Goodbye Prague! Hello České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Czech Musicians, the Dancing Fountain -  New Town, Senovážné Square; It was made by an Austrian sculptor of Czech origin, Anna Chromy.

Woke up very early and to my surprise the sun had just begun to come up and outside my window Prague was glowing with warmth.

Czech Musicians, the Dancing Fountain -  New Town, Senovážné Square; It was made by an Austrian sculptor of Czech origin, Anna Chromy. "Nile"

After a very nice breakfast and packing I went for a quick half hour walk around the neighborhood and over to the small park near the train station where there is a set of sculptures around a fountain that I'd passed several times on the number 14 tram from my hotel and kept reminding myself each time I needed to get a picture of it. Well it's a very interesting set of sculptures "Czech Musicians, the Dancing Fountain -  New Town, Senovážné Square; It was made by an Austrian sculptor of Czech origin, Anna Chromy. Four coloured bronze statues, more than two metres high, dance around the fountain. The dancing statues represent major rivers in the world: the statue with a mandolin represents the Indian river Ganges, the statue with a flute, the Amazon River, the statue with a violin, the Danube and the one with a trumpet, the Mississippi River. The fifth statue is an allegory of the Nile. The fountain was designed by academic sculptor Jan Wagner. The pedestal is from Hořice sandstone." But the funny thing is I forgot the camera in the hotel room so I couldn't even take a picture so I've found these two online.

Entrance to the Charles IV, Boscolo Hotel

I then walked toward my hotel as time had flown by and I passed the Charles IV Boscolo luxury hotel and as I passed the steps leading up to the main entrance I glanced up to see their lobby and there at the bellmen's silver topped desk was the porter with his arms folded across him on top of the podium desk and his head was peacefully laying on them. With his eyes shut it looked like he was taking a nap but I think with the sun's warmth that enveloped specific spot perfectly he was simply sunning himself and enjoying the feeling of natures perfect heating system. I do wish I had my camera with me to capture the the image because he was so perfectly at peace and in harmony with the quiet neighborhood that on a Sunday morning seemed to be occupied with only me, him and the few residents who had to take their furry little barking family member out for some relief and fresh air. And now this hotel is on my list for the next visit. Not to stay of course I think that's way out of my budget but they have a day spa, I just saw it online when I looked up the hotel and it has a gorgeous titled pool, whirlpool and sauna and looks amazing for a day visit.

St. Petr Church

I also passed St. Petr's church and stopped in for a just a few moments. It's a pretty dark interior with deep brown woods and simple decorative elements and a few statues. The church was only two short blocks from my hotel and I was up to my room, then checked out and outside in about 5 minutes and made it to the bus with a few minutes to spare. I really must make an effort to get to my transportation earlier so there's no stress about missing the bus or train. I just get so preoccupied with seeing last minute things and in Prague there is always something else to see.

Sunrise from my room

Sun over the buildings across the street

Fred and Ginger (the Dancing Building) building from my bus

Park near the train station view from the bus

Fred and Ginger (The dancing building) from my bus

Final picture from the bus as we headed out of the city

It was a very quick trip, less than 3 hours on the very basic public bus and I got out at the České Budějovice station which is on top of a nice shopping center which was perfect because it gave me a few minutes to figure out the route to my hotel which was a 20 minute walk through the center of town. It actually was fine to take my suite case along the walkways here because the titles are large and fairly flat so the suit case slid nicely unlike on the tiny old stones in a traditional cobble-stoned street.

Town Square České Budějovice

 České Budějovice from my hotel window

Clarion Congress Hotel - My room

 České Budějovice view from my side room's side window

I'm staying at the Clarion Congress Hotel and it's incredible. It's just outside the old town square but I don't mind because it's so beautiful in my room. I have a huge comfortable bed and windows with a view of the city from the 14th floor. And my bathroom has a nice tub and that tub is right beneath a huge window looking over the west side of the city. It's just so perfect and I'm so happy to be here for two days.

Clarion Congress Hotel - My bathroom with a view

I headed out a few minutes after getting here because there was walking and sightseeing to be done. The town is tiny so it doesn't take long but it has an interesting history mostly due to the residents loyalty to the King which maybe knowingly brought them great security and with some special favors where a prosperous city.

"The South Bohemian capital with a population of one hundred thousand was founded by the Bohemian King Přemysl Otakar II in 1265 on the confluence of the Rivers Malše and Vltava (Moldau) as a royal city so the king could strengthen his position of power in South Bohemia.

