Sunday May 31st 2009

While you can sample Prague or most cities in 2 or 3 days, and see most sites within a week, it is really on the second week in any city that one really settles down, and starts to appreciate living in the city, not simply viewing it as a tourist.






We walked across town this morning skirting the Old Town, making our way to the Clarist convent of St. Agnes that presently houses the Museum of Medieval Art.

Saint Agnes (1211 - 1282) was born to Premysl Attoakar I and Constance of Hungary. The Premysl dynasty ruled Bohemia from 895 to 1306, and it is the same dynasty that gave rise to Saint Wenceslas 300 years earlier. Agnes had been given an excellent eduaction, and was to be married to further strengthen political ties. But the first Duke she had been promised to died suddenly, and subsequent suitors had their own intrigues. Agnes herself felt an increasing call from God, and with the help of her brother Wencelas IV and Pope Gregory IX, Agnes was given her freedom, and allowed to follow her heart.

She sold off all her riches, and bought the lands for the convent, and opened a hospital, a house for the friars of St. Francis, and gave all she had to the poor. Even as abbess, she cooked for the whole monastery, fed the sick, washed and mended the clothes of lepers, seeing her role as one of service.

The convent was devastated during the Hussite wars of 1419, and for centuries many of the buildings fell into disrepair. Over a century ago, a society was formed to buy back these historical buildings to restore and preserve them. Today, the walls seem plain in their plaster coatings, but here and there, one can glimpse pieces of the wonderful frescoes that decorated these walls in a long lost age.

The paintings and sculptures that the museum contains gives one a good sense of the art of the Medieval age. While I did not recognize any of the artists, their work is exceptional and moving. A wonderful touch of this museum includes a small section meant for the blind to touch the various wood and stone statues. It gave me as well another dimension, the tactile, that one rarely is allowed to experience in a museum.

Again, our original plan for the day was altered when we ran across the Prague Food festival. Entering the grounds we were presented by various tents set up by some of the finest restaurants of Prague. As we wondered about, we sampled various foods, local wines, and of course, beer.

Our first course was a generous plate of various cheeses accompanied by a local Chardonnay wine served to our surprise in a wine glass, not a plastic cup. And the lighlty fried veal cutlet accompanied with a potatoe salad was served on a china plate, as were the very popular bar-b-qued ribs along with 3 sauces. The various beer were served in their appropriate glass mugs.

We spent hours here, but could have easily stayed longer, but one can only eat and drink so much...

We wandered about the winding the streets. Most streets are quite familiar by now, but even so, one is delighted, as if discovering a small hidden treasure, when one encounters an unexpected narrow pretty street, or looking up, and being surprised by another statue.




Without a doubt, a second week adds depth to the experience of a city.



Cheers,


Hera & Anthony

Saturday 30th May 2009

Today was another overcast day with light rains falling on and off throughout the day. With our polars and rain jackets, we tackled our day.

First stop was the Mucha Museum. One of the fathers of the Art Nouveau movement world wide, and an important figure for Czech nationalism. He is the artist that captured Sara Bernhardt's sleek elegance on pastel coloured posters that are instantly recognizable. In addition his hand can be seen in many other decorative arts from illustrations, to stained glass, including a large window at St. Vitus Cathedral. I had known his work, and was familiar with it, but I had not known his name until today. His greatest work, called Slav Epic, displayed in another city, is a series of 20 huge pieces that recount universal moments of history as the background to more intimate moments of the life of individuals. It is the fates of individuals against the backdrop of history.

The next stop was the Museum of Communism, that ironically sits next to a very large MacDonald's and Casino Hall. It traces the roots and ideas of Carl Marx and the implementation under Lenin. From the hopes and ideals it promised, to the harsh reality of life under communism. How the young Czeckoslovakia, betrayed by the French and English democracies that gave away a portion of the country away to Germany to appease Hitler, fell under the Soviet sphere of influence. The re-educattion under Stalin, to the growing resentlment of the Soviet's hold of power over the country.



The Prague Spring of 1968, where the resistance of Czeckoslovakia was forcibly put down by the U.S.S.R. And where a young student, Jan Palach who loved life, but wanted to live in freedom, set himself on fire. On the 20th anniversary of his death, huge demonstration swept the city, that continued and ended with the Velvet Revolution, and the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia.

Feeling our tummies growl, we picked up a delicious sausage from a street vendor, and kept walking the streets of Prague.

We walked into the Municipal House, a lovely example of Czech art nouveau, and spied a charming cafe that we plan on returning to one day for a bite, if only to enjoy the lovely architecture. Tours are held here as well, but we decided to save it for another day.

Along the way, we again walked into a crystal shop, and Hera picked up a crystal pendant that she wanted, and once again we found ourselves at the Old Town Square.

The rain started to fall lightly once again, and we decided to make our way home to refresh before setting out for another night in Prague.

At home, we ate a chilly with corn and spicey Balaton Klobasa sausage. Yummy !

