MONDAY, JULY 8
Rick Steves‘ walking tour of Prague transformed the city into a place of beauty and wonder for us. It took about three hours, with one stop for a snack in the middle, starting in New Town at Wenceslaus Square and the statue of the good King Wenceslaus and ending at the Charles Bridge.
GOOD KING WENCESLAUS AND HIS SQUARE
The first Prague Castle, which rises majestically on the hill surrounding the new and old towns of Prague, was built in the 880s, but wasn’t finished until the 1300s, during Prague’s Golden Age. Wenceslaus, one of the city’s first rulers, formally known as the Duke of Bohemia, was part of that golden time, from 921-935. He is venerated by the people of Prague because he was kind.
Prague, and the Czech Republic (Bohemia or Czechoslovakia) has been occupied for much of it’s history by Hapsburgs (1500s-1900s), Nazis, and the Soviet Communists. But somehow it evaded the destruction of wars and, unlike many European cities, remain much in tact. It is rich in architectural history from medieval towers to a lone communist building behind Good King Wenceslaus and an abundance of examples of Art Deco, Neoclassical, Gothic and NeoGothic. Building walls are adorned with frescoes, mosaics, hand painted details, fanciful cornices and trims. Roofs boast spires, brass and wood domes, and tiled points.
It’s not surprising, and yet quite unusual, that the four statues surrounding King Wenceslaus hold books. Czech’s learned early in their history that as a small country, they would need to survive by their wits not their military might. Today, 1.3 million people live in Prague; 10.7 million in the Czech Republic.
FIGHTING OPPRESSION
Just below the dominating statue of the King is a small round patch of shrubbery and a plaque nestled in the ground. Candles and flowers adorn it. This is a memorial to Jan Palach who sacrificed his life in protest of the Soviet invasion. He burned himself to death on Jan. 16, 1969.
The Czech occupiers have been ruthless…the Nazis and Soviets. It wasn’t until Mikhail Gorbachev and the Velvet Revolution of 1989 that they were able to overcome oppression and achieved victory over communist occupation. I remember well the images of the 300,000 plus people who gathered night after cold November night in this square ready to peacefully bring their city and country to freedom, and the balcony where Václav Havel, the poet who would be president, gave a victory speech.
THE NEW TOWN IS OLD
The street running through Wenceslaus Square is Vaclavaske namesti, the main street in the New Town which leads to Old Town. Though called New Town, this area, outside the old city walls, was founded in 1348, just over one hundred years after the Old Town. Along this main street are the Hotel Europe, an art deco mall called Lucerna Pasaz, an arcade where the people of Prague go for their favorite ice cream and a small green oasis which was once the grounds of a monastery. We knew we were on a good tour when we were guided to the sculpture by David Cerny of King Wenceslas Riding an Upside-Down Dead Horse inside Lucerna Pasaz.
INTO THE OLD TOWN
Next up was Old Town, down the wide street of Náměstí Republiky to the Municipal House, a 1905 Art Nouveau building, which includes a theater, restaurants and a cafe. The interior is as lush as the exterior, with chandeliers, tiled walls and floor, vaulted ceilings, dark wood panelling, and low yellow lighting. It felt a bit like the hotel in “The Shining.”
THROUGH THE POWDER TOWER
After walking through the Powder Tower, a Gothic Tower and the only standing original city gate, we joined throngs of tourists, and our pace slowed to that of thick molasses. We had to keep reminding ourselves to look up, rather than get distracted by all the people. In the Old Town Square, Rick Steves’ audio offered a spinning tour that took in all the architectural variety, gave a brief history of the churches and town hall and explained a bit about another Czech hero, Jan Hus (1369-1415), a philosopher and seminal figure in the Bohemian reformation. He strove to reform the Catholic Church.
WRONG NATIONAL GALLERY AND A BEER
Our friend had an exhibition at the National Gallery, which is in the Old Town Square, and we planned to stop the tour and take a look at his photographs. But once inside the National Gallery, we learned there are two National Galleries, and his work was in the other one. We returned to the square. I had a beer and we watched people gathering around a stage. Techs were testing the sound in anticipation of the beginning of the fourth day of an outdoor jazz festival.
THE MOST AMAZING CLOCK
On the side of the Town Hall building is a clock, like the one in Munich, that attracted a crowd and performs, but to my thinking, it is far more interesting than the Rathaus Glockenspiel. It’s a medieval astronomical clock installed in the early 1400s and is fascinatingly complex and quirky. It shows sun and moon, around one of the two dials are the names of over a hundred saints that correspond to different days, and more.
The crowd between The Old Town Square and the Karluv Most (or bridge) was the thickest. The bridge crosses the wide Vltava River and leads to the Prague Castle. Looking down from the small park beside the bridge, the water below was murky green. Many swans swam along side tourists in paddle boats.
Statues of significance, each with it’s own story, line the bridge.
LADENSKE SADY AND HOMELESSNESS
On our way back to the apartment, which happens to be in art district #7, we retraced the route we had taken in the morning, walking along the Vltava, crossing the bridge, and walking through Ladenske sady, a park on the edge of the hill. The park has small, cobbled paths, like those found throughout the city, with vistas of the river and city below. Sadly though it was full of homeless people. Prague, more than in most European and Balkan cities we’ve visited, seemed to have people living in these unfortunate conditions.
ADDICTION AND RESILIENCY
After visiting the grocery store the night before, we looked up whether Prague or the Czech Republic have a drug problem, and learned that the Czech Republic is a main producer of meth in Europe, made here and primarily smuggled to Germany. The drug trade is run by gangs which both Czech and German police are working together to end. Czechs also have the dubious distinction of being the third largest consumers of alcohol in the world, after Moldova and Lithuania.
Prague is dense with the physical remains history. It’s a sort of European Cuba, a fanciful fairy land of the past. We were overwhelmed by the city’s beauty and the stories told by Rick Steves of Czech resilence and pride. Though subjected to many occupations, Czechs are a people who know themselves. These recent years have finally provided the opportunity to experience “freedom.”
