For my 40th birthday JH planned a romantic weekend getaway to Prague. Since his birthday is the day before mine it was a dual present/celebration. I had wanted to go to Prague since I first became fascinated with it a couple of years ago.
I first studied Prague in college. I took a class about Eastern & Central European struggles and I wrote a paper about the liberalization (from Social Communism) and social "Action Programs" in Prague in the Spring of 1968. The movement was called Prague Spring. The leader of the movement was Alexander Dubček. In 1989, during the collapse of the Soviet Empire, Czechoslovakia experienced a revolution, the Velvet Revolution, which ushered in the collapse of Czechoslovakia and the birth of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. During the Velvet Revolution while Alexander Dubček appeared with then leader
Václav Havel, I was in Minnesota learning about Prague Spring. The timing was unique because my classmates and I while studying about Prague Spring were able to hear what Dubček had to say about it since he had been ushered away by the Soviets for 20 years and even survived radioactive poisoning (some of the old Soviet tricks are still being practices today by Putin's henchmen - huh?). For more information - instead of my sketchy recollection, go to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Dub%C4%8Dek or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_republic.
Okay, back to the romantic part of my story.
We stayed at a boutique hotel called La Boutique Hotel - original huh? The hotel is a little out of the way, but the mass transportation in Prague is AMAZINGLY safe and efficient.
We both loved Prague. I can't wait to go back. I could live there - easily! Very clean, affordable, safe, and great shopping and accessibility.
Okay, so back to Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution. I got a little mushy in Wenceslas Square when I thought about the history of the struggle against oppression. The photo of the statue of Saint Wenceslas on horse back reminds me of something a classmate of mine told me before we left for our trip. My classmate is from the Czech Republic and her husband, a professional hockey player in Gjovik (where we live) is from Prague. She told me that I had to stand under the statue and kiss under the horses tail. Well, due to language barriers, I though she told me to kiss the horse's ass. She didn't. She told me to kiss my husband while standing under the horses tail - for good luck. I laugh when I think of what an idiot I would have looked like had a attempted to climb up and kiss the horse - on his backside.
There are a lot of wonderful statue's in Prague - although many of them have been damaged during the Soviet oppression and it is possible to see bullet marks from stray bullets fired during the struggles.
The architecture in Prague is magnificent. We saw people from all over the world. We were all walking around gawking at this amazing city. I would have thought that October wouldn't be packed in Prague - but it was.
This city so so intriguing, I am no longer surprised at the Hollywood folk who are going to hangout in Prague for weeks and months. The Jolie/Pitt bunch lived in Prague for part of 2007.
The art of painting intricate designs on eggs comes from the Czech Republic. Of course I had tried it as a child in Iowa - but nothing (especially not my art) compares to the art we saw. I wanted to buy some eggs, but I was fairly sure that there would be no way for me to get them back to Gjovik intact. I now regret not buying any. On my next trip I will buy some!
The outdoor eateries were busy and later in the evening they were packed. Here is a photo of my birthday boy and I sharing pretzels and drinks while taking in the sights. Since the sun was setting and it was getting a little cool the restaurant staff were turning on the patio heaters.
Prague is called the city of a hundred or a zillion or something spires. There are spires all over the city. Many are Christian, and some are Muslim, others are Jewish (the oldest Jewish Temple in Europe), and other religions and groups I can't recall. As the sun was setting each evening the spires and the brass, gold and metal toppings all glistened.
A lot of restoration projects are underway in Prague - and boy are they long overdue!
The Czech language is so foreign to me. I can't understand ANYTHING! Well, I was proud of myself when I guessed that by adding a "y" to the end of a word it becomes plural!
Okay, one of the reasons I wanted to see Prague was to go to Prague Castle. Not because of a princess complex or anything - but for the architecture and to see the HUMONGOUS building(s). This castle is so incredible. I need another trip back to Prague to see more of the castle,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Castle. The history of this castle is way too lengthy - but the historical significance really touches many groups of people from Czechs, Catholics (the bones of St. Wenceslas are in the Castle's cathedral), history buffs, architecture students, etc.
In this photo I am standing in the royal gardens outside the Queen's summer palace and looking across the little valley (old moat area) to the Castle.
This tree looked like a mythical being from a CS Lewis book.
Another photo of a lovely tourist standing in the gardens above the very modern greenhouse.
