Prague Spring
Prague, Czech Republic
On the morning of our last day in England, we walked along a canal with John, John's daughter Katie and her daughter Niamh (prounced Nee-ve...it's Irish) near where John and Judy live. (Judy had gone to spend time with her mom. Judy's dad, Tony, a fabulous guy, recently died.) As we passed the canal boats, I teased Katie to ask the owner of one of the boats if her American friends could see the inside of the boats. Katie, in turn, said we should tell 2 1/2 year old Niamh to ask the boat owners. Naturally, we did not do so. Instead, we had a lovely lunch with John, Katie and Niamh in the little village of Lymm.
That afternoon we had a fascinating walk around Knutson with Frank and Loraine, friends of John and Judy. They are very knowledgeable about the birds and plant life of the region. As we passed an obviously very old house, I teased Frank. "Look, there is the owner. Why don't you ask her if we can see the inside of her house." Frank went over to talk to the woman and the result was that she invited us in. The house was the former post office for the region and dated back at least to the early 1700s and possibly earlier. The owner was quite proud to show us around. She also showed us a book she had found in the house which the postmaster had recorded some of the history of the area, including names of pastors of the local church dating back to the 1700s, etc.
On Friday, we left for Prague.
On first glance, Prague reminds us of Insbruck, Austria however, Prague is divided by a river with many walkways and cafes located along the river. Church spires dominate the skyline. The buildings in the center city are primarily baroque, painted in a palette of pastel colors, often with statues on the front or along the roof line. Most were single-family homes of the royalty and other extremely wealthy people many years ago. I assume they are apartments or hotels now. Hidden behind many of them are gardens which are open to the public. The gardens are more on the French style, very formal and symetrical so that a bush on the right is matched by an identical bush on the left and the bushes are sculpted. Quite a change from the English gardens with their masses of colorful flowers.
One of our first impressions was of the many hawkers on the streetcorners, some of whom are very aggressive. (from Mel - I was sure that they were pushing some strip joints or merchadise of some sort.) It turns out that they are handing out handbills for concerts of classical music to be performed in churches and venues around the city. I am not sure if these concerts (and thus the hawkers) are around all during the yea but during May there is a major festival called "Prague Spring" so the church concerts are scheduled for at least the next three weeks. We now call the street corner guys the Vivaldi hawkers.
Since we arrived on a Friday, we attended services in the evening. Prague has been home to a Jewish community since the 900's. Jews have been persecuted for most of those years, including having to live in a ghetto (perhaps the first instance in history of such a word and such a concept), periodic anti-Jewish riots, and the most devastating of all persecutions - the holocaust, during which 80,000 Jews from the region perished. There is no accurate count of the Jewish community today. Some estimate it at 1,000. Most of the synagogues are no longer houses of worship but museums. We found services at the Spanish Synagogue, named "Spanish" based on its architectural style. A handful of Jews from around the world (including a Jewish family from Mexico) conducted Shabbat services under the leadership of a "manager" not a Rabbi.
Today, we walked blisters onto our feet as we began to check off "Top Ten Prague" sights.
Love,
Janet
On the morning of our last day in England, we walked along a canal with John, John's daughter Katie and her daughter Niamh (prounced Nee-ve...it's Irish) near where John and Judy live. (Judy had gone to spend time with her mom. Judy's dad, Tony, a fabulous guy, recently died.) As we passed the canal boats, I teased Katie to ask the owner of one of the boats if her American friends could see the inside of the boats. Katie, in turn, said we should tell 2 1/2 year old Niamh to ask the boat owners. Naturally, we did not do so. Instead, we had a lovely lunch with John, Katie and Niamh in the little village of Lymm.
That afternoon we had a fascinating walk around Knutson with Frank and Loraine, friends of John and Judy. They are very knowledgeable about the birds and plant life of the region. As we passed an obviously very old house, I teased Frank. "Look, there is the owner. Why don't you ask her if we can see the inside of her house." Frank went over to talk to the woman and the result was that she invited us in. The house was the former post office for the region and dated back at least to the early 1700s and possibly earlier. The owner was quite proud to show us around. She also showed us a book she had found in the house which the postmaster had recorded some of the history of the area, including names of pastors of the local church dating back to the 1700s, etc.
On Friday, we left for Prague.
On first glance, Prague reminds us of Insbruck, Austria however, Prague is divided by a river with many walkways and cafes located along the river. Church spires dominate the skyline. The buildings in the center city are primarily baroque, painted in a palette of pastel colors, often with statues on the front or along the roof line. Most were single-family homes of the royalty and other extremely wealthy people many years ago. I assume they are apartments or hotels now. Hidden behind many of them are gardens which are open to the public. The gardens are more on the French style, very formal and symetrical so that a bush on the right is matched by an identical bush on the left and the bushes are sculpted. Quite a change from the English gardens with their masses of colorful flowers.
One of our first impressions was of the many hawkers on the streetcorners, some of whom are very aggressive. (from Mel - I was sure that they were pushing some strip joints or merchadise of some sort.) It turns out that they are handing out handbills for concerts of classical music to be performed in churches and venues around the city. I am not sure if these concerts (and thus the hawkers) are around all during the yea but during May there is a major festival called "Prague Spring" so the church concerts are scheduled for at least the next three weeks. We now call the street corner guys the Vivaldi hawkers.
Since we arrived on a Friday, we attended services in the evening. Prague has been home to a Jewish community since the 900's. Jews have been persecuted for most of those years, including having to live in a ghetto (perhaps the first instance in history of such a word and such a concept), periodic anti-Jewish riots, and the most devastating of all persecutions - the holocaust, during which 80,000 Jews from the region perished. There is no accurate count of the Jewish community today. Some estimate it at 1,000. Most of the synagogues are no longer houses of worship but museums. We found services at the Spanish Synagogue, named "Spanish" based on its architectural style. A handful of Jews from around the world (including a Jewish family from Mexico) conducted Shabbat services under the leadership of a "manager" not a Rabbi.
Today, we walked blisters onto our feet as we began to check off "Top Ten Prague" sights.
Love,
Janet
posted by Mel and Janet Muchnik | 8:37 AM
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