(For Dr. Larson----- #7)
I am officially able to cross another item off of my bucket list! Last Thursday was my first time ever riding on a train, and I was lucky enough to be going back to the very first city I ever experienced Europe through. Praha is an absolute wonder, and even though I have already spent a whole weekend there a few weeks back, it is the type of city where when you turn a new corner, everything feels completely different again. We spent three nights there, and spent the days touring some of the major historical sights the city has to offer. After the train ride, we dropped our belongings at the hostel, and headed out on Martin's, one of our Czech professors, first tour of the city. Praha is an extremely fun city to walk through, because it has two famous city centers, which is a bit unique. New town square, or Wenceslas square, is a bit more modern (you know, only a COUPLE of centuries old) and it overlooks the beautiful Prague National Museum. It was an exceptionally beautiful weekend to come, because the town was starting to decorate for all of their Easter festivities so there were a bunch of little markets all over the square decorated with fresh flowers and tassels and hand painted eggs. It was amazing to see how a whole town center could transform in just a matter of a couple weeks!
(New Town Square decorated for Easter)
As you start to move towards the older part of city, the streets start to get a bit more narrow and winding, the buildings become more ornate and not as shiny, the cobblestones become increasingly uneven and irregular, and you can just feel that you are taking a step back in time when you finally reach Old Town square, which was our first stop. We arrived at the top of the hour, so I once again was able to watch the famous astronomical clock sing its song.
(Astronomical Clock)
Martin also informed us that apparently, every time you see the clock ring, it adds a few years to your life. I have now watched it five times, so out of all the old Czech legends (which there are a ridiculous amount of), I would love for that one to be true! The clock is really something to see though, it is beautiful. So beautiful in fact, according to legend (see?) the people who commissioned the man to build it stabbed the builder's eyes out so he would never be able to create anything like it ever again. This man had spent so long building this masterpiece though, that even blind, he knew it so well, he went in and removed a key part of it so it stopped working. It apparently took another 50 years at least for them to find someone as skilled as the original builder to be able to put it back into working order.
(Marissa and I with the Charles Bridge to the left and Prague castle in the background)
From there, we took the scenic route to Charles Bridge. When someone thinks of Prague, they probably have an image of Charles Bridge in their head, but for a good reason! It is a beautiful piece of architecture and history, and gives one of the most amazing views of the city. It is lined with statues on either side of it of important figures in Czech history and religion, and also has a curious piece of antisemitic history. There is one statue of jesus hanging on the cross with a banner above him, and on that banner is written "holy holy holy" in Hebrew, as an obvious offense against the Jewish religion. After the war, it was debated whether to remove this part of the statue, but it was decided that it was to be kept as just a piece of history. From the bridge, we went to the much-anticipated John Lennon wall. It was still an amazing thing to see, but Martin told us that it is just not what it used to be. The bad graffiti and song lyrics written on it today is just a remnant of what it once stood for.
(John Lennon Wall)
Back when this country was still trying to gain its freedom, the wall was a symbol of resistance, and John Lennon was its flame. It took an amazing amount of courage to risk arrest or worse to paint a John Lennon face on the wall, only to have it painted over. It was a risky game played by the resistors and the oppressors, and was such big symbol for a lot of the young people hoping for freedom in this country. They now have that freedom, but the wall has lost some of its magic along the way, as many of the tourists don't even realize what a big piece of history it is. That was our last stop of the first day before we were able to go off by ourselves, where I then decided to join Marissa to go and find the Harley Davidson store, so she could get a gift for her parents.
Let me tell you, getting lost in Prague is one of the most awe inspiring experiences, and I implore everyone to try it at least once, but 5 hours and 17 miles later may not be the best way to go about it. If you want a Harley Davidson shirt from Prague, TAKE A TAXI. That store is literally out in the middle of nowhere, and on top of one of the biggest, most vertical hills I have ever had the pleasure of climbing. Other than the blisters and sore muscles though, that will be one thing I will always remember, and I guarantee we probably saw more of Prague that day than most tourists will ever see in their lifetime, and even though I can STILL feel that walk, it was well worth it.
