Like many of the places we have visited along the way, Prague is a really beautiful place — both the built environment and the natural surroundings. So beautiful, in fact, that Zoe doesn’t like it because it “feels like a movie set”… just too unreal. The rest of us find it charming, though. We have taken a couple tours and find the history really interesting, and troubling. I am not going to memorialize the 1000 years of history we’ve heard, from the myths of how Bohemia (pre-Czech Republic kingdom of Bohemia) was settled, to the modern post-Velvet Revolution. But Prague’s history is both fascinating and terrifying: The 30-years war (not just here, but throughout Central Europe between Protestants and Catholics) was particularly gruesome here, and reduced the Prague population from over 100,000 to just a few thousand people in early 17th Century; and more recently, with WWII, the virtual annihilation of the Jewish population, where some 80,000 Jews were murdered and another 26,000 fled during Nazi occupation. This, together with the fact that NOBODY here smiles,** made Prague a bitter-sweet experience.
Our daily routine here has been a mix of walking around in awe of the place, and participating in tours to understand what we are seeing. Along the way we’ve had some decent, but not particularly healthy, food. So, here’s our Prague experience, in pictures:
Old Prague: Pictures from our walk near our airbnb.
The Jewish Quarter & Synagogues: At times in Prague’s history, Jews comprised up to 1/3rd of its population — but were forced to live in a ghetto comprising just 10% of its area. Conditions were pretty bad, and much of that part of the City was destroyed to make way for a new area around the turn of the 20th Century. Still, they maintained several of the original synagogues, including one that has (except for 1942-45) held Jewish services since the last quarter of the 13th Century. The Nazi’s did not destroy these synagogues only because Hitler wanted to use Prague as a “museum to an extinct people,” and so artifacts and buildings remain. Very ghoulish.
Hats Jews were forced to wear when outside 
Jewish Cemetery -12 layers deep
Within the Jewish Quarter, one of the museums catalogues — along its walls — the names of the 80,000 Czech Jews who were killed in WWII. The still images obscure the scale of this monument — So I have added a video to better reveal the detail.
Great Burger Restaurant: We found a great Burger restaurant with a really interesting “theme” to it – read the burger specials menu closely… also, I love the sign showing they accept only “Cash” and “Deniro” … pretty funny.
Our tour guide explained that Czech people love meats… they do not love vegetables or vegetarian dishes – and sometimes even include a slice of ham in vegetarian dishes. He humorously explained that, to Czech people, if something is green “it isn’t ready yet.”
Letna Biergarten: There is also a fantastic Beer garden in a park that runs along the Vltava River, and overlooks the City center.
The Dancing House (“Fred & Ginger”): One of the few truly “modern” buildings in/near the old part of Prague is called the ‘Dancing House’. Designed/built mid-1990’s. It is fun, and there is a restaurant/observation deck with great views of the City on top.
Charles Bridge: We walked along the famous Charles Bridge — started in mid-1300’s — and named after King Charles IV who had it built. It is visually striking and architecturally beautiful, but I found walking along it a fairly unpleasant experience with the thousands of tourists and crap-sellers covering virtually every step of it.
crucifix w/hebrew 
I was confused by the Hebrew below the crucifix (pictured above) — apparently, it was added in 1696 to punish a wealthy Jewish resident who (allegedly) sneered at the cross. He was fined, and the money was used to add the Hebrew words that, in English, mean “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts” — pretty shitty punishment that insulted all Jews, not just the one who was fined.
Biking around Prague: Jackie wanted to do a tour of the Prague Castle, while Zoe and I are kind of “castle”-d out at this point. So we went on a bike tour of areas around the city, seeing Letna Park, Hradcany, Mala Strana (part of Lesser Town) and its hillside views of the City. It was a great ride.
Prague Castle: While Zoe and I were biking, Jackie went on a tour of Prague Castle, built in various forms beginning in the 800’s — here are her pics of the medieval cathedral in the castle and comments:
Prague Castle and its Cathedral in the background 
Oldest part of the Cathedral in Prague Castle 
More of the old Cathedral 
details of the outside of the Cathedral 
Inside the Cathedal – awe-inspiring! 
Front of the Cathedral
Nobody smiles: ** Final note: Our tour guide — a really wonderful and knowledgeable guy — actually brought up the fact that nobody here smiles. He explained that Czech people have a saying about people who walk around smiling: “they are either in love, or idiots.” He also explained that people here do not say “excuse me” when others are in their way; instead, as “masters of the passive-aggressive,” they just bump you gently on their way by… I can confirm the accuracy of both points, first hand. It may not seem important that people around you smile… until NOBODY around you is smiling; then it just feels cold and unfriendly. Overall, I like Prague a lot… but is not on my “list” of places I would like to live.
Next up: Munich, Germany!
