Note to myself: next time at this time of the year, wear something warmer! It is the beginning of October, and the air can be cool; pleasant fall weather, especially with the sun getting through, but fall nonetheless!
Arrived around 6pm, on a flight through Frankfurt, in this new airport that must have been redone since the fall of the previous regime (not to name it!) A twenty minute drive, and I check in the local Intercontinental, lodged in a non-descript modern building; very comfortable though.
Take advantage of the weekend to discover the place. After a very local breakfast at the Café Savoy (see next entry), and while in the neighborhood, climbed up to the tower in the large hilly Petrin Park – quite a hike, if you have not seen the alternative, the funicular! The tower is a scaled-down version of the Eiffel, put there for Prague’s 1891 Jubilee Exhibition. Worth going to the top (elevator if you want to avoid the 299 stairs!) for the panoramic view over the city, the river and the Castle. Walked back down by the back end towards the Castle, but stopped at the Church of St-Nicholas – the large green dome and slick tower can be seen from everywhere in the city – that marks the beginning of the Baroque period of the city – and the “recatholisation” of the region in the 17th century, thanks to the Jesuits, chasing away Protestantism at the same time.
A quick lunch at the Kampa Park restaurant, near the spectacular Charles Bridge (built in the 14th century, and the only link between the two sides of Prague for centuries until the end of the 19th one), just because I got a table outside, right overlooking the river. Spotted nearby a bookstore – Shakespeare & Sons; here is what a recent appreciative visitor had to say about it, as reported in the NYT, and I agree (but could not find though a copy of Kafka’s Trial): June 5th, 2010, 2:15 pm. A great find for us was the Shakespeare a synove (and sons) bookstore in Mala Strana. On a quiet street near the Charles Bridge, this was a proper bookstore. Looking small from it's (sic) doorway, it opened into 2 large floors of new and used books in English and French. It's the sort of place that has been dissapearing in the States, but this was flourishing. The collection was marvellous, particularly the selection of Eastern European writers. A surprising treat.
Shopping in the afternoon, in the swank stores of the former Jewish quarter, where trendy local designers have taken « pignon sur rue », beside the predictable global luxury brand stores. Found things (blouse) at Timoure et Group (www.timoure.cz) and (knit) at Bohème (www.boheme.cz)
Spent the Sunday at the Castle, Prague’s “centerpiece”; went early to beat the crowd – almost managed but the Chinese groups were coming in too! Visited an empty gothic St-Vitus Cathedral – fantastic stained-glass windows, a product of modern 20th century Czech artists, when the construction of the church that looms over the Castle and the whole of Prague was finally completed – in time to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of the martyr death of its saint patron!
Spent a good part of the morning at the exhibition “Story of the Prague Castle”, crucial if you want to make any sense of the 1000-year history of the place, with its various rival dynasties, fighting religions, and evolving architecture! It helps in reconnecting the history of the region to that, more familiar, of Western Europe...
Stopped by the Lobkowicz Palace, which contains a good part of the 400-year old family-owned collection of music artifacts and paintings – well worth a look, and a good museum shop (finally found a copy of Kafka’s Trial!)
Went down in what used to be the northern moat of the Castle and discovered a neat, elliptically shaped, pedestrian tunnel under the Powder Bridge that gives access to the Castle. I found out that it was created by a local architect as recently as 2002; it is described in the Wallpaper* City Guide series on Prague as follows: “ The internal walls are lined with vertically placed bricks that create a woven pattern, accentuated by the lights recessed in the half fluted concrete floor…”. As the guide says, “this simple creation is off the beaten track and all the better for it”!
Wandered in the Old Jewish Quarter, walking back to the hotel. Phenomenal sight of the old cemetery, where perhaps some 100,000 or 200,000 people are buried – layered upon each other – under a chaos of tombstones, 12,000 of them! A few synagogues open to visitors – I like the Spanish Synagogue the best, well decorated in the Moorish style, and which holds its name, according to one overheard guide, from the reconnaissance the locals had towards the Muslims of Andalusia who were tolerant there vis-à-vis the Jews!
Took a stroll around the Old Town Square later on in the week – the “heart and soul” of the city, huge, dominated by the art nouveau sculpture of Jan Hus (who was burned at the stake for proposing radical religious reform as early as 1415!)
, and surrounded by historical landmarks – the Old Town Hall and its Astronomical Clock, the Church of our Lady before Tyn, a few more celebrated churches…and thousands of milling tourists, even at this time of the week, on a Wednesday, and of the year, early October when it is getting colder!Prague, October 6, 2010
