Prague gave me a feeling. I think it gave the whole group a feeling. A feeling that we belonged. A feeling of welcome. Maybe it was the fact that we actually had time to learn the city, and take advantage of its attributes, unlike the last whirlwind tour. Maybe it was the people of the city or its historic spirit.
This time around I didn’t wake up to a 5:30 a.m. alarm. This time it awoke me from my light slumber at 3:00 a.m Friday morning. My posse and I decided to take a very early morning train so we could have the whole Friday to spend gallivanting around the City of Prague, in the Czech Republic. The train left at around 5:00 a.m. and we arrived seven hours later. We conducted the normal travel routine – arrive at the station, make our way to the hostel, freshen up and out on the town.
One of the main goals when arriving in a new city is to taste the cuisine! After a tasty lunch, a few decided to nap, and the rest of us decided to use our limited time in this beautiful city wisely. As I learned in Salzburg and Budapest, if a city has a river, go there. The river is most likely where the old town is and a lot of the main attractions. The Vltava River in Prague is aligned with normal city stuff, tourist shops, restaurants, museums and sculpture. I noticed right away not only the beautiful architecture in Prague but the statues as well. It seemed every building and bridge was adorned with elegant statues of biblical figures. The Charles Bridge is a well-known historical attraction in Prague and its outer walls are beautifully adorned with larger than life-size statues of saints and patron saints. Figures of protection and safety, sculpted in a Baroque style, I couldn’t help but feel a little creeped out by the sculpted saints with their empty looks and eerie faces. Nevertheless, I was in awe by the massive Charles Bridge and its history.
While the others continued napping, we visited the Medieval Torture Museum. Though I’ve learned about various medieval torture techniques such as tar and feathering and the iron maiden, I wasn’t prepared for some of the devices I learned about in this museum. The museum exhibited replicas of and actual torture devices used in the past as well as depictions on the walls. We were astonished to lean about the genital mutilation techniques as well as view actual chastity belts and pictures of victims hanging upside-down while being sawed in half with a large-toothed, two person saw. Before entering the museum I was intrigued. Upon leaving, I felt a little queasy.
My posse and I finished the first night in Prague with a pub crawl led by who else than three Americans, New York, Colorado and Missouri. I referred to them by their home states, which were easier for me to remember than their names. It was a fun night, included my first taste of Absinthe and a quick glance at the local bars in Prague.
Saturday our group split up and I and a few visited the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. It is a beautifully historic place which includes not only the castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral, but St. George’s Basilica and many other surrounding buildings and gardens (you can see in my photographs). Most of the buildings were open to view as well as a museum covering the history of the castle grounds from the time of the land’s first settlement, to conception of the castle to the present. The museum housed many astonishing artifacts such as burial clothing of the royal family and grave sites, including the remains, of buried soldiers.
After the Prague Castle, Lily and I visited the small Salvador Dali Museum in the town square. It was a nice little exhibition and included many prints I had not known Dali to create. The rest of the night we took easy with authentic Czech meals (I devoured a plate of Czech goulash) and one drink at a classy club.
The weather was beautiful Sunday. The sun shone and we ventured out one more time to learn more about our new acquaintance, Prague. Ciara researched vintage shops before we left. Prague is supposed to have some nice shops of pre-fall of the Iron Curtain clothes and accessories. Myself, I love vintage clothes but was surprised by the high costs of used Czech clothing and refused to buy anything, even a leather jacket for which I’ve been desperately longing. The last couple hours before our train departure at 5:00, the remaining group and I visited one more museum, the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition. The show focused on Leonardo the inventor and not so much Leonardo the artist. Replicas of his inventions were displayed along side with explanations and sketches from Leonardo’s notebooks. It was a fascinating exhibition. As an art student I’ve learned of Leonardo da Vinci the artist and his paintings, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. It was another side of Leo…
Feeling fulfilled, awed and that reoccurring “I can’t believe I’m here” on the train ride home… I’m excited about what other adventures life in Salzburg will bring.
