Another day, another morning waking up in the bed at a Rocco Forte hotel and thinking, "Holy Moly, I could lay in this bed forever." Good thing there is a complimentary breakfast waiting downstairs to motivate us out of bed.
I know what you're saying. You're saying, "Today's fruit plate looks just like yesterday's fruit plate." Well, you are completely wrong.
See. Fruit plates are like fingerprints and snowflakes.
Barbie got the continental with scrambled eggs. We are on the continent after all.
I got the pancakes instead of the french toast. And here you thought today's breakfast was a clone of yesterday's. This is twice your assumptions have been wildly off. Maybe you should lay off the snap judgments for a while?
Barbie's toast came in this rather unique holder. Whomever designed this maybe likes Ikea CD cases?
Barbie remarked, "I love these stone streets." Say no more. The Prague stone streets have been Wastified.
Crossing the Charles Bridge, we became keenly aware that more people visit Prague on Friday than Thursday. The weekend in Praha, she is going to be a-crowded.
A quick stop at the Four Seasons. I have said it a hundred times. When we travel, it is not a vacation. Barbie works every day. Do not confuse the words "EuroTour" or "travel" with the word "vacation." These are not synonyms.
One thing I love about traveling in Europe is seeing posters for movies that did not get released in the States. This one, Sexy 40, stars two people I like very much, Cathy Z. Jones and Justin Bartha. What a world we live in, where a Cathy Z. Jones film can get a theatrical release Czechia but not in the States.
That is right. I called the Czech Republic, "Czechia." When I took the time to read up on it, I learned that when Czechoslovakia dissolved in 1992, the Czech nation found itself without a one word name and officially announced in 1993 that, with the exception of official formal documents, they should be called Czechia. This name has not been adopted in English, yet it has in most other languages. I am not sure that it will stick, but I am going to give it a try. If I had a friend named Willy-Joe and he said, "Call me Will, please," then I would call him Will. Czechia deserves the same level of effort, no?
St. Vitus, doing that thing that it does.
The time has come for us to Jew it up in Prague. Bohemia generally practiced religious tolerance throughout its history, with a few hiccups here and there. I mean, why hold it against them if once or twice they chased all the Jews out of town and set their buildings on fire? I mean, in some parts of the world they call that Tuesday. But seriously... the Jewish Diaspora found itself settling in Moravia and Bohemia as early as the 900's, and by 1708 the Jewish people made up one quarter of Prague's population.
In light of this history, Prague has a very old Jewish Quarter with historically significant buildings. Photography was not allowed inside, anywhere, so that you Wasters must be content to see a few exteriors.
The Old-New Synagogue. This early Gothic synagogue was built around 1270, making it the oldest synagogue in Europe. It is also home to the Golem legend, which holds that it was in the attic of this synagogue that a Rabbi animated a powerful clay statue which protected the Jews of Prague. (And the Golem legend lead some guys in New York to create a little comic book character named Superman.) This building was called the New Synagogue until the 16th century, when the construction of newer synagogues lead to it being called, "Old-New."
The Old Jewish Cemetery was established in the early 1400's. This cemetery was used for over 350 years, with more earth being placed so that new burials could be performed without disturbing previous burials. When they brought in more earth the old stones were raised up to the top, so that you can see tombstones side-by-side that were etched centuries apart.
This lion emerges from one tombstone, and I just have to say it... This lion has the face of an old Jewish man. You picture see him saying, "Oy, my back."
The Maisel Synagogue was built in 1592. (Note: our friend Josh Meisel is visiting later today.) Originally a Renaissance building, it was heavily damaged by fire in 1689 and was replaced with a Baroque building. Finally, it was rebuilt in 1905 to this pseudo-Gothic design. It is a shame. I would very much like to have seen a Renaissance-era synagogue.
The Spanish Synagogue, built in 1868 with Moorish influences. (No info on if this involved Jews arriving from Spain or just Jews inspired by Spain's Moorish architecture there.) Built to house the growing Reform congregation. this is the largest synagogue in the Jewish Quarter. It is also the most beautiful and ornate inside, and is the only one that features an organ. This synagogue's interior is absolutely stunning, to be honest. I greatly regret not being able to share it with you.
Outside the Spanish Synagogue sits this Franz Kafka statue. Honestly, I am not well-informed on Kafka. I did know that he was an existentialist, and wrote fiction that captured this world-view. I did not know he was a Jew born in Prague, Bohemia. Let us assume that his being carried on the shoulders of an empty suit may refer to a story, or simply relate to the spirit of his fiction.
And thus, after visits to maybe a hundred Christian churches, the Waste now has a Jewish Quarter all its own.
St. Vitus, doing that thing that it does.
Time for lunch.
We sat for lunch by the Old Town Square, and this little fella came and sat near us. He was far too cute to ignore.
Barbie's nicoise salad.
My Prague beef goulash. I wanted to get something genuinely Czech, and this counts.
The goulash was delicious. Then again, how do you mess up beef stew?
The Powder Gate, dating from the late 1400's, is one of 13 gates to the city of Prague. This is one of the few remnants of Prague's city defenses, as the city's growth beyond the walls made them irrelevant.
Walking down Na Prikope, Prague's pedestrian-only shopping street, Barbie finds her favorite store. We went in and things were bought... for me!