The regular ground plan of the newly established royal city, the centre of which consists of an extensive square, is an example of the peak of medieval urbanism in the Czech Lands.

Thanks to the king’s favour and good position for long-distance trading routes, České Budějovice soon came to flourish economically so that two beautiful churches were completed and solid fortified walls erected around the city by the turn of the 14th century. At first mostly humble wooden houses were built to serve as dwellings for the residents, however stone buildings soon replaced these.

The Bohemian kings richly rewarded the people of České Budějovice for their loyalty to the royal crown with numerous privileges guaranteeing economic prosperity and busy commercial traffic. One of the most important was the privilege of Charles IV of 1351, which decreed that merchants should travel through České Budějovice and offer their goods here, but it also banned certain types of crafts to within one mile of the city.

During the turbulent times of the 15th century, the Catholic city of České Budějovice became a strong place of support against the Hussite movement. Commander Jan Žižka recognised only too well just had strong the city’s fortifications were and did not even attempt to invade it. On the other hand, the trade war with the powerful noble family of Rožmberk, which often developed into armed skirmishes, almost became a tradition."

Town Square

Town Square

Town Square

As I walked along the river that completely surrounds the old town there were a group of about 50 men, women and children, many dressed in festive period costumes from Czech folklore and playing musical instruments and singing. When I got back to the hotel I asked the front desk attendants and they said it's a Czech tradition to do this parade through town as a way to call spring to come and for winter to go. I think that's such a lovely idea and hopefully their musical procession will work and spring will be here later this week but it's hard to imagine since it was another frightfully frigid day today despite all the sunshine.

The front desk associate found out for me that Catholic mass was at 5:00pm at Church Presentation of Virgin Mary. "It is a historical church located off Piaristic square in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. It and the monastery were founded with the city in 1265; initial construction was completed around 1300. It is a monumental Gothic building with baroque and rococo additions and unique medieval fresco paintings. Although no monks remain at the monastery, mass is celebrated on Wednesday and Sunday."

Church Presentation of Virgin Mary

Church Presentation of Virgin Mary Garden

Motorcycle Museum near the church

Church Presentation of Virgin Mary inner courtyard

Church Presentation of Virgin Mary Inner Courtyard

Church Presentation of Virgin Mary Inner Courtyard

It's a beautiful interior with a window enclosed courtyard. They have a small statue-lined garden near the side entrance and the priest pulled up on his bicycle when I got there about 4:30pm and he confirmed that mass was at 5:00pm so I went for a short walk and came back to find them doing the final stops on the stations of the cross just before mass was to begin.

Train for kids enjoyment at the Iggy Mall

She also pointed me in the direction of the Iggy shopping center which is about a one minute walk from the hotel so I stopped in for a little snack at the Albert grocery store and to warm up a bit. It's a two floor mall with lots of stores including a small H&M. They also have a Czech version of a SuperCuts so I had my hair trimmed which made me so happy. There are certain things in life that make you feel so good and a haircut is certainly one of them and I was thrilled to find an inexpensive  walk-in place called Klier. The hairdresser did a fabulous job trimming off about an inch and a half and thinning out my thick hair and it looks great. It's one of those things I miss from my normal life in NYC, haircuts and regular pedicures.

Man looking at colorful costume from the Czech Movie "The Magic Rod" from 1955

The mall also has regular art exhibits and this month they are displaying costumes from Czech period piece movies. They also have a train that goes all along the 2nd floor and keeps kids occupied while parents shop.

After mass I had dinner not far from there heading toward my hotel in a Chinese restaurant. A father and son were the only people there when I arrived and it was so sweet to see them having a nice dinner together and the father helping the son with his Ipad.

By 7:00pm I was back at my hotel and filling the tub with warm water and bubble bath they provide in the room.  I enjoyed looking out at the town lit up with the night lights as I relaxed in the warm bubbly water and listened to a book on tape that I had downloaded from the NY public library.