The evening looked promising, and we headed out for our walk. We walked through the Old Town Square, and was heading towards the Charles Bridge, when we noted a winding road that we had not traversed before. So lovely and picturesque, with small alleys that branched off the road. Suddenly the rain started once again, and soon fell heavily. We scurried under a door way, and soon befriended a couple of fellow Canadians now living in London for a year.

As the rain lightened, we parted on our own ways. Making our way slowly back home, we walked into a few crystal shops once again, and surely not for the last time.

Now comfortably at home, we tasted another beer, and will settle down for the night.

Cheers,

Hera & Anthony

Friday 29th May 2009

Today started off slow. We awoke to bright sun, but before breakfast was over, it was dark, and the rain fell heavily. We bided our time, and soon the rain started to let up, and the skies brigthened. A couple of days ago it was 26 degrees celcius and we sweltered in our shorts, today it was 10. We were so happy that we brought our polars and rain jackets with us.



We headed toward the Old Town Square. A place we had been countless times already, and will continue to visit over and over. The Old Town Hall that holds the Astronomical Clock is actually composed of 5 Medieval homes of the 12th and 13th century. As Prague flooded frequently, earth was mounded around the homes, raising the street level, and the original ground floors became the cellars, as the homes were built up.

Some of the rooms that make up the Old Town Hall includes a chapel dedicated in 1381, Cross Hall with Gothic ribbed vaulting, the Council Hall and the Mayor Hall. Some of the rooms show some original wall frescos, and one room still had lovely ceiling painted decorations.

The Astronomical Clock itself is a wonderful piece of craftmanship. Four statues show the prejudices of the time. Who today would have thought that Hedonism would be represented by a Turk. But then again, North America was yet to be discovered. Greed is represented by a Jewish money lender, while vanity is a statue admiring themself in a mirror, but all these earthly vanities mean nothing to Death, who counts the time.

At each hour, Death tilts his hour glass, and rings his bell to mark time, at which point two small windows open up, and two by two the twelve apostles appear and bless the crowd, followed by the crow of a rooster, and then the hour is rung.



To show time, the clock is a real marvel. Both modern time in Roman numerals (12 noon at the top, and 12 midnight at the bottom), as well as Bohemian time counted from sunset are shown on two outer rings. With the earth in the center, the hour hand holds the sun that orbits around the center. While another hand holds the moon, that is a sphere, and as it moves around, it revolves around itself, showing the phases of the moon. A zodiac disc lies behind this, that lets one see at a glance what sign the sun and the moon are in at the moment. Another hand holds a Star, but when I ask, no one seems to know which star it represents.



Sunrise and sunset are also shown by the blue zone and black zones respectively, as the hour hand intersects moving arcs on the clock. In effect, the astronomical clock is a sort of computer, that gave the people very important information to base their day. In addition below the clock itself, is another large circle that points to the name of the saint for the particular day.

Throughout the day, it alternated between cool and pleasant, to heavy rain. But that all adds to the experience of a city.

We had planned on visiting the Church of St. Nicholas bordering the square, but a concert was being held. (Prague has two churches to St. Nicholas, one in the Old Town, and another in the Little Quarter.) So we walked across the Square hoping to visit Tyn Church, but it too was closed until mid afternoon. So we headed out of the square, and did some window shopping of the many crystal shops of Prague.

Nearer home, we walked into the Franciscan Gardens that we see out our windows each day, with its quiet walkways and tall rose bushes. A tea house in the center seems a world away from the bustle of near by Wenceslas Square. Finally we entered the church that dominates our view from our apartment, St. Mary of the Snows. A very tall romanesque style church that is narrow, but very high, with long tall windows letting in the light.

It had been a little while since we last visited Albert's, so we ended our day with some grocery shopping and then headed home with our latest cultural acquisition, a selection of Czech beer. Most bottles sold here are 0,5 L (a bit more than a pint), and we look forward to our beer tasting.

Cheers,

Hera & Anthony

Thursday 28th May, 2009

We left Montreal one week ago today, but it feels like yesterday. At the same time, we have been here long enough that it does feel like home, knowing our neighborhood haunts and feeling very comfortable with the lay of the land.

We knew that there was to be a Roma (gypsy) Parade in the Old Town Square at noon, and had originally planned on ensuring to be at the Square for it. Soon after leaving the apartment, our original plans for the day was altered. One should always be flexible. We came across a small group of young Roma dancers, getting ready for the event. Hera started to shoot, as did others around us. Slowly more and more Roma groups appeared, and we kepted watching them dance to the music, as others prepared for the parade.

Before we knew it, the parade commenced, and we followed them along their route as they danced and made their way along the picturesque streets winding their way to the Old Town Square. Arriving at the Square, the lenth of the parade formed a semi-circle around the square, and a much larger group of tourists joined in the fun.

I am still not sure why they are called "Roma," although I do know that our common name "gypsy" is derogatory, and inaccurate, derived from the mistaken medieval belief that the Roma came from Egypt. The in fact come from several low caste North Indians, who made their way towards Europe. Nomadic skilled horsemen and artisans, they were both sought after and suspected by Medieval Europe. With the coming of communism, their way of life forever altered, as they were more or less forced to settle, completely disrupting their traditional way of life. Not unlike how our own Amerindian culture was altered by our mistaken belief that we should "civilize them" to "our" way of life.

