Travel Log

We left Prague this morning on a train to Hamburg which has given me time to think about what we saw over the last few days. I am sure that it will take years, literally, to process all of the art and history that is housed in that city. It has been a treat to visit!

First of all, the medieval buildings are a joy for those of us from North America who are mostly used to the flatness and newness that is architecture in the new world. I love the fairy tale feel of Prague, the sense that a jester or a knight might lurk around the next corner. I know that in reality that what is around the corner will likely be a mime or a busker but still… such scope for imagination. And speaking of buskers, the quality of street music on offer is so high. In particular two groups caught my attention: a group of young people using classical instruments to play electrified and electrifying music, and three men playing medieval music/middle eastern music on an unusual set of bagpipes, a two handled guitar and a set of drums. I managed to get a CD of the first group but didn’t get one for the second. Stan caught a few minutes of their music for me on video and I will be trying to identify it when I get home.

The river played an integral roll in our visit. A river gives a city a certain life and form. I love the bridges over it, the symbolism of it, the way it breaks the landscape and the area, gives a place for people to meet and to sense the movement of nature. In Prague there are many bridges but of course it is the Charles Bridge that is so important to the life of the city, at least to the life of tourism there. We returned to the river over and over to catch it in different lights, and with the lights on! We took a cruise along the water of course. My favourite view was the one from the restaurant beneath the Kafka Museum where the food was delicious and the view succulent. Some of my favourite photos, of the hundreds we took, were Stan’s pinholes that capture that sense of history coming up through the very cobblestones and the moistness of the air while we were there. My it can rain!

The castle hanging over the city gives such a sense of grandeur and gravitas. For much of the day, its position in the west means that it is silhouetted against the sky like a piece of finely wrought scherenshnitte. And St Vitus’s cathedral is a fine addition to that silhouette. The inside is magnificent as only a cathedral of that size can be. And the colour of the windows is beyond compare. In particular the windows at the rear of the church that were designed and built in the 20s and 30s use colour and movement in spectacular ways.

Prague pulls at your heart in the Jewish district, with sites that both uplift it and break it completely. The Spanish Synagogue has always been one of the places on my bucket list. Photos can not do it justice tho’ we certainly tried to capture every bit of the design, the colour and the decoration in our photos. I will study those images for years to come as they are a masterclass in mixing colour, texture and line in ways that are at once diverse and cohesive. This was the uplifting part. Mere blocks away was the Pinkas Synagogue. Simple white walls covered in row upon row upon row of black Neulandish lettering, broken from time to time by a red letter to mark the beginning of another family list. To see the names of the Jews lost during the Nazi years laid out so elegantly, in such volume, on the simple white walls, a soft wash of light from the leaded windows illuminating them, breaks your heart. Outside, walking through the Jewish Cemetery, somehow the heart finds rest again, strolling through the stones marking the death of lives lived as well as possible, crowded together, giving comfort to each other.

By happy accident our river cruise left from a dock across the street from the St. Agnes of Bohemia convent. Therein is housed the most amazing collection of religious art, mostly from the period around the 14th C. Hundreds of pieces from altars and churches throughout the Czech republic, with an emphasis on Mary in all her roles: mother, mourner and saint. From simple carved statues to icons and painted pieces it is another masterclass, this one in the beatification of the female face. I itch to use what I will learn from studying those faces, (they allowed photography!) in my drawing, painting and fibre work.

One of the biggest surprises of the week was the food. I will admit I came to Prague with very low expectations for the food. From the juicy burger we had the first day to the last spoonful of gelato last night we couldn’t have been more pleased with our food. In particular, the chef in our hotel (Hotel Rott in old town with an amazingly convenient location) was inventive and talented. I hate to use the word succulent twice in one day but it really is the only word that truly describes the food we were served there. The other two restaurants I would highly recommend are the one in the basement of the Kafka Museum with its amazing views of the Charles Bridge and the one in the Strahov monestary, below ground, in a cave.

Prague is a mecca for Art Nouveau enthusiasts. My fellow tanglers will be aware of Mucha, one of the foremost Art Nouveau artists, because of a tangle called Mooka. Prague was his town and there is a small museum of his posters and sketches there. I spent a pleasant hour there studying his drawings – his posters are so familiar but his detailed drawings of plants were the real treasure in the museum. Unfortunately his other works are not available for viewing as the National Museum is closed for renovations.

We walked miles and miles over our three and a half days in Prague. We had wind and rain and cold and, thankfully, a day of sun and blue skies. We saw so much and yet there is so much more to see. I’d go back and I think next time I’d use it as a jumping off place to head to Budapest and Bucharest and Croatia. But for now, my train seat faces Hamburg and I am keen to see what lies ahead as we pick up our car tomorrow and head to Stadt and Bremen and beyond. The Bremen Town Musicians await!