened in 1783, is the first opera house in all of Czech, where the first Czech speaking Opera ever presented. This was a big deal in Czechoslovakia because they were under Austro-Hungarian empire control for so long, their language was mainly spoken in the home. So this was a moving experience for their people to hear it in their native tongue. It was one of the sparks of the revolution in the mid 1800's that liberated them from their control.
The creepy dementor looking statue that was one of the characters in that first Czech Opera.
We walked outside of the old town square to see the original entrance to the city.
And a very famous balcony. Important Czech announcements have been revealed from this balcony, the end of several revolutions, including the iron curtain coming down in 1989.
I think I have seen these throughout many European countries, but did not know the importance behind them. This is called a stumbling stone, and it is used to pay reverence to victims of Nazi oppression. These exist in streets all over Europe.
Johan and Malia looking up at a fancy old building listening to some crazy story about why there is a mummified human hand hanging from the ceiling.
Then, we entered the Jewish quarter and found the history of the Jewish people here to be similar to that of the Hungarian Jewish people. It was dating back to at least the 1200's that there was a section of the city that they were secluded. We have all agreed, there is so much to read and learn to understand all that went on over the hundreds and hundreds of years. We have just brushed the surface and have so many questions.
Spanish synagogue was built in the early 1900's by a Muslim man and a Jewish man from Spain. It is now a museum and concert hall.
This was what we originally thought was the next synagogue, but looks like it is just a building with a sign that to me looks like it says "Restaurant U Stare Synagogue."
So I am guessing you can view this synagogue from the restaurant above. The old-new synagogue - Europe's oldest active synagogue.
The Jewish cemetery
And our final synagogue of the tour: Pinkas Synagogue - now a holocausr museum
We made it to the end of the tour, which had a great view across the river at the Castle
And that just happened to be right by our house. You can see the arrow pointing at our apartment building. It is right behind this statue of the composer of "moon"music. If that doesn't make sense to you as it did not to us, it is the music that Neil Armstrong supposedly was listening to when he walked on the moon. Disclaimer: I cannot find this info anywhere when I google it, but our tour guide said it and it was interesting, so it must be true right?
I might have mentioned it was very cold today. So after walking around outside for 3 hours, we needed a warm place to have a beer and a burger.
We wandered around the square trying out some candies and cookies, and well reading some protestor information. Overall very informative and educational day.
Kelly and Malia took a rest for a bit of the afternoon. Mandy and Johan continued adventuring like champs.
Then, we finished the night with some Czech food and beers. We overheads a table close to us cheering and doing the bar coaster flip and catch trick. So, Kelly had a showdown with a Scottish fellow on who could catch the most amount of bar coasters. She learned from him that she could do her bar coaster trick with a whole stack of coasters, she had only ever done it with just one. Again I say, it was a VERY educational day. Na zdraví! (Cheers!)
Dobrou noc...