Television adverts for the Czech Republic claim that this is a city where time stands still. While that claim obviously isn't true (look no further than the proliferation of American fast food restaurants or luxury high-end shopping among others), but Prague does not have quite the same modern integration that Vienna enjoys. Like so many major European cities, the urban infrastructure is developed on higher ground around a major river.
Getting on the road early this morning I took the metro to the station nearest to the Jewish town. But that was not my first destination; instead, I walked around the city's concert hall, crossed the river, and explored the areas around Prague Castle, the Czech Senate, and the area called "Lesser Town." Then I grabbed a quick bite of local food before scaling a good ten stories up a tower that overlooked the famous Charles Bridge.
There's a selfie looking back towards Prague Castle on the tower. Then across the Charles Bridge itself: a wide swath of historic stones and statues populated by minor shops and faux artists who hawk their wares hoping to prey upon tourists. The breeze over the river was delightful on this cool day though, and I stopped to enjoy a delightful jazz quartet playing on the bridge and that consisted of an upright bass, trumpet, steel guitar, and - I think - an oboe. Surprising blend of sound and harmony, and it made me stop my efforts to navigate through the sea of humanity, enjoy the breeze, and listen to their smooth sound. Their song at that moment: "What a Wonderful World." How appropriate.
After getting away from the mass of tourists at the Charles Bridge, I ran into a lesser mass of tourists in the Jewish town. Since I didn't know where to start,
I started at the Old Cemetery. Because laws prohibited the Jews from expanding the cemetery over time, people were buried on top of each other ... Sometimes as many as 12 deep. It was moving, walking through the halls, because they have written the names of as many people as they could identify on the walls grouped by home town or last place of residence before being shipped off to camps. Imagine large rooms, with wall panels stretching from the floor to about 8-9 feet off the ground, full of names after names written in no bigger than 14 or 16 point font. My gaze happened to fix upon one name with the dates of 1938 - 1944. A six year old boy. Who never knew a world without war.
We must never forget.
Trying to pivot to happier thoughts, my ticket got me into seven or eight other key sites in the Jewish town, and I tried I take advantage of all of them. No pictures here, or forthcoming, because I respected the signs saying no photos or videos. Except for the Spanish Synagogue from the late 19th century. I was flatly stunned at how pretty it was and had to capture some kind of lasting image.
The blue lamp in the eternal light means that this is an active, Reform synagogue. Unlike the other historic sites I saw that featured a red lamp, meaning an active, Orthodox synagogue. At the Spanish Synagogue I was stunned at the opulent yet incredible level of detail all around, including the skylight.
The megen David you see is actually a hanging chandelier, with a complementary stained glass skylight above it. Just incredible.
Many of the historic sites in Jewish town have historical artifacts and treasures that were saved from the Nazis before and during World War II; however, some sites actually survived intact, such as the Old-New Synagogue, which has been active for almost 700 years. Amazing.
After the synagogues I explored the grand open spaces of Prague's old town squares ... Well, they would have been open if not for the throngs of people at every turn. Undaunted I saw the famous astrological clock, Powder gate, and other wonderful parts of this great city.
If you're getting tired just reading this you can imagine how tired I was getting walking and exploring and climbing! Apparently it was time for a break, as the clouds gathered and let loose a torrent of rain accompanied by booming claps of thunder. I retreated to the hotel to rest, recover, and type this blog entry (of course!). If the weather calms down I'll explore the city at night; but the forecast is calling for heavy rain all evening, so it may have to be an early morning to make up time tomorrow. Lets hope it dries out!
