Praha!

So, this morning started…early. Like 4 AM early. And I didn’t go to bed until 1 AM. Because I was too busy frantically trying to buy myself a train ticket for the upcoming crack of dawn. Even the guy at the front desk thought I was nuts.

But, I successfully got out of bed after my 3 hour nap, made my way to the train station, and found myself a seat in the 2nd class car, hoisted my suitcase full of candy onto the rack, and promptly fell asleep. So sadly I don’t have many pictures or stories to tell you about the 7 hour train ride from Salzburg to Prague.

Oh, besides the strapping young man that I met on the train. We talked, we chatted, we fell in love, and now I’m counting down the days until we meet again in six months. I hoping this experience is going to lead to a book and a movie deal, possibly with an option for a sequel.

I mean, hi Andrew, I miss you!

But back to my adventure…I made it to Prague right around 11:30, just when my ticket said I would arrive. I stepped off the train, looked around, and had no freaking idea where I was. So, what did I do? I started walking. I figured I should get some moolah, and since the Czech Republic is not on the Euro, I had to get some Czech Crowns. I dragged my suitcase through the city for awhile in search for an ATM to no avail. So I dragged my suitcase back to the train station to exchange some of my dollars for crowns at one of the 437 currency exchange booths. I was reluctant because the exchange rate is notoriously poor at these places, but I was also desperate because I didn’t really want to just stay in the train station, nor did I want to wander around Prague looking for my hotel (which is actually outside of Prague, so goodness knows if I would have ever found it). But, it turns out the lady wasn’t paying attention or something because she gave me the exchange rate for Euros instead of dollars so I totally came out ahead! Score one for distraction!

Miraculously I managed to find my to my hotel without incident. My hotel is actually a little outside the city, 4 subway stops from the city center. First things first, I have no idea how to read Czech. Every letter has some sort of accent on it and there are more z’s and y’s and k’s next to each other that I feel like I’m eating ping pong balls whenever I tried to read anything.

After dumping my stuff in my room I got back on the subway and headed into town. Since I had most of the afternoon I decided to go to what I wanted to see the most: the Jewish Quarter.

The Jewish Museum in Prague is actually made up of a number of different buildings throughout the Jewish Quarter. The first one I stumbled upon was the Maisel Synagogue. Unfortunately taking pictures inside the buildings is forbidden, so I don’t have too many exciting photos. The Maisel Synagogue was originally built in 1590, but was damaged in a fire and rebuilt in 1689 and the rebuilt again between 1893 and 1905. Inside it’s fairly small with a bunch of display cases with Jewish artifacts and a description of the history of the Jews in Prague.

My next stop was at the Pinkas Synagogue. I forgot to take a picture of it, but I’ll go back and take one tomorrow. Inside is dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. The walls are covered with the enscriptions of the names of the Jews who were murdered from the Bohemia and Moravia area. There is also a display of childrens artwork from Terezin. The synagogue was actually damaged by water in the 1960s and had to be closed. The renovations were just completed in the 1990s, with each of the 80,000 names rewritten on the walls.

Just outside the Pinkas Synagogue is the Old Jewish Cemetery. The oldest grave dates back to 1439 and burials took place until 1787. There are over 12,000 gravestones, but probably thousands more people were buried there. Since there wasn’t enough room, graves just piled up on one another in layers. It’s an impressive sight.

After winding through the cemetary, the next building is the Klausen Synagogue. It was the largest synagogue in the Prague ghetto in the 1600s. Inside is a display on Jewish customs and traditions. The exhibits have artifacts relating to Jewish holidays, customs relating to birth, Bar Mitzvah, marriage, and daily life. Also, did you know that in Jewish law a woman who is widowed and childless must married her late husband’s brother? Apparently it was to ensure the family line would be carried on. But the brother-in-law can release the widow from this obligation by letting her remove a special leather shoe from his right foot and throwing it away. I hope it’s not a nice shoe. And do you think they make a left one too?

Right next to the Klausen Synagogue is the Ceremonial Hall. It was the mortuary for the Old Jewish Cemetary, so it’s appropriate that the exhibit inside is all about death and Jewish customs concerning death. Cheery stuff.

My last stop was at the Old New Synagogue. It’s the oldest active synagogue in Europe and was originally built in 1270. Inside it’s sparsly decorated with just bimah in the center and the ark at the front of the room. It’s interesting to see the contrast between the synagogues and the churches. Most of the synagogues are sparshly decorated with great architecture, but are a hundred times less ornate than the churches. Of course, they weren’t all built at the same time and each building is a reflection of the era in which it was built, but it seems on a whole that the synagogues are significantly more understated.

By then I was getting pretty hungry so I stopped and got a trdelnik. Yeah, that’s exactly how you pronounce it. I had no idea what it was, but it looked tasty so I bought one. It’s dough that has been wrapped around a wooden stick and then grilled and topped with sugar and nut mix. Mmm…tasty!

Since I was in Old Town, I had to stop and take a look at the astronomical clock. I have no idea how it works or how you tell time or anything from it, but there’s a very long Wikipedia page about it, so take a look and let me know what I’m looking at.

Apparently there is a moving puppet show on the hour, but I missed that. There are four figures around the clock representing four things that weren’t very liked when the clock was made. From left to right: a figure looking at himself in the mirror representing vanity; a Jew holding a bag of money representing greed (go stereotypes!); a skeleton representing, you guessed it! death; and a Turk in a turban, representing…Turks.

The Old Town Square is teeming with tourists. People walk down the street with big mugs of beer in their hands, and horse and carriages take families through the town. I also saw some Hare Krishnahs walking and singing through the throngs of people.

I spent a while wandering around the Old Town looking in shops. There are so many souvenir stands here! I think that all of these shops trying to lure in the tourists definitely take away from the sights and sounds of the city. It reminds me of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, but way way bigger and more prevalent. Also, when I went into the stores I was often tailed by an employee. I’m not sure if it was because of my backpack or what, but it was rather awkward.

So Prague is not the land of salads, vegetables, and light dishes. Nope, I’m still enjoying the hearty meat and potatoes fare. For dinner I got a Kolbasy which is a spicy Czech sausage with onions and sauerkraut. I’m sure my breath afterwards was fantastic.

Now I’m back at the hotel, ready for a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow I’m going to finish checking (haha, Czech-ing, oh man, that was terrible) out the Jewish museum and then I’m going to explore the palace. I’m sure I’ll come up with a couple of other things to see while I’m out, but right now I’m looking forward to sleeping in my tiny twin bed.