Today marks our last full day in Prague. We waited for Josh to march up the hill to Prague Castle, and with his arrival last night the light is now green.
We ate breakfast at The Augustine, sitting at a table where we could see when Josh walked into the hotel. I have shown tremendous restraint here, as you will not be forced to look at a fruit plate today. Or Barbie's eggs. See, I have a compassionate side that you did not know about.
We ate breakfast at The Augustine, sitting at a table where we could see when Josh walked into the hotel. I have shown tremendous restraint here, as you will not be forced to look at a fruit plate today. Or Barbie's eggs. See, I have a compassionate side that you did not know about.
Walking up the hill toward Prague Castle, we follow behind two Hare Krishnas. Who knew that Prague was going to be a beehive of Hare Krishna activity?
Prague Castle Violinist, Candid. July, 2010.
Okay. Prague Castle is massive. As I mentioned the other day, the Guinness Book of World Records lists it as the largest ancient castle in the world. Because I am dedicated to you, the Wasters, I bothered to find out just what ancient means; pre-1000 AD, my friends. Recorded History goes back 5,000 years, and the Western definition of Ancient History is that it begins as far back as you can go and ends when you get to four digits with our current calendar. Now we can move on.
After walking up the hill to Prague Castle, you come to a courtyard that looks like the square of a small town. And you see the gates.
Look closely, and you will see what might be the most brutal statues ever. Both depict a man clearly victorious in war over another, ready to end the life of his foe. The Bohemian kings who built this castle, and it was constantly refurbished by each generation after it was first built in 870 AD, clearly wanted to send a message. That message would be paraphrased by the character Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction 1,124 years later, in reference to getting Medieval on someone.
St. Vitus Cathedral has loomed over me my entire visit to Prague, and thusly has loomed over the Waste. And here is the honest truth, the Kings of Bohemia built this massive, beautiful cathedral in their palace's courtyard. It is surrounded on all sides by Prague Castle. Am I not being clear? These selfish jerks literally built this for themselves. There is not even enough space around it to get a good picture, as is it is completely fenced in by the palace. Yes, this annoys me.
Inside, St. Vitus is a brilliant Gothic structure. Massive in scale, beautiful in design. I took many pictures, but in the end, this standard shoot the cathedral from the back toward the front shot is the best.
After the visit to the cathedral, we paid for a tickets to Prague Castle. We did the limited visit, since Barbie had been here before and was not overly impressed.
After the visit to the cathedral, we paid for a tickets to Prague Castle. We did the limited visit, since Barbie had been here before and was not overly impressed.
Vladislav Hall, where the royal coronations were held. In essence, Prague Castle is a massive structure that features architecture from every style that evolved between 900 AD right up through the 1800's. Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerism, Baroque; all are represented somewhere. But here is where a visit to Prague Castle gets a little odd. It is empty. The royal palace in Europe that has impressed me the most is the Palacio Real in Madrid, mostly because it is still furnished and decorated from the height of the Spanish Empire. Prague Castle looks amazing from the outside, with its cathedral and massive length, but inside it is like visiting a vacant home.
In other words, come to Prague, walk up the hill, tour St. Vitus Cathedral, and skip the castle.
I should also mention that the current head of state lives and works in Prague Castle. A story I love is that during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, a demonstration gathered in Wenesclas Square and when Alexander Dubcek appeared on a balcony, they chanted, Dubcek to the castle!" This was the moment that the man who had tried to lead Czechoslovakia toward democracy in 1968 agreed to become its first democratic leader in 1989.
In other words, come to Prague, walk up the hill, tour St. Vitus Cathedral, and skip the castle.
I should also mention that the current head of state lives and works in Prague Castle. A story I love is that during the Velvet Revolution of 1989, a demonstration gathered in Wenesclas Square and when Alexander Dubcek appeared on a balcony, they chanted, Dubcek to the castle!" This was the moment that the man who had tried to lead Czechoslovakia toward democracy in 1968 agreed to become its first democratic leader in 1989.
I do not know which King of Bohemia this happens to be, but I include this picture to show you, in case you doubted it, that these kings of Bohemia looked exactly like all the other royals of Europe.
Out the window of Prague Castle, you can see our hotel room window right THERE.
A statue overlooks the city, as the city looks up the hill to the castle.
Barbie and Josh, ready to walk down the steps back to Mala Strana.
Today we consummate our affair with St. Nicholas Church. On day one we went up its bell tower, and took pictures of it from the East. Yesterday we took pictures of it from the South. Today, we see it from the West and will walk through that door, finally seeing the interior of what is called the most important High Baroque building in Prague.
There you have it, Baroque. It is actually not as ornate and dense as the Portuguese Church in Rome. Then again, it is probably five times the size. To decorate every square inch in a Cathedral this size would have induced eye strain on its visitors.
