2012/13 Europe Adventure: 02/02/13

Well it's truly been an amazing week and it's hard to believe that it passed so quickly but now it's time tomorrow to head to a quiet town about 2 hours outside of Prague. I'm so looking forward to going back to another place I fell in love with on my first visit four years ago. But this time my friend Elke who I stayed with in Copenhagen decided last minute to come for a week so she actually did all the work in finding a great deal for the next 6 days in a resort a little way outside the main town area. It's going to be nice to stay in an area I haven't seen before and also to be able to hang out with a friend for a few days as it is one of the draw backs of traveling alone that you don't get to chat about all the incredible things you've seen and done. So this will be fun and although it's getting a little cold here now I'm sure compared to Denmark it will be warmer for her.

So today was just another day to walk and enjoy the city and I basically took tons of pictures so I'll just put a little caption after them and leave it at that. I think I've explained most everything already although I did get to go to the Clementinum (Klementinum in Czech) which is a historic complex of buildings in Prague which is near the Charles Bridge on the Old Town side and it houses an incredible library that is on the UNESCO list and a tower with a wonderful view of the city. I didn't do the tour this time but I did on my last visit and would recommend it highly for anyone visiting. Basically if you are coming to Prague and have never been here before take the most inclusive tour you can get that ensures you visit the sights of the Old Town, New Town, Castle District, Jewish District, a boat ride and as many museums or attractions as possible. I've decided that you could spend years in this city and every day explore one city block a day and still not see everything there is to see. And, like most great cities including Rome, Paris, Florence, Barcelona, etc. that I've had the honor to visit there is not only historical value to many of the sights there is artistic values that will often make you gasp or sigh or simply loose your breath. When I was taking pictures of just random architectural elements today I thought if you decided to keep a journal and each day take a picture of just one architectural/artistic element from anyone of the thousands and thousands of buildings, sculptures, monuments and bridges in this city I don't think in a 100 years you'd cover even 10 percent of the city. There is truly no end it seems to the beauty that man has created in this city and I won't even get started on the natural, God given beauty (I saw outside a hotel/restaurant called the Three Storks which by the way is so lovely and is Mala Strana in a historic building dating back to the 14th century, when it was home to a monastic brewery) which had beautiful flowers blooming in huge pots outside the main entrance. I had to stop and feel to see if they were real they were so vibrant. I love signs of spring although it's about 2 months two early sadly.

At 6;00pm I went to mass at St. Thomas Church in Mala Strana where they have a service in English every Saturday night at that time. When I arrived at about 2 minutes to six the main church door was locked but fortunately a family (mom, dad, grandma and two little girls) arrived and they come often and knew of a side door which led us past an open courtyard and to the main side entrance of the main church which is simply gorgeous wit lots of ornate decorations. The priest the father knew said that mass was being held in the chapel down the hall so off we all went in search of the chapel which turned out to be so lovely with an amazing small organ in the back corner decorated with gold angels. there were frescoes that were discovered and nicely displayed. The chapel probably holds about 50 or 60 people comfortably but tonight there were only about 20 of us. The priest was here from Spain so his English was not perfect but he was so sweet and for the homily he handed out small slips of paper and some pens and asked us to draw God and then on the other side draw ourselves. People did as he asked and then he explained, using a large white board to explain that our image of God should be bigger than our image of ourselves and that we live within in God and in his heart but for some people the image they would draw would be of themselves large and God small and those people would always be demanding or expecting God to do as they wish and give them everything they wanted. It was a very unique homely, I must admit you don't usually get draw or even have visuals but it was effective and he got his point across nicely. He also mentioned that he large and lovely painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (Spanish: Virgen de Guadalupe) had just been presented to the church yesterday by I think a bishop of Mexico. You can tell this church is a very close knit community. And something I observed at yesterday's mass and today as well the priest here dip the host in the chalice of wine and then place it on your tongue. You don't get a choice it seems in the Czech Republic which is fine I think for most people but still an interesting event to note.

And then I took a nice walk back to my hotel and although it had started to rain as I left church half way back it had already stopped and oddly enough by the time I made it to the hotel my coat was pretty much completely dry. But the weather is clearly changing back to winter conditions but that is to be expected and winter should be winter, right? But I had amazing, amazing spring like days virtually my whole time here so I can not be sad to see the cold return, it's only natural

Anyway enjoy the pictures and I do hope if you're reading this and you've never had the opportunity to come to Prague that all the stars align in perfect order for you to someday come and visit a most breathtaking, magical city that will I am sure capture your heart like it has mine.

Below is a picture I took of a yard behind a group
of wonderful residential building behind a sport complex that included an ice skating rink and tennis court as well as a branch of the National Gallery Museum housed in what looks like an old monastery. In fact all the pictures above come from this same area of Old Town which is very close to where the Hilton Hotel near the river resides (that's the hotel we stayed at on our first visit 5 years ago.) This area is filled with so many interesting old, small buildings in warm, soft yellow and orange tones as well as larger pre-war buildings also in soft colors but with some in pale greens and blues. It being Saturday it was just a perfect day for exploring this mainly residential area.

And I loved the incredible art details I came upon like the beautiful fresco below on a simple white building on a simple tiny winding lane.

The below pictures are from Old Town Square where the Tyn Church and the Astronomical Clock happily sit as well as St. Nicholas Church Protestant Church and the Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square, Prague in the Czech Republic. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus and a young mother which symbolizes national rebirth. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus’ martyrdom. There is also, in the cobble stones 27 white crosses inlaid. I don't remember seeing them but must have walked over them so many times. But do look for them when you're walking through the square, they commemorate The Battle of White Mountain, 8 November 1620 when 27 Catholics were killed in the Square.

St. Nicholas Church, Old Town Square

Yellow Building Birth Place of Franz Kafka next to St. Nicholas Church, Old Town Square

Great Architecture - Residential Building near Old Town Square

Street Scene near Charles Bridge

Park near Theatre along the Vlatava River

Charles Bridge

View of Charles Bridge from the grounds around the Four Seasons luxury hotel

Clementinum (Klementinum in Czech)

I loved this statue next to the entrance of the Clementinum. Haven't we all felt just as discouraged at one point or another.

Entrance to the Public Library with St. Nicholas' Church, Old Town Square in the distance.

Large (maybe 15 foot) Sculpture made from books in the massive foyer of the public library

When you look in the opening of the above book sculpture you look down to a mirror which reflects all the books above and creates this amazing visual of an endless tunnel of books.