Touring Prague

The first full day in Prague started with a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter and Old Town. Before that, however, it started with news. First, there had been another fall by a participant in one of the university groups, with lots of bruising. I'd never seen anything like this, so many falls, but again, I only do this once a year on average. But the tour directors, all four of them, said they'd never seen anything like it either. And then my lead tour director pulled me aside at the start of the excursion to fill me in on my issue from the ship; that took a bit, and when we were done, the groups were nowhere to be found. Good thing he knew the route....

We thought we'd find them in the Old Square, because the astronomical clock rings on the hour, and the plan was to view the 10a "show" where the doors open and figures move. I had the headset on; from time to time I got snippet of conversation. But we could not find them anywhere. So we headed off to the second stop, by the restrooms. That should be a given! And on the way, we passed a trdelník place, so here is my new favorite pastry. Mmmmm.

We did find them at the restrooms, eventually. I wasn't too upset at missing the tour because, in a sense, I had my own private guide! Although our conversation was so wide-ranging that I'm sure I did miss a lot. But hey. I did have the guide for the synagogues, which was important because I don't know much about those. 

We visited three, the first connected with the Jewish Museum, which recognizes the 800,000 people sent to Terezin. All their names are on the wall (family names in red, I believe). It's very moving.

 And a visually stunning space. Outside is probably the most incredible and beautiful cemetery I've ever seen. I'm not a cemetery fan and I avoid them whenever I can. But this one.... It's been in use for centuries, with graves over graves. I think they said 100,000 people here, up to the 18th century. Those of the 19th century, like Franz Kafka, are in the new cemetery. Many of the gravestones are falling over, some have trees growing around them. Many have small stones resting on top, a sign of visitors. The organic nature of it really appealed to me. And while some were snapping photos left and right, I just can't.

There were several old clock stores in the old town too. I was captivated by them. 

We visited the Old New Synagogue from the 13th century, which is very secular, and still maintains tradition where women and men cannot be in the same space to worship. Then we went to the Spanish Synagogue built in the mid-18th century, so named for its architectural style, very Moorish in its influence. It's quite beautiful, and is a reformed synagogue. It also hosts many concerts. Prague is a huge music city, and there are concerts around town every evening.

I liked the star against the dome, with the stars on the side.  

Having such a good relationship with the tour directors meant that I got to share some in their world, learning lots of new vocabulary and methodology in the process. I really adored each of them.

Then we had free time for a bit. I wandered, finding the 5th Avenue/Rodeo Drive of Prague. It's quite spectacular, although I have no interest in actually trying to go in anywhere. I think this was at the Gucci window, and I thought these shoes were a riot. 

French actress Sarah Bernhardt was a benefactress of Alfons Mucha (I didn't know him before either, sadly; more to come). As such, her influence is prominent in Prague, including this famous and reportedly excellent restaurant.

After a quick sandwich (oh what a baguette!), I headed back to the hotel, as I hadn't finished my "homework"- I was preparing everyone's pins, and because it had been a long trip where I did get to know everyone, and really enjoyed everyone, I wanted to include my contact info at the museum, only I didn't have enough business cards with me. Writing that info 65 times takes a while.... 

It was also going to be a bit complicated because we didn't have a formal lecture and everyone wasn't "trapped" on the ship, so while I expected to see many people at the travelers' corner with our lecturer and the beer tasting this evening, I knew I wouldn't catch everyone. 

About half the group was at the corner, which was yet another great discussion. I think that's one of the best attractions of these tours, the ability to interact with such experts, learn, ask questions, discuss. It's a real draw. The beer tasting was also good; the first was full, but the second was too late as many folks had dinner or concert reservations. But it was fun. We had five Czech beers (Bernard, Chodovar, Weizerbier, Rychtáx, and Litovel). The people of the Czech Republic are the greatest consumers of beer in the world (per person), and that's not surprising when you see the quality of Czech beer. No surprise, I preferred the dark, the Litovel.

Most of my duties over, I hung out with folks for a little while then called it a night. I still had some pins to deliver so would have to attempt that over breakfast before our final tour.