prague 2

Got into Prague on time, it was finally good for once, everything working out, Got out of the station around 9:45, and since the GPS was not registering any satellites, I used my memory of the map I had seen in order to be able to navigate my way to the hostel. Vaclavske Namesti, in Wenceslas square, part of the new town, is a hyper, well not hyper, but pretty modern, with bright flashing lights square in Prague.I had no idea just how small the city is, the walk was about 15 minutes, found the pizzeria in the hallway at #20, these intervals of 2 were starting to stretch, because of the odd times of the train journeys I resorted to eating in Berlin around 4 which is not lunch but not quite dinner either, then later had kept a tuna and corn wrap, so I checked in, and the reception was merely a cubbyhole and a couch in the main entrance, then I was showed to my room, up what had to be about 9 staircases as the hostel was on the top 3 floors. First we passed the common room, then the terrace not very popular in the cold months, then finally on the top floor in apt #3, the door was opened and was a small hallway with a locker set on the right, a small kithcn with one seat, a bathroom and 2 rooms. 1 room had several bunk beds, while the other room, my room was more like a closet with a bed and armoire in it. The guy even admitted yea this is small but the bed was big. I settled in and subsequently unpacked everything to feel right at home, took a shower, ate my wrap, chedk email and finally went to sleep. One downside to this hostel is that they did not serve any breakfast so I had to make do. Because my visit revolved around Jewish themes quite heavily, coming for visit days on fFriday and Saturday was quite odd. I had also been at odds for whether to visit Terezin myself or go on a guided tour. I figured I would go myself if I could go early like 7 or 8 am and this way have the rest of Saturday afternoon to spend in the city. But as it turned out on Friday I was able to accomplish so much that I did not need Saturday afternoon. As I found out about a free walking tour, it started at 11, I thought this was lame because it basically occupied the middle of the day and lunch. I wanted to do the Frommers.com Jewish quarter tour so I resolved to wake up early enough to begin walking at like 8:30/9:00 as it said it would take about 2 hours. Looking around the area, I first needed coffee so I went to Coffee heaven, they didn’t have much in the way of food, so I went to another café and got a cranberry croissant needed to eat on the go. Found my way to the tour start place at Male Namesti, the little square, and proceeded down the street to the Maiesolova synagogue, this is one of the hubs of the Prague Jewish museum which spans out throughout Josefov…sorry I cant help but add right now while sitting on the train between Dresden and Berlin how much I want to ride my bike on a trail in the woods somewhere with that crisp chill of Fall, a tuna with tomatos sandwich and some carrots and tomatoes and ranch dressing and my camelback water backpack….so at the synagogue you had to pay to go in, but you could pay one flat fee of about 300 CZK to enter all 6 synagogues. The Maieslolova one was no longer in use and had been made into a museum, it had relics and kept the bima, which was in the middle  and was quite nice inside. Having to see several museums and synagogues in about 2 hours I could not stay too long. Of course it said no photos available but that did not stop me and as stealthy as possible I snapped a couple shots. I left that synagogue and continued down the street to the Pinkas synagogue. This was indicative of the former lower (6 meters) level of the old neighborhood as you had to descend into the courtyard. In this synagogue, also no longer in use, had 80,000 names of Czech holocaust victims scrawled on the walls. During communist rule, they tried to erase the names by flooding but they have since been restored. Also in the balcony areas are pictures drawn by children in the concentration camps that have been preserved. Interesting enough I just remember was that in the Pinkas synagogue they had complimentary kipahs required to cover your head inside but I recalled no such signs at the first synagogue. I had one in my bag for some reason so I put that on, it was also blue, but mine has silver perimeter design which made it stand out a bit from the rest. Next stop was the old Jewish cemetery. This one was notable because there are only about 10,000 or so tombstones, but almost 100,000 people buried in it. What they would do is stack graves vertically so up to 12 people were buried at single plot, another example of having to make do with what you got. I made my way through and put my kipah on again though others did not. There was a large tour group behind me so I was glad to get ahead of them. It reminded me of the cemetery in the north end in boston, old, layered but quiet and peaceful. It was a long-ish walk throughout and towards the end I read in my guide that Rabbi Low’s grave was there ‘in the most remote corner opposite the Ceremonial Hall’ so I had to back track to find it. Rabbi Low is famous for creating the Golem, the large, small-headed creature made from clay from the river Vltava, rumored to have certain life forces, existing to defend the Jewish community of Prague, more on Golem later. One thing notable in this cemetery, is that in the older graves, people write small notes and stick them in the cracks, much like people do at the Western Wall with wishes and prayers hoping to come true. I also put a rock on Rabbi Low’s grave, at the end was a handwashing station so remembering I Had just been in a cemetery and not having supposed to have been there as Kohein, I washed my hands thoroughly saying Al-Nitylat Yadaim. Soon after, a woman approached me and asked about the practice of rocks on the graves and I explained it was due to the permanence of rocks, they do not die. It is like flowers on graves because you put them there in remembrance but the point of rocks is that the deceased will never be forgotten. After this the cemetery deposits you on a small curve street with some streetside market vendors along the wall, another synagogue, and the ceremonial hall (where the burials were prepared), in the