Pictures below added from the afternoon of Monday, March 18

Monday Morning outside my hotel window around 7:00am

Pretty painting on a small building near the town sqaure

Larger view of the Motorcycle museum

Church Presentation of Virgin Mary

Dresden, Germany - Day Trip

Inside the Palace Courtyard - Staircase leads to the Porcelain Museum where you can see some of the famed Dresden porcelain which interestingly was all black in the beginning of production centuries ago and then developed into the beautiful blues and other designs we know of today

People watching the large screen outside the Holy Trinity Catholic Church 

Inside the Palace Courtyard looking toward the Porcelain Gallery building

It was a beautiful, bright, breezy, brilliant day and perfect for a day trip to Dresden, Germany. I booked with a tour company who kindly came to the hotel to pick me up with a small van filled with other tour guests going to various other places like Karlovy Vary for the day. There were I think 5 Russian people going there while there were only four of us going to Dresden so we transferred to a smaller van where our driver was waiting for us and at 9:00am the tour guide arrived and off we went for a two hour drive along the Elbe River which is picturesque route most of the time.

Interior of Palace where the Baroque Treasure Chamber Grünes Gewölbe room (this is the right side of the center courtyard that is still undergoing refurbishment)

Interior of Palace where the Baroque Treasure Chamber Grünes Gewölbe room (this is the left side of the center courtyard that is still almost completely refurbished so it was interesting to see the two sides and see the before and after.)

Only existing wall of Church of Our Lady

Center of the courtyard in the Palace 

I loved these building behind the Church of Our Lady especially the glass dome that reminded me of a fruit  that when cut looks like stars

Mural on a large, long building with all the Dresden leaders of the past depicted. The leader in the center of this photo is August the Strong

Interesting small courtyard in one of the Palace buildings (the large leader mural is on the outside of this building

Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church

We arrived in Dresden’s center just before 11:00am and our tour guide, who it turns out is the daughter of a man who was in Terezin during WWII and as she illustrated by pointing to herself, he fortunately was one of the few who survived and had worked as an artisan for some of the companies run there.

Continent Lamp Posts (Africa)

Continent Lamp Posts (Asia)

Continent Lamp Posts (Europe)

Continent Lamp Posts (The Americas)

Beautiful Virgin Mary Alter, Holy Trinity Church

Interior Holy Trinity Church

Our guide, whose name I never got, gave us an hour long walking tour in the frigid cold but with all the sunshine it passed along easily and pleasantly.

Rodin gallery in the Alberton Museum

Main Alter Church of Our Lady

It’s a walking city and everything is pretty close together. Dresden for centuries has been a city for art, culture and science and situated in a valley on the River Elbe it was founded on the site of a Slavonic fishing village as a merchants' settlement. Dresden originated as the Slav village of Drezdzany, meaning “Forest Dwellers on the Plain,” on the Elbe’s north bank and was first mentioned in historic documents in the 12^th century.

One of the greatest periods of development and growth was during the reign of the Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I who became King August the Strong of Poland in personal union. “He gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresden's emergence as a leading European city for technology and art. Dresden suffered heavy destruction in the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), following its capture by Prussian forces, its subsequent re-capture, and a failed Prussian siege in 1760. Friedrich Schiller wrote his Ode to Joy (the literary base of the European anthem) for the Dresden Masonic Lodge in 1785.”

The ruins of the City after February 14, 1945

You see statues and mention of King August the Strong everywhere you look and our tour guide mentioned his name what seemed like hundreds of times but when you look at all he did for the cultural development of the city you understand.

“Dresden in the 20th century was a major communications hub and manufacturing centre, as well as a leading European centre of art, classical music, culture and science until its complete destruction on 13 February 1945. Being the capital of the German state of Saxony, Dresden had not only garrisons but a whole military borough, the Albertstadt. This military complex, named after Saxon King Albert, was not specifically targeted in the bombing of Dresden though was within the expected area of destruction.

During the final months of World War II, Dresden became a haven to some 600,000 refugees, with a total population of 1.2 million. Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and was occupied by the Red Army after German capitulation. The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between 13 and 15 February 1945 remains a controversial Allied action of the Western European theatre of war. The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed by 722 RAF and 527 USAAF bombers that dropped 2431 tons of high explosive bombs, and 1475.9 tons of incendiaries. The high explosive bombs damaged buildings and exposed their wooden structures, while the incendiaries ignited them, severely reducing the number of shelters available to the retreating German troops and refugees. The bombing raid on Dresden destroyed almost all of the ancient centre of the city in three waves of attacks. Widely quoted Nazi propaganda reports claimed 200,000 deaths. The German Dresden Historians' Commission, in an official 2010 report published after five years of research concluded there were up to 25,000 casualties, while right-wing groups continue to claim that up to 500,000 people died.[14] The inhabited city centre was almost wiped out, while larger residential, industrial and military sites on the outskirts were relatively unscathed.” 