Here is a lifting Pano of the altar and dome. This may be one of my favorite Baroque cathedrals, perhaps because I sense a bit of Northern European restraint along with the Baroque elements. Recall that Baroque had its birth in the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic Church reacted to losing half of Christendom to Protestantism by, and this is my interpretation, spending lots of money on big, impressive, overly ornate buildings to remind people just how great it was.
Prague has an interesting Christian history. Charles IV created Charles University in 1347, making it the oldest university in central Europe. (It remains today.) A professor at the university, Jan Hus, taught theology there and beginning in 1402 he gave a series of lectures on reforming the Catholic Church. Mind you, this predates Martin Luther's by 115 years. By 1415, the political and religious establishment considered him too dangerous and put Hus on trial, executing him. But you can only kill a man, not his ideas,
The followers of Hus seceded from the Catholic Church, and defeated five Crusades of larger, better armed forces from the Church in what is known as the Hussite Wars. During the next two centuries, more than 90 percent of Bohemia converted to the Hussite form of Protestantism. Hussitism eventually gave way to Lutheranism in the 1600's, and when Bohemia became part of the Habsburg Empire of Austria, all religions besides Catholicism were banned.
And now it is clear why almost all these churches and cathedrals in Prague are Catholic, even if this was a birthplace of Protestantism.
Prague has an interesting Christian history. Charles IV created Charles University in 1347, making it the oldest university in central Europe. (It remains today.) A professor at the university, Jan Hus, taught theology there and beginning in 1402 he gave a series of lectures on reforming the Catholic Church. Mind you, this predates Martin Luther's by 115 years. By 1415, the political and religious establishment considered him too dangerous and put Hus on trial, executing him. But you can only kill a man, not his ideas,
The followers of Hus seceded from the Catholic Church, and defeated five Crusades of larger, better armed forces from the Church in what is known as the Hussite Wars. During the next two centuries, more than 90 percent of Bohemia converted to the Hussite form of Protestantism. Hussitism eventually gave way to Lutheranism in the 1600's, and when Bohemia became part of the Habsburg Empire of Austria, all religions besides Catholicism were banned.
And now it is clear why almost all these churches and cathedrals in Prague are Catholic, even if this was a birthplace of Protestantism.
One thing I always enjoy is how the Hebrew word Hallelujah is spelled differently in almost every language, yet is always easy to recognize.
Barbie reflected in the plaque adorning St. Nicholas.
Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, a more modern church of sorts. The guitar chandelier looks quite majestic, no? Recall that the Hard Rock Cafe survived the Planet Hollywood reformation.
The Astronomical Clock, showing the position of the sun and moon above and the day, date and month below. As you know, Barbie did not want to march to the top, opting to have me go up there with Josh. Barbie headed back to the hotel and Josh and I went into the tower...
...which has an elevator. But Barbie was already far away, as we did not see this elevator until going up and through two other buildings.
The view of Prague from the Astronomical Clock Tower.
From up here, you can finally see the facade of Tyn's Cathedral. Honestly, they really-really-really- should tear down those restaurants.
Old Town Square.
A Prague Panorama.
St. Vitus, doing that thing that it does.
The people gathered in front of the clock dials. They are always there.
Josh and I walked through the streets of Prague while Barbie rested back at the hotel. I did not know it, but Josh planned to torture me. He wanted to shop; like a tourist shops. Have you ever seena picture on the Waste of one of those trinket stores? One great thing about my marriage is that neither of us has the desire to buy junk while traveling. But Josh is a good friend, so I watched him buy chocolates and look in shop windows and generally be one of those people.
However, we also went back into H&M because Josh liked the sport jacket Barbie picked out for me yesterday. They did not have his size, but I picked out a mega-sweet sweater-hoodie that looks nothing like anything I have seen at home. This is my goal when looking at clothes in Europe. Buy things you cannot get back home.
After the shopping we went back to the executive lounge at Josh's Hilton. Known as Josh Heaven because everything there is free, I drank water while he had two Jack & Diet Cokes and two Mimosas. At one point I did record video of his drunken ridiculousness, but I shall not put it on the Waste. He was drunk and silly, to be sure.
Time to meet Barbie for dinner at Old Town Square.
The Prague subway; clean and an absolute bargain. I never tire of the descending into the subway shot, do you? I sometimes think that I should create photo albums that follow these themes that seem to recur on the Waste. For example, a series of subway escalator shots from around the world.
Prague Subway Station, Candid. July, 2010.
We emerged from the subway to magic. Magic. The rain had stopped at the exact moment the sun was setting.
Republic Square, sunset & clouds.
Old Town Square, sunset & clouds.
Old Town Square St. Nicolas Church, sunset & clouds.
Panorama, Old Town Square, with a series of Barbies and Joshes.
We chose the restaurant Il Domini (K)ana for dinner. I honestly do not know if the beer holding priest is a K or just a mascot.
Time to head back to the hotel and pack up. Tomorrow a plane takes us to Sweden; a country that neither of us has ever been to before.
Good night.
Comments?
No comments:
Post a Comment