cceremonial hall, were 2 floors exhibit of jewish burial ceremonies and some very interesting artworks of the rituals and ceremonies. In the 1700s it seems as though the Jews looked like American colonists with tri-cornered hats, rolled up pants, and long socks. I forget the name of the other synagogue, but it also is no longer in use, but is a big museum of jewish Lifecycle events and family life, very nice. And the balcony was open too, there was furniture and veils and clothing. At thispoint directly down the street happened to be the Alt—Neu or Old New Synagogue, the currently longest active synagogue in all of Europe, having witnessed minyanim for 600-700 years. It is quite an archaic structure and too is low in the ground, you must actually descend stairs to enter. First I went up the street and noticed some engravings on an adjacent building, I looked more closely and saw it had information of services and such, and took a few pictures and then a guy in a red jacket approached me ‘can I help you?’ so I said I was just browsing. It turned out the building was the old ‘jewish town hall’ or today the equivalent of a community or cultural center. It also was the High synagogue at one point, also no longer in use. There are actually 7 synagogues in Prague, 3 of which still hold services, Jerusalem, Old New and Spanish.The remains of the Prague Golem are by folklorish accounts rumored to be stored in the attic of Alt Neu synagogue, which is only accessible via ladder from outside. After shooting a picture of it, I made my way to buy an admission to the Old New synagogue which was no included in my whole admission ticket bought at Maiseolova. Outside the community center was a truck advertising a kosher restaurant written in Hebrew, inside the Old New Synagogue you could tell it was old, in the sanctuary it was like  castle dungeon, the bima in the middle and these seats all around the outsides on the wall mainly, I wondered where the women would sit until I read something that said the women sat in the annexes outside and got to hear the services and sermons through small holes in the wall. Very odd. After this, it was close to 11, so I made my way to Pariszka and old town square again. There were a lot of people gathered and it seemed several tour groups, found someone with a sign that said free tour and was surprised to find out, there was only 1 other woman who had said she would go on the tour. Who would refuse a free all inclusive walking tour. It turned out to be me, this middle aged woman from California, and a young Polish couple, first we went through the old town, seeing some churhes, the inside of one which was very nice and quiet, but very very cold inside. And we learned that pictures on the houses were indicative of trades, so a ring usually meant the family were jewelers. Honestly I don’t remember much of the tour, I have pictures that if I saw them I would probably be able to remember more. Then we did an abbreviated tour of the Jewish quarter, seeing some of the synagogues again. When we were outside the Old New one, a middle eastern looking girl came to the tour guide, she had been looking at the truck advertising the kosher restaurant and asked if she knew where Beyt Chabad was, they were definitely Israeli with the kkkhhh sound, our guide only knew where the King Solomon restaurant ws unfortunately. Gradually and through the streets we made our way to the Charles Bridge, which is probably Prague’s most famous sight, the predominantly pedes\trian throughout its history bridge was at one time the onlybridge in Prague and was built in medieval times by one of the kings. It was a long bridge to cross and there were things to see along it, such as the memorial to St. John, the confessor whow as thrown off the bridge because he refused to disclose to the king what the queen would tell himin her confessions, now he is  mystical figure because it was said 5 stars appeared around his head after his body surfaced in the river. Finaly we made to the Lesser Town which was much hillier than the Old Town, lots of restaurants and statues dominate this side of town, not to mention  the illustrious Prague castle. We made our way up to it and it was not as much a castle in the medieval sense as it was a whole palace complex complete with guards like at Buckingham who do not move, lucky for them these ones get to wear sunglasses which means they are more free to look around but still must keep straight faces. Into the courtyard, we had along the way gained one tourist, a middle aged man from Holland, and then lost him and the lady from California at the Charles Bridge, By the St. Vitas church we learned that the current front was built in the 1800s though the church began construction in the 1300s. At this point, after seeing a good view of the city from a terrace, we learned more about the people being thrown out windows and the tour was over. About 2:00 and I still had some things left for the day, wasn’t sure what else I would do except Kabbalt Shabbat at the Spanish synagogue at 7. Being already at the castle, I decided to do the Frommers castle tour which would take about 2 hours, it was confusing at first because I had already entered the complex whereas the tour begins outside so I circled the church a few times and finally gained my bearings. Besides walking around the ccourtyards again, and seeing a monument dedicated in memory of soldiers from WWI I decided to climb the Church tower, which had only stairs, about 300 of them. This was not as humongous as the St Stephen church in Vienna, and at the top the terrace was quite nice, awesome views, shot some pics and made my way back down. Like St Stephens church though, the stairs here were quite narrow and spiraled and while going up was exhausting, going down was a mental challenge because it was sort of dark and for some reason with my eyes the stairs began to blend together so I had to make sure that each step was a solid one which caused me to descend a bit slowly and then I had to use the middle column for support to assure myself of my location, it was possibly like being blind for a bit.. Long story shorter walked through the complex more on the way down the hill heading back towards old town over the river, tried to go to Golden Lane where there are several