Czech us out!

You know you want too! ;)

So, as you savy readers might guess, this post is about our last stop, Prague, in the Czech Republic! And let me just say first... WOW. We loved this city! I know for me personally, it's on my top three list. For one, Prague is incredibly gorgeous. It was one of the only European cities that was essentially untouched by WWII. So all of the buildings and monuments are super old, built in medeival times and onwards. Secondly, Prague is chock full of great history and facinating stories of people, events, and empires that rose and fell in the Czech Republic and throughout Europe.

Prague has actually only been the capital of it's own country for 20 years, since the fall of the Iron Curtain and communism. Before then, it was under the rule of emperors, Nazis, and communists. It's one of those cities that kind of just got passed around between occupying entities. Before the first world war, Prague was part of the Austrian Hungarian empire, ruled over by the Hapsburgs. After they were forced to abdicate the throne upon losing WWI, the first Czechloslovakian democracy was formed, very briefly, until the country was occupied by Nazis in WWII. At the end of WWII, the citizens of Prague decided that they finally wanted to be in charge of their own city. The city of Prague actually liberated itself when it got word that the American troops were only one day away, and they rose up against the occupying Nazi troops and engaged in a battle that lasted through the night for two days. When the Prague citizens found out that the Americans weren't going to be able to come to their aid as they were expecting (due to the division among responsibility and the claims on countries agreed on by the Allies), they finished off the Nazi occupation on their own, with the help of some Soviet SS soldiers who thought it might be better to get out of the city before the Soviets came and captured these traitors of communism. So the next day, when the Soviets arrived to "liberate" Prague, the job was already done! The happy and victorious Czechs tried to explain to the Soviets that no, in fact, they did not need "liberation", but to no avail. The Soviets stayed, made themselves at home in the city, and several years later Prague became part of the communist side of the Iron Curtain. This communist rule continued until after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when finally protests by the citizens were able to push the communists out of the city. The Czech Republic reclaimed its nationality and its capital in 1990, and has been a democratic country (with capitalism in full boom) ever since.

Whew! If you stayed awake during that exhaustive history lesson, you'll understand why Prague was so facinating! On our first day, we took a super-informative tour which gave us that whole rundown, while strolling through the streets and seeing the actual locations of the events I just described. We spent the rest of our first full day climbing up to the Prague castle, exploring that side of the city and catching some incredible views of the rest of Prague laid out below us. The evening before, we had explored the Old Town and the center square of Prague, which is quite touristy but still beautiful, and full of one of the wonderful facets of capitalism- great shopping! One of the things Prague is known for is Czech blown glass. Beautiful, vibrant colors blown in glass form platters, vases, bowls, and many decorative items like butterflies, fish, other animals, or even people (some caught in quite racy acts!).

After our long day of touring, we hit a local pub to watch the World Cup after enjoying some traditional Czech fare. We sampled some meat dishes, including roast lamb and a beef sirloin stew with dumplings. And of course, we took part in the Czech's greatest invention... beer!! Yes, folks, you can thank the Czechs for your evening festivities tonight. That night we hunted down some ice cream and took a walk in some light rain that beautified the city even more, if that was possible. We walked out onto the Charles Bridge to get some night shots and to take in the breathtaking image of Prague at night one last time.

The next day we spent exploring the Jewish Quarter, which was the Jewish ghetto during the years of oppression leading up to WWII and the Holocaust. We got to see the Jewish cementary, which was the only cemetary in the city where Jews were permitted to be buried for hundreds of years. Consequently, there are layers and layers of tombs which have settled into eerily rolling hills and jutting, lopsided tombstones. It was a surreal experience and a photographer's heaven. Connected to the cemetary is the Pinzer Synagogue, which contains the names of every Jew from Prague who was killed in the Holocaust. They cover the walls of the rooms of the synagogue in about size 14 font... and go on room after room. Talk about a moving sight... names of entire families are listed together, all with seperate birthdays, but identical dates indicating the last day they were known to be alive. It was quite chilling, actually. The names were painted over during the communist era, but the synagogue was restored after 1990 when the democractic government was formed.

Upstairs in the Pinzer Synagogue is a display of childrens' artwork. Normally this would be a happy exhibit, but these children were imprisoned in the concentration camp outside of Prague. The drawings were used as a sort of therapy to help the children cope with the horrors of daily life. Out of over 8,000 children imprisoned from Prague, only about 100 survived. Most of the artists whose work is contained in the exhibit died before they reached the age of 15.

After that morning, we needed a little pick-me-up, so we visited (for about the third time in 2 days) our favorite shop in Prague- Bohemian Bagel, an American owned bagel store that was a wonderful treat for our tastebuds!! Oh heaven, you are a bagel with Philadelphia cream cheese in Europe. I'm telling you all, you never know what you'll miss the most until you have to go without it for a month and a half.

That afternoon, after our bagel feast, we sadly said goodbye to one of the most beautiful and fun, energetic, and facinating places we have visited yet. Have no doubts, we will be back! We caught a train to Berlin last night, and are on to our next adventure, in a new city on a new day. But for now, ciao loved ones! Kisses from over the Atlantic!