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| Bohemenian Craft |
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| We didn't try them out to prove the point! |
Prague: A City of Contrasts
Prague is an old city- from earliest times people have lived here & the city itself dates from before 1000 AD. The castle complex is the largest in the world.
Today, Prague is the 6th most visited city in Europe and we’re sure that the highest number of visitors at present comes from Australia! And the next highest would be from Italy!
There is so much about Prague to like- its ancient sense of place in the world. It’s wide, tree-lined streets. Its cafes and shops- from those selling Bohemian glassware and jewellery to the ones featuring international names like Gucci, DKNY, Hugo Boss, Lacoste etc.
The history- every building tells a story- some of it very sad. Like the story of the Jews in WW2 and their terrible incarceration in Terezin, the concentration camp that was a staging post on the way to Auschwitz. Over 80 000 Jews from the area died in either Terezin or Auschwitz. Every wall in the Women’s Chapel is covered in names of those who died. The red lettering is the surname & the black, the names of those killed. Of course, there were often several families with the one surname but it was only written once because there was no room to write it every time. Just the given names were included then.
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| Wall containing notes to loved ones asking for favours |
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| Graves in Jewish Cemetery |
We visited Prague Castle. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, with an area of almost 70,000 m². It has a number of palaces within its walls as well as a number of churches/chapels. The good citizens of Prague are very proud of their heritage and we spent a couple of hours just reading their history and looking at the items in their museum. Then we spent another couple of hours looking at all the buildings associated with the history. I have thoughtfully added a web site so you can check it out for yourselves.
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| Cute as a Button! |
One of the interesting events at the castle is the Changing of the Guard which happens every hour. Two guards are at each gate & four others come for the change over. Two come to take over the watch, one to march with them to & fro & another to shoo the crowds away from the area. The guards are so well trained. Lots of giggly girls try to cuddle up to them for a photo but the guards don't even blink.
The Astrological Clock gathers literally hundreds of people every hour to watch its performance. I will include a couple of websites so you can enjoy it too. The first one is the clock doing its thing. The second one is taken from inside the clock so you can see it working. The figures inside- the ones that appear at the two windows – are the 12 Apostles.
There are too many churches to mention, each of them beautiful in its own way-so many photos of altars and organs and windows and bells.
Money: Play money-a note of 2000 CK (Czech Krone) is worth $112.00 AU.
Clothes: 70’s look for women but quite up to the minute for the guys. Bill bought some great shirts. Not a good move for girls, though as the clothes are really quite dreary.
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| Names of Jews killed in Concentration Camps WW2 These are some of the names that completely cover the walls of the Women's Chapel in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. |
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| Birds of Prey demonstration. We saw one like this in Austria with Tiziana & Hugo |
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| Bohemian Glass Clowns. Little guy on the left looks as if he's seen one too many tourists! |
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