Reflections on Prague
Czech Republic: August 6 - August 8, 2006
We spent two jam-packed days in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. This is probably my favorite city we visited the whole trip (except, of course, for Riga) probably because I have ancestors from here and because this was the only city that really looked the way I expected a medieval European city to look. EVERYTHING was old with beautiful and detailed architecture. Almost all the streets were cobbled and on every corner there seemed to have been an important historical event. We saw the Prague Castle compound which had many buildings and several churches. The National Cathedral was there which was really amazing becaues it took over 600 years to build and as a result, there are hundreds of years worth of different styles of architecture. The stained glass windows have artistic styles ranging from medieval to impressionist. St. Wenceslas Square was the main square of the Old Town area which had a huge cathedral with a very detailed glockenspiel on the side of it. Dozens of toursits gathered on the side of the church every hour to watch the glockenspiel. Prague was much more touristy than I expected it to be, but I can't complain because that made the shopping great and very cheap. I bought at least twice as many souveniers in this city than I did in any other. One thing I bought a lot of was pashminas, fancy shawls that would have cost a hundred dollars or more in the States that I bought for between $10 and $20. Two of my favorite souveneirs from this city was a t-shirt I bought for myself that says "Prague: Czech me out!" and a shirt for my sister that says "My sister was in Prague and the only thing she bought me was this stupid t-shirt". Prague was also where we went to see the opera, Don Giovanni, in the original opera house in Prague where this opera was first performed and where Mozart sat to listen to his opera being performed for the first time. It was quite an experience.
On our way from Prague to Vienna, we stopped at the memorial to the town of Lidice, Czech Republic. The story goes that several citizens of the Czech Republic plotted and succeeded in killing a top commander in the Nazi Army (whose name esacapes me) and that the citizens of Lidice were either killed or sent to concentration camps and the town destroyed in retribution. It was unexplainable to walk around this area and think how it must have once looked. The statues and monuments to the people were very eloquent and the museum was very well done. They had video from the few people in the town who survived the concentration camps they were sent to. Some of the children were allowed to write letters to family members outsdide of the town, asking for clothing or shoes. It was horrible to hear these letters being read, knowing that the Nazis had killed all of these children before the letters reached the family members. I can't even comprehend what was done to them.
We spent two jam-packed days in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. This is probably my favorite city we visited the whole trip (except, of course, for Riga) probably because I have ancestors from here and because this was the only city that really looked the way I expected a medieval European city to look. EVERYTHING was old with beautiful and detailed architecture. Almost all the streets were cobbled and on every corner there seemed to have been an important historical event. We saw the Prague Castle compound which had many buildings and several churches. The National Cathedral was there which was really amazing becaues it took over 600 years to build and as a result, there are hundreds of years worth of different styles of architecture. The stained glass windows have artistic styles ranging from medieval to impressionist. St. Wenceslas Square was the main square of the Old Town area which had a huge cathedral with a very detailed glockenspiel on the side of it. Dozens of toursits gathered on the side of the church every hour to watch the glockenspiel. Prague was much more touristy than I expected it to be, but I can't complain because that made the shopping great and very cheap. I bought at least twice as many souveniers in this city than I did in any other. One thing I bought a lot of was pashminas, fancy shawls that would have cost a hundred dollars or more in the States that I bought for between $10 and $20. Two of my favorite souveneirs from this city was a t-shirt I bought for myself that says "Prague: Czech me out!" and a shirt for my sister that says "My sister was in Prague and the only thing she bought me was this stupid t-shirt". Prague was also where we went to see the opera, Don Giovanni, in the original opera house in Prague where this opera was first performed and where Mozart sat to listen to his opera being performed for the first time. It was quite an experience.
On our way from Prague to Vienna, we stopped at the memorial to the town of Lidice, Czech Republic. The story goes that several citizens of the Czech Republic plotted and succeeded in killing a top commander in the Nazi Army (whose name esacapes me) and that the citizens of Lidice were either killed or sent to concentration camps and the town destroyed in retribution. It was unexplainable to walk around this area and think how it must have once looked. The statues and monuments to the people were very eloquent and the museum was very well done. They had video from the few people in the town who survived the concentration camps they were sent to. Some of the children were allowed to write letters to family members outsdide of the town, asking for clothing or shoes. It was horrible to hear these letters being read, knowing that the Nazis had killed all of these children before the letters reached the family members. I can't even comprehend what was done to them.
posted by Megan Humphreys @ 9/17/2006 05:31:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home