small houses including one in which Franz Kafka rentedin 1916-1917 during which he wrote several significant pieces. But it is under renovation and instead for 35 CZK was an exhibit highlighting the history of the street, almost no one inside it was a peaceful escpae from the hubbub of all day. Because I couldn’t think of anything in particular I wanted to see the next day that I had not gotten a chance o Friday I decided to go for the guided tour of Terezin because the earliest bus on a Saturday to Terezin from Prague as only 9:30 which was not significantly earlier than the tours started, plus that they ran 9:30, 11:00, 3:00 so it wasn’t like I had much choice of every hour per se. After leaving the castle district I walked through some sort of vineyard which was pretty  desolate but nice and it was raining and this time thankfully I had my umbrella whereas all the other suckers around were huddled under some awnings. Crossing the bridge, I realized I would have enough time to go back to the hostel to change for Shabbat, but before that I decided to make some pit stops en route because the walk was short, first to the Spanish synagogue to make sure I knew where I was going and then to find the tour office I saw earlier in the day too book myself a guided tour of Terezin because on line it said you had to print out your reservation and do it at least 2 business days in advance, I was too late in that regard. I figured if the service started at 7, it would be done by 8:30 and I would have a late-ish dinner, no problemo. So I found the synagogue and then tried to find the tour office by Male Namesti and through the Art Gallery hallway but I could not remember where I saw it, this was unnerving as I could not find any others either except tons of souvernir shops. I even typed ‘tour’ into the GPS but that took me on a wild goose chase, so now 5:00 already scurrying around wanting to secure a tour.  Finally I found a booth after circling blocks a few times but I found out they do not go to Terezin on satudays just my luck of course. Finally I found a TickeTPro which seemed only to sell tickets to shows and performances but I thought I would test my luck and I was right, they did tours to Terezin daily which was good, so I reserved it, and it tunred out they would not leave til 1pm so I had an entire morning at my disposal which was even more awesome. So I went back to the hostel, showered and got ready for Shabbat to leave about 6:30, walked the few blocks over and found a guy at the door and said I wanted to enter to pray and he said oh well it ends in 5 minutes, I was so disheartened, to spend my favorite service in what is said to be one of the most beautiful synagogues in Europe, I was an hour late. “winter time!” he said. I had recalled seeing on the door that kabbalat at 7 from summers and at 6 from winters but the website had said 7pm every week and I figured it was only early-mid November still fall not winter yet, but winter begins apparently in time when the clocks change which was the previous week. And no other backup plan or service to go  too, I knew I should have just stayed out and gone straight there. I had no idea of what to do I was experiencing dissonance so I decided to walk and walk to vent my frustrations. I had packed clothes specifically for, went back to shower specifically for, got all ready and turned out to miscalculate the time for Shabbat, figures.  Finally I got over myself at some point, ah I remember I was walking by the St James church  when I saw 2 jews with kipot and tzit tzit and made a rash decision to follow them. I had never really intentionally followed anyone for an extended peoples of time but it was interesting. Followed them across old town square, down Pariszka, into a couple side streets and finally to a corner where they stopped, it was a kosher restaurant run by Chabad apparently and many people were inside for Shabbat, I felt a bit left out and lonely as a jew without anywhere to go. But as I said I got over myself and decided to find a small-ish non-busy restaurant and there was a good one right across the street from the Chabad place so I was close by in spirit. And in spirit I had a dish which was sort of like a briscuit smothered in some type of sauce or gravy along with a good potato soup and a Pilsner Urquell. After this I decided to take a long way back  manipulating my GPS to walk along the river, I couldn’t believe how much of a rendezvous the city is where I thought I was on some new little street and it turned out to be the street with the cemetery and ceremonial hall. Son of a gun as Grandma Marilyn might say! I made my way down Pariskza and decided to check out the little market in old town square and remembered the rolled dough pastry from earlier in the day. Trdelnik is a doughy ring with sugar on it so I got one and a beer too and realized I was intime to watch the last astronomical clock perfomrnace of the night so I stood by and saw it with the skeleton ringing the bell, the rotating figures in the top and the horn player at the end. It was pretty nice but nothgin amazing, more amazing are the crowds that gather every hour on the hour to witness it, it happens from 9am-9pm every day, quit ea wonder. Then I decided it was enough of the night so I made my way back through the art  gallery shopping tunnel but not before I came across 2 violinists in a corridor that had great acoustics just beginning a performance, it was quite awesome, including the venue and I have to say would beat sitting in any café to watch it, it was like the violin version of dueling banjos but not the same arragment of course. It was excellent and I got it on video too. A pleasant way to spend my evening, so even despite missing out on Kabbalat I had a good dinner, I had an adventure, a good dessert/treat, and some impromptu performances as well. Got back to the hostel around 10 finally and got ready for the next day. I would not wake up though until almost 9, I was tired from all the walking I suppose! Oh yes I forgot to mention that not once on the trip did  I use public transit, no subways no trams busses, Prague at least the parts worthy to see are truly for walkers and is a small city, im sure there is more to see but for a first time visit I saw feel I saw plenty. Goedenacht!