(Saturday, Sept. 5, Prague) Katka met us at our hotel at 9 am and we set off on foot for the famous Charles Bridge. Along the way we stopped at the Monument to the Victims of Communism. These bronze figures march down a stairway along busy Karmelitska Ujezd Street. The figures at the bottom of the hill represent whole human beings, but those farther up have pieces of their heads and torsos missing, and those at the top are only half a being, staging a disturbing “disappearing act.”
From there we strolled over to Kampa Island and Katka talked about the devastating “thousand year” flood which struck Prague in 2002. She and her husband had to abandon their apartment for a week and lived temporarily with her husband’s parents. Once back on the mainland, we found a humorous memorial to “Love” --- padlocks fastened around an iron railing signifying lovers forever bound to each other. “Kaska” (“love” in Czech) was also written at the top of what is known as “The Lennon Wall”, a tribute to the late former Beetle, John Lennon. Every year on the anniversary of his death people come to the wall to light candles in remembrance of him. There’s even a “John & George “(Harrison) café next to the wall.
The Charles Bridge is the best known of the bridges that cross the Vitava River in Prague. Although of this pedestrian only bridge is being rebuilt, there’s ample room for the phalanx of tourists heading to “Old Town Prague” to cross. Locals (or those in the know) touch a brass plaque below the statute of St. John of Nepomuk for good luck. Legend has it that the king had him stabbed and thrown off the bridge to his death after the priest refused to reveal the details of a confession made to him by the king’s wife. Tourists can get their caricatures down by a street artist, or buy artsy-craftsy souvenirs from vendors, who set up shop temporarily on the bridge.
We avoided the tourist throngs by veering off the main drag and stopping to look at the large library established by Jesuit monks who were kicked out by Hapsburg Emperor Josef II in the 1780’s. Today, students at Charles University in Prague use the library for their scholastic studies.
Not far from here is the New Town Hall. Katka told us that Americans on one of her tours told that that a black statute, faceless behind a helmet and wearing a flowing robe, that sits near the corner of the building reminded them of Darth Vader.
We continued our walking tour by heading into the Jewish Quarter whose synagogues are open to the public on most days, but not on Saturday when we walked through the neighborhood. But, the exterior of these houses of worship is quite striking, particularly the Jubilee Synagogue whose façade has a Moorish Motif. A yellow hat is nestled inside the Star of David on the front of the synagogues.In bygone times, Prague’s Jews had to wear such a topper when leaving their district, much as 20th century Jews had to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing during the Nazi reign over Europe during WWII.
Around noon we found every single tourist in Prague that had not gone to the Castle Quarter: They were all gathered round the Old Town Hall to watch the parade of The Twelve Apostles march by on the hall’s tower when the gilded Astronomical Clock just below them struck the hour.
We finished our tour with Katka at the plaque memorializing the “Velvet Revolution” of 1989 that led to the end of Communism and the return of democracy to Czechoslovakia then walked a few short steps to Café Louvre for a delightful and relaxing lunch.
After strolling over to the main train station to get our railpass validated by a totally bored clerk, we retraced our steps to the Old Town Hall and caught a cab back to the hotel. Later, we dined at restaurant “Olympia”, chock a block with locals enjoying a Saturday night out on the town.