(Marissa in a spooky forest with her Harley bag)
Friday was spent making the climb to the Prague castle, the Katedrála Svatého Víta, St. George's Basilica, and the Golden Lane. These places were so beautiful, and so full of history that it is no mystery whatsoever why Prague is the capital. I have never seen anything like it, and I don't think I have ever felt so small in my life than I did standing next to that monstrous cathedral. I literally was not able to be anywhere near it and get the whole thing, bottom to top, in one single picture. Every building in Europe is so breathtaking though, that there comes a point when you are looking at them through your phone camera that you realize you just have to put it away, because NO picture that you ever take could do these places the justice that they deserve. These are the buildings whose beauty punch you in your stomach, take your breath away, steal your words, and make your eyes water. Then you remember how old they are, and how many hundreds of thousands of people have set foot on these same floors and stones and it makes you feel even smaller. I may just have a bit of an overreaction to some, but I just cannot fathom how they were made, and how something like these could still be standing.
(Katedrála Svatého Víta)
That night, our whole group just had a night in at the hostel, and we really just hung out and got to know each other. I feel like I have to throw in that I honestly don't think that fate could have given us a better group, and I know already that we are all going to be so close (well, closer than we are already!), and these are going to be some life-long friendships formed here.
Saturday we took our day trip to Dresden, Germany. It was a short trip, but really there aren't many historical sights to visit in the city, because it was the last one to get bombed at the end of WWII. The Americans wanted to make an example out of this city, so when I say bombed, I mean blew it to smithereens. Jan, our other Czech professor, said that there were thousands of planes that came through in waves and destroyed the city.
(Dresden Frauenkirche)
The fire that swept through the city was so big, it could be seen from Prague, and having just come from there via a two-hour train ride, I cannot even imagine how big that had to have been. It was also a bit eye-opening being an American in Dresden and knowing that yes, in WWII people from Germany did some god awful things, but we seem to put ourselves on a pedestal where we swoop in save the world, and although we did help end the war, we also caused some pretty horrific damage. It is just very humbling, and seeing some of the remnants of the buildings that got bombed made me really reflect. When you learn about WWII in school, it seems like this intangible mess that happened a world away so long ago. Actually being here in Europe though, especially in a place like Dresden, I actually get to see with my own eyes that places here are still recovering, and it doesn't seem so far away anymore. For example, the Dresden Frauenkirche was a church that was basically completely destroyed in the bombing/fire. There was one pillar that was left standing (you can see in the picture it is the darker, back left side of the church) and from that, they reconstructed the whole thing and it was just finished in 2005!
(The cross of the original church, burned and warped from the fire)
It was a very unique experience to see what a European town looks like when it has to completely rebuild itself, especially when I now have a very distinct image of a "normal" European city.
The last day we visited the Jewish quarter, and we got a very humbling and a bit of a disturbing glimpse into Prague's history of the holocaust. Before WWII, there were roughly 120,000 people in Prague's Jewish community, but during the holocaust, about 80,000 of them were sent to concentration camps and killed. We were able to visit one of the few remaining synagogues where they have written the name, date of birth, and date of death of every one of those 80,000 people.
(One of four rooms covered with names)
Just hearing the number is heartbreaking enough, but seeing them all laid out before you covering dozens of walls made me absolutely sick to my stomach. Having the ages also added a whole other aspect. Any human life is precious, but seeing the names of children as young as three was absolutely unfathomable to me.
(Close up of some of the names)
We are learning a lot about the holocaust and how it affected Europe, and especially the places we are visiting, but this was really our first hands on experience seeing how a place so close to where we are living was so devastated by WWII. I was wiping my eyes constantly throughout the whole synagogue, and just the thought of having to go to Auschwitz in a few weeks is so much real for me now, and while I am definitely still excited, I am so much more anxious than I was before this weekend.
