Prague - Day 2

Sunday morning, we got to sleep in until 7:30. We got ready and headed down for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed to Old Town. Instead of taking the metro, as we had the night before, we took the tram. It dropped us on the other side of the river, but it was nice to see the Charles Bridge before millions of people showed up. We rubbed the plaque of St. Jan of Nepomuk, which we later learned means we'll return to Prague. So, woo hoo for that! We passed lots of beautiful buildings. There is so much Art Nouveau in Prague, it's wonderful. We also saw lots and lots of tourist shops. In almost every one are matryoshka (nesting) dolls. I love them. I collect them. But, they have nothing to do with Prague beyond the tourist shops. So, I resisted, because I didn't want a souvenir that really had nothing to do with the city.

We went to the Jewish quarter and bought our ticket for all of the sights. First was the Old New Synagogue. It has an additional cost to the ticket that covers the rest of  the Jewish sites, so I was expecting something pretty cool. I was disappointed. It was really boring, actually. The only cool thing about it is that, according to legend, its attic contains the Golem. Look up golem and Prague. It's an interesting story. I got a guide to Jewish Prague, and it had a picture for the Jubilee Synagogue, which looked beautiful. It was on the other side of Old Town Square, though, so I made a mental note to go there after we saw the square.

The attic of the Old New Synagogue

Some of the other sites were better, though. All of them are owned by the Jewish Museum of Prague, so they all have displays of some sort. In the Pinkas Synagogue, all the walls are covered in the names of the 80,000 Jews from Bohemia and Moravia who were murdered by the Nazis. It was a very visceral way to see that information. It's hard to know just how many 80,000 of anything is until you see the names covering the walls. The red bits are last names, and the black is the first names and dates. Rooms and rooms of this.

Next was the Old Jewish Cemetery. I love cemeteries. This is a great one. The graves are so jumbled up together it's really very pretty. It is actually many layers of bodies. They kept running out of room, so they would cart in more dirt to bury more people. That's why the stones are so close together.

Then we went to the Maisel Synagogue. It was pretty, but unremarkable. The Spanish Synagogue came next. It was a bit out of the way, so we almost didn't go, but I'm glad we did. It was really beautiful. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but it was too pretty not to.

The ceiling of the Spanish Synagogue

We had planned on getting lunch at the local deli, but none of us were hungry. So, were then done with the Jewish quarter, and it was off to Old Town Square. We had been there the night before to see the clock show, but we hadn't yet seen it during the day. I had heard that Prague is The Most Beautiful City in Europe. I gotta say, it's pretty, and I love all the Art Nouveau decoration, but I wasn't blown away. Old Town Square isn't that much prettier than many of the old town squares we've seen so far. That's not to say I didn't like it, because I definitely did, but I wouldn't give it a "Most Beautiful" award. The astronomical clock, now, that I thought was beautiful. We have a seen a few now, and this one is by far my favorite. Legend says that the guy who made it was blinded by the Prague Councillors so that he could never make another one like it.

Sunday was a heavy walking day. After Old Town Square, we headed to see the Estates Theater, where Don Giovanni premiered in 1787. We couldn't go in, but we saw the outside.

While we were sitting getting our bearings and deciding where to go next, Max saw a sign for the Mucha museum, and really wanted to go. Mucha is the artist who really started Art Nouveau. It wasn't far away, so we started off. Along  the way, we hit the Museum of Communism. It was recommended by a friend, and it really was right on the way to Mucha. It's a neat little museum. The funny thing is that it shares a building (and a door) with a casino, and it's located above a McDonald's. Ha! The wonderful thing is that they have a matryoshka mascot unlike any you've seen before, and they sell it in the gift shop! It was reasonably priced, so I got one. I was so happy that I got my matryoshka, and that it was something that I couldn't have gotten anywhere but Prague.

This is the doll I got

Mucha was next. His paintings and drawings are really beautiful. We've decided that we're going to try to decorate one of the rooms in our house that way. No pictures allowed, but we snuck some anyway.

My favorite. I think she looks like Princess Ozma

Then we went to Wenceslas Square to catch the metro to Vysehrad (the place we had given up on yesterday). Then, we all decided we were hungry. We had seen an ad at the CommunismMuseum (and gotten a coupon) for the Propaganda Restaurant, and it looked like fun, so we walked there. Unfortunately, the ad didn't say that the restaurant didn't open until 6. We were tired and cranky by then. There was a Czech restaurant that looked good and cheap just down the street, so we went there. (Restaurace Blatnice on Michalska, if you're looking for a place to eat between Old Town and Wenceslas Square) We were treated to an interesting mix of music. The first two songs that played were "YMCA" and "It's Raining Men." There was also a fair amount of Depeche Mode. Emma got roast rabbit with garlic sauce, spinach, and potato dumplings, I got a variety plate that had pork, lamb, and rabbit with pickled cabbage and potatoes, and Max got a mixed plate that had some kind of meat with bacon and potato dumplings (so good!) and cabbage. It was all really yummy, and very reasonably priced. We all ate for about $10 each, and even had plenty to take home for all of us to eat for dinner.

Since we did have leftovers, we didn't want to go to Vysehrad, we wanted to get the food back to the fridge. We decided to do Vysehrad the next morning. We got back to the hotel and di about what we had done the day before. Cool off showers, Em with her DS, me with my computer, and Max with his pillow. Max woke up about 8pm, and he and I went to Tesco so he could get some beer for a friend who had requested it. We looked around a bit to see if we could find something for Emma. She hadn't seen anything she really wanted beyond a Weazel Ball, and I refused to pay for a Weazel Ball that we can get at Dollar Tree in Maryland. Though, I have to admit, Weazel Balls rule. I had one for a long time until Em broke it when she was little. I did love my Weazel Ball. *sigh*

Anyway, back to Prague. We looked around at clothes, since that's what she loves best. Nothing. But, we did see a cape. I've always wanted a cape. This was a cape I could actually wear without being laughed at, though. I don't have a picture, but if you go to the Tesco website and look at the F&F Limited Edition Duffle Cape, you can see which one I got. I don't know how long it will be there though, so good look now. Hurry! It's limited edition! Go! Or, you can just wait until I get a picture of myself in it later this fall. That would work, too, I guess. We thought  Em might like one, but it was too expensive to just buy on a whim for her, in case she didn't like it. Plus, we didn't have enough CZK for two. When we walked back in the apartment, we had Em close her eyes, and we put mine on her. She loved it. So, that's what we decided her Prague souvenir would be. We got it big enough that she'll be able to wear it for many years to come. Nice thing about capes, they fit for a long time!

Then, it was time for bed.

Emma says - Breakfast at the hotel is awesome. I had blackcurrant juice. We saw lots of cool Jewish stuff.  I liked the Spanish Synagogue best, because it was really pretty. The astronomical clock in Old Town Square is really pretty. We got a wooden one to hang on the wall at home. Then we went to museums, then we had food. The food was totally delicious, and rabbit is my new favorite kind of meat. I really enjoyed the music at the restaurant. I have no idea why I still want a Weazel Ball.