March 21st-23rd, 2014
21st- Today we began our journey by getting up
early and driving to our hostel in Prague- Sir Toby’s, the same hostel I stayed
in last time I came to Prague. We checked in and parked our car in the Japanese
crazy, creepy car machine elevator. Then we went to our room, a very nice
lovely looking room- Morning Dew. We then ate lunch and got ready to head out.
We got the tram and went by the castle and walked to Charles Bridge to have a
look. We got some souvenirs and presents and enjoyed the lovely scenery. Then we
went to the Rolfidorm to meet up with our tour guide Martin. He was really cool
and we found out he used to live in Ithaca as a kid! How cool!! On our tour of
the castle we learnt a lot about the history of the country and we took the
tram to the castle. We learnt about crazy Rudolph, one of the kings to live in
the castle..he would shoot deer out of the window…sounds familiar, and he
collected anything and everything..sounds familiar lol. He even collected Mona
Lisa’s even though he knew they were probably fake, as he didn’t want to pass
one up in case it was real! He stored everything in the Spanish house. He had a
small zoo on the outskirts of the castle and loved his Lion. Due to his
astronomical sign he was ‘connected’ with this lion and when the lion got sick
and died so did Rudolph. Unfortunately during all the wars all of the things
Rudolph collected was taken and moved to other countries. Next to move into the
castle was Maria Theresa. She changed the look of everything. She changed the
wooden draw bridge to a stone one and made the buildings all look French
Renaissance to match each other. We also
saw where the current President works and learnt about his history of being
drunk in public and stealing pens lol. Next we went to the Cathedral which is
actually modern although it doesn’t look it. It doesn’t look this way because
the project started and stopped so many times that by the time it was finished
it was considered modern but the way they built it copied how it would have
looked if it didn’t keep stopping and starting. We went inside to see the
beautiful work and the beautiful stained glass windows…even the insurance one.
One window was paid for by the insurance companies of the Czech Republic to
remind church goers that they need insurance for such things as buglery, fire,
etc. We then went outside to look at the architecture and learnt about the man
who worked on the pavement and fountain and steps to make all the features go
together. Then we saw the column with the gold triangle on top which was put
there on an anniversary, however after the long journey from getting this giant
rock as it was being lifted off the truck it broke so they went back for
another piece and again the same thing happened. Therefore this time they left
it and years late the gold triangle was placed on top to finish it. We saw the
mosaic on the Cathedral which depicts good people going to Heaven and bad
people going to Hell. In one picture of people going to Heaven are three naked
men together….possibly homosexuality? There are over 1 million pieces to the
mosaic. Then we took a walk to get some good luck with fertility…however
Heavens declined to do it! It was a statue of a young boy with a golden penis.
When first put up though he was castrated due to the nature of the piece, but
after debate from the community as castrating a statue of a ‘young boy’ seemed
cruel, it was welded back together and is now a place where people come to rub
his penis to get good luck with fertility. Heavens wouldn’t rub it though….lol
Next we were given a small break and we went to see the view from the Castle
then down Gold Lane to see the souvenir shops. We got some drinks and talked to
Martin about living in Ithaca. Then we walked back to the Cathedral to see the
gargoyles outside and saw how some were animals like frogs or lobsters or
eagles. Next we saw the statue of the first President of the country and how he
was a feminist even back then and he changed his middle name to his wife’s
maiden name when they were married. We saw the changing of the guards and then
walked down to see another spectacular view and could see the ‘Dancing Houses’
also! They represent people dancing as they look like they are moving and have
a reference to Fred Astere. Then we walked down the big hill to see the John
Lennon wall. This wall was painted on by people to send an anti-communist
message. The government did not like it and would paint it white but overnight
it would be filled again with hopeful messages. When John Lennon died people
used this wall to remember him. However, now it is turned into a graffiti wall
and anyone can write whatever they like on it. We walked down the street to the
John Lennon bar and saw where the flood levels were when in 2002 the whole
place alongside the river was flooded. It was crazy how high it was and it was
because they didn’t have anything in place to stop it from happening. Therefore
after that now they have barricades to put up. We walked to Charles Bridge and
Martin told us that during the flood the water was almost to the top of the
arches and how crazy it was. It also moved the bridge by 2cm because of the