Water Fountain Candid, Prague, July 2010.
A hooters billboard within view of a store named, "New Yorker." You are never from the USA.
Wenceslas Square, or Vaclavske Namesti, with the National Museum at its end, has been the site for many public demonstrations and political uprisings throughout Prague's history. Created by Charles IV when he built New Town in 1348, this boulevard was renamed Wenceslas Square after the Patron Saint of Bohemia in the 1800's.
This memorial plaque marks the lives of two historically important demonstrators.
On the right is Jan Palach and on the left is Jan Zajic. Both set themselves on fire in Wenceslas Square in early 1969 to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. This invasion was a reaction to the Prague Spring, in which the Czechoslovakian congress passed democratic reforms, or what Secretary of the Communist Party Alexander Dubcek called, "Socialism with a human face." From March to August 1968, the members of the Soviet bloc held meetings and discussions with and without Czechoslovakian representatives about these developments. After nearly half a year to consider it, the Soviets reacted to a slightly democratic, but still totalitarian, Czechoslovakia, with tanks. Jan Palach and Jan Zajic, 21 days apart, reacted with self immolation.
The threat of nuclear holocaust kept the West from doing much to help Czechoslovakia. At least 20 years later the people of Czechoslovakia were able to finally free themselves with the Velvet Revolution. When I was in Berlin last year, I was touched by the amount of history that happened behind the Iron Curtain in which people fought against totalitarianism with no outside help. Clearly there is no Soviet bloc country where you are not going to encounter this. It was so easy to see these countries as united against us, when in fact they were prisoners in their own lands.
I do not know what this man's demonstration was about. I do know that the hipster-kids with the cool hair do not care. I am kind of afraid to translate his sign, but I should look at another picture and do that. Maybe when there is some down time I will find out if Barbie and I should have attacked or supported him.
Wenceslas Square Candid, Prague. July, 2010.
I repeat; pictures of pictures being taken delight me. And no Asian person in Europe takes more pictures per day than I do. I am disgusting myself. I have to sort through three hundred pictures every night to decide what makes the Waste. Ridiculous.
You have a Soviet era car that might be one of the worst vehicles ever produced. What do you do with it? Promote a franchise form the USA.
Hare Krisha! Sing it with me. Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna... what's that? You do not know the melody?
Here you go. If you bother watching this to the end, you get to hear Barbie's hilarious reaction to food handed to me by a Krishna-girl.
When art is more clever than good... is it a waste?
St. Vitus, doing that thing that it does.
After walking for longer than four hours, Barbie and I stop at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for a cool drink and a place to sit. And for her to check out the hotel. Call it a site inspection.
Duck spring rolls.
Salmon naan. Yes. They basically put the Jewish specialty Lox inside Indian bread, Naan. Crazy.
The Church of Our Lady Victorius. But nobody calls it that. They call it the Infant Jesus of Prague, because inside that church is a 20-inch wax doll of Infant Jesus, wearing a crown and covered in jewels and such. I try to not be offensive, but looking at the picture on wikipedia I wonder if anyone has ever read the New Testament, where it seems kind of crystal clear that Jesus was born poor and lived poor, and he was kind of proud of it.
We arrived during mass and did not walk around looking for the Infant Baby Jesus. A tourist is a tourist, but we are not into disturbing those in prayer, even if it means not seeing a wildly ridiculous doll representation of Jesus. If I sound condescending, and you do not like that, my apologies. I just cannot help it. Dressing up baby Jesus like a King strikes me as an effort to associate him with royalty, not the masses. This does not please me, regardless of my faith or lack thereof. It would be fun to hop on a soapbox right now, but who wants to hear that? Instead, I shall you leave with the Wikipedia picture of the doll in question.
Oh yeah. In 3 AD, children in poor Judean fishing villages dressed like that.
We got back to the hotel, fell asleep, and then woke up when our phone rang. Josh, my friend since grade 10, is standing in the lobby.
Josh makes his first Waste appearance with The Feet. Quite the honor, really.
We chatted a bit, then we googled. "best dinner in prague." The answer: KampaPark. (That is how they present themselves. Boldplain.)
After weeks of incredibly hot weather, a little rain and the cool air it brings are more than welcome.
We got to KampaPark in the rain, got a table, and ordered up some grub.
The starter for both Barbie and Josh: Pumpkin soup with parmesan flan, wild mushrooms, and pumpkin seeds
My starter: Grilled octopus with tomato compote, bean ragout and bacon foam. Can you see the suckers?
For an entree, Barbie went with the Seared scallops with cauliflower, nuts, raisins, and capers beurre blanc.
Josh got the Pepper steak with crispy potato cake, cipollini onions, zucchini, and Cognac sauce.
While I got the Duck trio; foie gras, breast and confit with celery purée, potato terrine, crispy leeks, and orange duck jus. It was heavenly.
Walking home, I doubted my iPhone would capture the lights in the clouds that I was seeing. I was wrong.
When I stood still to get this picture of Barbie and Josh walking in the rain, I was certain that I had my picture to close the day's Waste with.
Until I saw this one of the lights bouncing off the stone street, with St. Nicholas peering in from the street's end.
Good night.
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