Children's Bacchanal Goblet from the Green Vault

 I went to the Palace to visit The Grünes Gewölbe (the Green Vault) which enjoys world renown as one of the richest treasure chambers in Europe and it’s impressive to say the least with one of the crowning items being the massive green diamond which is said to be the largest found in existence thus far. So beautiful surrounded by smaller, although pretty impressive in their own right, white diamonds of varying cuts. So beautiful I had to stop to admire it a few times. The building was nearly completely destroyed but over the last few decades it has been expertly restored and fortunately, mostly due to a young woman who worked at the gallery during the war, all the art was saved by her forethought and initiative to have all the treasures removed from Dresden prior to that fateful night in 1945. My other favorite pieces are a gold large goblet depicting the Children's Bacchanal (It's so whimsical with the little cherubs running amok, one drunk on the ground and another hugging a goat and other just cavorting about) and the cherry pit carving that was turned into a pendent. The tiny cherry pit which isn't any larger than a small stone has 185 heads carved on it. You can't help but marvel at how any human could have ever created something so detailed yet so tiny. there were 3 other cherry pit carvings as well but this one just blew me away and it was made around 1589.

Cherry Pit Head Carving Pendant

Green Diamond

There is also a Baroque Treasure Chamber room which only reopened in 2006 after years of restoration but it was closed because the limit of guests allowed in at any point in time was reached for the day. I was happy to view the jewels and I stopped up at the arms floor where they display all the artifacts for the military history of the area over the centuries. Large wooden horses adorned with gold and silver and the mannequins wearing the protective armor and posed on horses with jousting implements. It’s really not my kind of exhibit but glad I could visit for a short time.

Interior Dome of The Church of Our Lady

The Opera House

Also on the way leading up to the armory is a beautiful marble staircase with four sculptured lamps one for each of the continents at the time they were created. The attended said Australia was not recognized as a continent at that time so there was Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. I’ve included pictures of each and interesting how the America’s was depicted with little cherub Native America pulling out an arrow from his back pouch.

Small Park in the Center of Town

On our tour we walked past the Roman Catholic Church where there were a hundred or so people out watching something on a large screen that was set up for the event and there were lots of clergy from the Order of the Cross with the Red Star. At first I thought it was something to do with our new Pope, Pope Francis but I think it was a special Red Star ceremony. But exciting we have a new Pope and of Italian parents and Argentine upbringing.

View as we drove back to Prague

The city has several famous museums like the Zwinger, dedicated to old masters but it was closed yesterday and the Alberton dedicated to new masters. That one was open but I opted for the jewels exhibit because of time constraints and since the new masters contains works from Manet, Monet, Picasso, Rodin, etc. I knew the works of these masters I’d had the pleasure of seeing before and could enjoy in New York as well so better to see what I could only enjoy in Dresden.

The Lutherian Cathedral, the Dresden Frauenkirche ( Church of Our Lady.)  It is considered an outstanding example of Protestant sacred architecture, featuring one of the largest domes in Europe.

Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed in the bombing of Dresden during World War II. The remaining ruins were left as as an anti-war memorial, following decisions of local East-German leaders. The church was rebuilt after the reunification of Germany. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004 and its interior in 2005. The church was reconstructed and opened on 30 October 2005 with festive services lasting through the Protestant observance of Reformation Day on 31 October. It nowadays also serves as symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies.

It’s a magnificent sight and the fact that they were able to rebuild it to its former glory alone is astounding. Actually I feel that way about the whole city and for that matter many of the cities in Europe destroyed and then rebuilt to look like it had prior to WWII. If you didn’t know the history of the buildings you really would never know that some of them weren’t original and in the case of The Church of Our Lady there are well placed black bricks that are from the original structure so at least part of the old is now part of the new. There is one small portion of the stone wall from the original standing outside the back of the church so you can stand inside or out of where the old church stood.

Our Tour group (Far left, women visiting from Romania, next our tour guide then the aunt and niece visiting from Mexico City.)

I walked around the old town area which really looks more like new because it’s all modern shopping galleries but it was nice to see how this city is thriving as the stores and restaurants were packed.

It was a great trip with incredibly sunny weather which made it perfect and I’m glad I got to visit such a unique German city and a one day trip, unless you plan on visiting multiple galleries and museums is perfect!