pressure from the water. Martin ended the tour by telling us the story of a
seal who during this flood escaped from his pen at the zoo (as most of the
water animals were left because they could barely get out the rest of the
animals). He swan away and continued swimming, despite stopping to eat some of
the food left out by the people trying to catch him and bring him back, all the
way to Dresden in Germany which is about 300km! Many people claim it was his
swim to freedom although the trainer suggests otherwise and he died a few
months later because of the trauma from the swim. After the tour we wanted to
go hear some Jazz music so Martin gave us a suggestion but by the time we got
there we realized there was a cover charge and it didn’t start for another
hour. So we walked into town to find a Jazz place and saw the ‘Dancing Houses’
along the way. Although a no go for Jazz. We saw the Astronomical clock and saw
it chime at 7pm with its doors opening and people coming out. Then we finally
found a Jazz place but the music wasn’t starting for another hour so we decided
to only eat dinner there and then go back to the hostel as I was not feeling
well.
22nd- Today we got up early and headed into town
to meet up with the tour guides for our free walking tour. We got some
Starbucks coffee and breakfast then began our tour right in the square.
Although I recognized something familiar about our tour guide Colin and lo and
behold he was the same tour guide I had 3 years ago when I came to Prague! How
weird! First a tour guide who lived in Ithaca and then the same guide I had
three years ago! So we began our tour by looking at the Adam and Eve spires of
St. Nicholas church, one spire being a little wider and bigger than the other
(obviously the Adam spire). Then we saw the statue monument for a leader who
was burned to death because he wanted religious freedom. We saw where the town
hall used to be as it was the only building destroyed during the war, from a
fire from a bomb and saw the only remaining small part of it. All the other
buildings in the square are originals. We saw the astronomical clock- the 2nd
most over-rated tourist attraction. Colin explained that the bottom part of the
clock is the name of every day of the year and this part of the clock does not
move. Inside is the time of the year with the harvesting schedule and inside
that is the zodiac signs with the crest (like a Caslte) in the very middle.
This has four statues, two on either side representing what advancements were
happening at the time- writing, religion, science and academics. The next clock
above is the moon and sun positions in the sky with four statues, two on each
side representing our fears- vanity, greed, death, and converting (religions).
These are the oldest statues. Above this is two blue windows that open every
hour on the hour from 9am to 9pm and the twelve aposotles spin around in a
circle and finally on the last ring of the clock the golden rooster at the very
top clucks. As you can see- over-rated. And it was also rated the third best
thing to see in Prague- with the Castle and Bridge being one and two. Next we
walked to one of the oldest Opera houses and the only Opera house still
standing where Mozart premiered. Then we walked down the boulevard and saw down
the street where at the end there was a memorial of two heads in the ground.
This represents two men who committed suicide by burning themselves alive in
the square as a protest against communism. Unfortunately their efforts were in
vain as nothing was done by the people who were scared and some preferred
communism as it gave everyone a job and a place to live. Some older people want
it back as their children cannot find jobs or places to live. At the end of the
street is the National Museum but it is closed for renovations. It has been in
the movies though as Prague is a very famous place for films. We saw the Powder
tower, the only tower still standing from when the city was walled in and it used
to house the gunpowder. Next Colin warned us about the fake money that some
people get back as change or are conned into giving their real money for as the
Czech money is very large amounts and very different to other money. After this
we went to a pub for some lunch and a small break. We met two girls on our tour
from America but living and studying in London which was cool. After our break
we went to see a very large statue of a naked pregnant woman that was done by
David Cerny who is famous for his provocative and risky artwork. He previously
made a hand with the middle finger sticking up in the river so when the
president opened his windows that is the first thing we saw- taken down by the
president only days later. He also made a statue of men peeing into a fountain
and he made it so the men moved their hips back and forth and even though it
still stands you can no longer buy a telephone number from the gift shop to
text a phrase to have the men write it in fake pee lol. It has been rumoured
that a proposal happened that way…not sure if I would say yes… Then we saw the
Kafka Man statue that was weird. He had a dream he was on the shoulders of a
giant cloaked man without feet, hands, or a face and so this is the statue.