Numbering 12 million, the Roma nation is larger than the Czeck republic, Hungarians or the Duch. In many ways, the Roma today now suffer the same problems that our Amerindians suffer from today. Poor employment opportunities as well as addictions, and like our Ameridians, local leaders are trying to revive the great spirit of the Roma nation, and this parade is in effect a celebration of the vibrancy of the Roma culture.

With the parade over, we walked up a side street and came across the Estates Theatre, where Mozart personally directed many of his works here, and where his Don Giovanni premiered. Mozart felt much more appreciated here than he did in his native Austria.



We picked up some sausages, as a light drizzle fell briefly, and meandered and then made our way up a street full of Art Nouveau buildings, and came across the Jerusalem Synagogue build in a Art Nouveau-Moorish style, as well as the Muncha Museum that we plan on visiting another day.



We did make it to at least one of our objectives today. We walked over to the train station to try and buy a train schedule. We can access the train schedule on-line, but our WiFi internet connection is so shoddy, and seems to fail at the most inopportune time, that having a train schedule in hand would be much more secure. However, even though I had it written in Czeck, the man at the information kiosk barely understood us, and directed us towards the ticket booths. But at several ticket booths, they directed us back towards the Information booth.

Frustrated, we left, and hope to have better luck when we try and actually buy a ticket to some of the nearby sights we plan on visiting. Fortunately, rain is predicted for the next few days, so we plan on staying in town for now, but sooner or later we will have to take the plunge and see what happens... and how we will manage to return...?

Closer to home, we walked into a shopping complex that has a statue called "Wencelas riding an upside down horse" by David Cerny, and spied a lovely cafe that we will one day have to try. While the Czecks are known for their beer, and we do enjoy their beer, they do also have an important wine region in Moravia, so we decided to buy two different bottles and give them a try.

But a nice cold beer sounded much more refreshing once we were back home, only to have the clouds open up, and the rain fall. Just in time.... Warm and dry, with a cold beer, as it pours outside.

As for supper, Hera braised some beef, then stewed it with some red wine we bought a few days ago, along with onions, carrots, green peppers, mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, garlic and some of our now famous paprika. Delicious!

Cheers,

Hera & Anthony

Wednesday 27th May 2009

Yesterday ended with flashes of lightning, and loud clashes of thunder. Fortunately we were comfortably back home as the rain started, at first lightly, but it soon came down in a torrent.

We awoke to a cool overcast day, with a very light dizzle, but by the time breakfast was over, the rain had stopped, and hints of blue could be seen in the clouds.





Today we meandered towards the National Theatre, hoping to be able to enter. Alas it was closed, but we were able to spy the lovely interior through the doors. Briefly, I wondered if it was worth watching an Opera with Czech supra-titles.

We crossed over Legii Bridge, and gazed over the Vltava river. The ancient Charles Bridge always caputres the eye, with the Spires of St. Vitus Cathedral beyond.

As we walked in the Little Quarter, we entered a church that we later learned was called the Church of Saint Mary the Victorious which holds the statue of the Infant Jesus. This another pilgrimage site popular with South Americans as well as the Chinese and Vietnamese. A small museum upstairs holds several embroidered robes given to the infant Jsesu as well as one from the Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa.

We followed the winding picturesque roads, and decided to try a traditional pastry that we had seen over the past few days. It is a pastry dough sprinkled with sugar, vanilla and almonds and rolled over a roller to cook over an open flame. Another one contains cinnamon. Delicious!

We entered the Church of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) which next to St. Vitus Church and castle dominates the sky line of the West bank. It is a great example of high Baroque architecture, extravagant statues, and lavish frescoes that draws the eye up, and makes the high dome seem even higher, ascending up to heaven.

Home bound, we loitered about on Charles Bridge, enjoying the various views it affords, and listened to a band whose percussionist used a wash board to create a lovely and lively beat to the folkish music they played.

On the bridge itself is a bronze statue of St. John of Nepomuk, the saint that I mentioned yesterday who is entombed at St. Vitus Cathedral. Apparently, he was the Queen's confessor, and the King wanted him to divulge his secrets. He refused, was tortured and finally thrown off the bridge. Today, the plaque on his statue depicting the scene is another place that draws a crowd, where it is believed that touching the plaque will make one's wish come true. But one is only allowed one wish in a lifetime here.

As we walked throught the Old Town Square, we once again watched the short show of the hour of the astronomical clock. Part of the fun is to watch and listen to the crowd.

Hera had already planned out our supper for tonight, but when we entered a bakery to buy some fresh bread, our eyes and nose drew our attention to the display of lovely delicacies. So we bought a couple of rolled pickled herrings, and another two of smoked herrings. A few stuffed vine leaves, a sweet paprika filled with feta, and a hot paprika filled with feta. Hera melted some brie of toasted multi-grained bread, along with a salad, as we sat down to eat our Czech version of tapas.

Cheers,

Hera & Anthony