Then we walked to see the pendulum which is where an old Stalin statue used to
be before it was blown up. This pendulum represents the end of Communism. We
saw the oldest synagogue in the Jewish quarter and inside is rumoured to be the
golem which is a giant who was built to defend the Jewish quarter although was
never needed…We also saw the Jewish cemetery which is stacked 12 high with
graves because not enough room so they would put dirt on top of the graves then
put another grave then again and again. We saw the Jewish memorial Museum where
there is artwork from children whilst they were in concentration camps. A
teacher in the camps had the children draw pictures to take their minds off of
things and then had them smuggled out as most if not all of the children and
the teacher were killed. Finally we ended back at the Rulfordom. We decided to
go on a boat tour as it was beautiful outside and there were many boats on the
river. We chose the small wooden boat because it offered free ice cream and it
went in the small canals which the bigger boats did not do. We got on our boat
and got a free drink and ice cream and went along the river and under Charles
Bridge. We learnt how the river used to freeze in the winter time and they
would collect ice to sell, although it no longer freezes. We saw pictures of
the flooding that happened in 2002 and how it practically reached the top of
the arches. We saw how part of the bridge collapsed and three sections are no
longer originals. We saw the president’s house and the prime ministers house-
both at the exact same height. We went into the canal and saw the water wheel
that now is motorized but used to help provide power. We also saw the water
level of the floods which was crazy. We saw the pendulum from the water and
learnt that the Stalin monument beforehand took 6 years to build and only 6
seconds to blow up. We saw the old house that used to be the toll for Charles
bridge as it used to be the only bridge that crossed the river. The toll bridge
was replaced by a wider bridge now the Charles bridge. After our tour we
decided to check out the Charles Bridge museum as we got in free with our boat
tour ticket, however it was very strange and we realized why it was free. But
there were some cool pictures of the bridge. Then we went back to our hostel to
change and get ready for the opera. We went to Pet Penza for dinner which was
just down the street from our hotel and I realized I had been here before when
I came to Prague last time. Then we made our way to the Opera house and got
settled into our seats, they were really up high but not a bad view. They had
subtitles for what they were singing both in Czech and in English, however
despite this we had no idea what the opera was about. Something about a fox who
is taken captive and escapes and finds a boy fox to marry and have babies with
and is then killed whilst the farmer who caught the fox was cheating on his
wife and wanted to catch another fox but didn’t. Very strange but we can say we
have been to an opera and stayed all the way through! After the opera it was
raining so we got some souvenirs and got the tram back to the hostel.
23rd- Today we got up early for breakfast and ate
at the hotel. Then we checked out and went into town to go to a special effects
museum. It was really cool. It was about a guy named Karal Zemen who is really,
really famous for his special effects- all different kinds. It was also cool
because not only did it tell you about the special effects and show you how he
used them in his films it also gave you the chance to try them out. So we got
to be an astronaut, sit on the moon, fly in the sky, etc. It was really fun. We
also saw some of his films and how he used the special effects and what he used
to do them. For example for smoke he used colored dye in water and filmed that
over the images of the people. He would also use clay puppets or fake animals
instead of real ones. It was really neat that he came up with ways to do this
and so long ago. We got some souvenirs and then headed back to the hostel to
get our car. Then we drove to many different gas stations for Annette lol and
finally home to skype before an early bed.
This trip to Prague was wonderful, even though I had been
before I did so much this time I didn’t do last time and I’m very happy about
the company I was in!
Until next time,
¬D¬
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