I started my day bright and early this morning. I wanted to get cracking on the daylight and get the most out of my day. And boy did I! After breakfast, which consisted mostly of fruit for me this morning, good selection choices methinks! They even have whole kiwis in the fruit bowl selection. I think that's rather odd considering Kiwi's are more expensive than basic fruit like bananas or oranges. Either way, I had a kiwi. And back to my story/...after breakfast I hurried along and stopped just down the street at the Dr. Scholl's shop. I stopped in and got a sleeve for my knee. This was more difficult than you would imagine because the woman in the shop didn't speak English. But we managed to get through the entire transaction with hand motions. I was very pleased with myself, although I would be more pleased if I spoke Czech. So first thing in the shop I motioned that I needed a sleeve for my knee and pointed at the selection in the glass. She pointed at me and I shook my head yes, then she came around the corner and measured me with a measuring tape. She rumbled around in the cupboards for a few moments and came out with two boxes. She motioned between the two sizes and gave a hand gesture meaning, either way. Story of my life, fitting right in between sizes. So she motioned to a little fitting room made out of an old clumpsy wardrobe with a chair directly in the middle. It was hard to maneuver in this wardrobe thing especially around the chair, all I really needed to do was slip it over my knee and I choose the one I liked best. I paid up and motioned to the women so I could use the "changing room" to put the sleeve on. So I did, and it was even more difficult this time. I was ducking the whole time in fear the thing would fall right on top of me. But it didn't and I walked out with a little support on my knee! So, from here on out I will stop complaining about it. Stairs seem to be my only real concern now, so its all good. :)
I rushed through the middle of town and walked to the Old Jewish Cemetery. It is placed right in the middle of a very nice part of Prague. I saw the gate where you could buy tickets to the museum and thought, nah there has to be a separate entrance to the cemetery, it should be free! Well I was wrong, and after I walked around the entire block, I found myself right where I started. So I paid up, which I thought was ridiculous, because I didn't have time for the museum or to see anything except the cemetery, but oh well. I walked through and took some very neat pictures. The cemetery is a collection of about 12,000 crumbling stones, laid in an area smaller than one block. But beneath the stones lies more than 100,000 graves, all piled in layers. It is the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in Europe. It was creepy, eery and I liked it!
When I left the cemetery I wondered around the area for a bit and found myself on a very expensive shopping street leading into Old Town Square...all the famous designers and such. Not really the area for me, but it was a very pretty street. Up on the hill over the river I could see a black and red statue ticking like a clock. I later learned they installed the statue in 1991, in place of an old Stalin statue that was torn down after the fall of communism. I wondered around the Old Town Square for a while in a bit of amazement. None of the shops where open (it was too early) and people were just starting to set up for the Christmas fair. The sun was shinning so brightly in the square and it was a lovely morning.
I met a tour guide for the Kutna Hora tour at the astronomical clock and she informed me that we will need at least four people in order to go on the tour today. I was person #1, so now we wait. Luckily, another little old lady walked up and said there was three of them total, perfect, the tour was on! We made our way to the tour bus and I learned that all the ladies were on vacation from Vienna, leaving tomorrow. They asked if I spoke German and I sadly said no. One of the little old ladies was not little at all, she was quite large actually and had a hell of a time walking. They said she had a bad knee, which I sympathized with slightly, but I'm sure her knee pain was much more severe than mine. The best thing about this lady, "Ingrid" was that she carried two cameras around her neck. One digital and one older camera that used film. First thing on the bus the guide was explaining buildings as we passed and Ingrid would hold up her camera (as the bus was moving) and snap pictures left and right, with the flash on. None of those will turn out, I'm sure of it. I had to hold myself back from laughing, but it was rather funny.
Surprise, surprise I fell asleep on the bus again. I know, I just can't help it. Mom, I am becoming more and more like you everyday...YIKES! :) I did wake up in enough time to receive a nice little history lesson from the guide about silver mining in the area and our first stop, Ossuary -- the Church of All Saints, or in other words The Bone Church. The church is decorated with more than 40,000 human bones. It was really odd, in my opinion at least. The bones were not meant to be a threat, most of the people had died natural deaths, but the bones were piled up in the basement. An artist decided to decorate the church with them in order for people to pass them and remember to live life because it is too short to let things go unfinished. Huh...interesting concept. It was kind-of gross, I couldn't believe I was actually starring at real human remains, all over...EVERYWHERE. But it was a small church with nothing else to see, so we didn't spend too much time there.
Next we went to the main town of Kunta Hora and the guide gave us a wonderful tour with lots of facts. We saw the urban castle Hradek, Archdean's Church of St. James, the Italian Court, Baroque Church of St. John of Nepomuk. I learned a fascinating tale about St. John of Nepomuk...the king ordered to have him drowned, and his body was found surrounded by 5 stars in the water. This explains why every statue of him has a crown with 5 stars. I love tales like this, but generally the guides just mention them since most people living in Europe have heard them all before. The town was very pretty and had a lot of great old buildings that were good for pictures. The tour included a free CD of pictures...which I haven't looked at, but I'm crossing my fingers that they are good quality and not just stock imagery thrown on a disk. We'll see!
Ingrid spent most of the day walking away from us, or very far behind and the other two ladies would bicker over who should wait for her. Hehe. She would just wonder around and take pictures, I think without even aiming the camera. She would see something, barely hold up the camera and shoot, always with the flash. Poor thing. We stopped for lunch at traditional Czech restaurant and I ordered baked Chicken in sauce with chips (french fries). We started with a warm vegetable soup that was great considering the weather, oh and of course we had beer. :) This time it was Budejovicky, very similar to Pilsner, but good. I think this was the first time in my life that I ate french fries with a knife and fork. People hardly ever use their hands for food here, and I wanted to follow the norm, I didn't want to be that disgusting American girl who gobbled all her food. Which oddly enough was sitting right across the table from me....but I'll get to that in a second. So I politely ate my chips with my knife and fork. I felt poised. To top off the meal we all received a small helping of Apple Strudel. YES! I had been waiting for this since I arrived in Europe, but I am too cheap to order it myself. This meal was all included in the tour price. It was delicious, and well worth the wait! Now, back to the disgusting American girls...in the restaurant we saw another tour group and a few people that seemed American to me, by their accents. Two ladies were so large they barely fit in their chairs and they complained the whole time about everything! Not to mention they ordered more food than I could eat all day. I was so embarrassed.
After lunch we made our way to the Cathedral of St. Barbara. St. Barbara is the Pagan Saint of Miners, and this began as a mining town. The Cathedral was beautiful, I think more the outside than the inside, but it was impressive all the same. The guide told the story of how it was built, building would stop and begin all the time because of financial problems. At one point, the church laid untouched for 350 years before they decided to finish it. 350 years! That is older than my country, I couldn't believe it. Its just such a long time for a church to sit there untouched, and unfinished. After the tour of the church we made our way back to the tour bus which was parked in front of a beautiful school, with lots of teenage kids smoking out front. I thought that was hilarious. I slept most of the ride back to Prague, come on, was there any doubt?
We arrived back in the city and they dropped us off near the National Museum and Wenceslas Square. I bid my new friends from Vienna goodbye and promised them that one day I will go to Vienna. It was just about 4:00 and the sun would be going down soon. I walked around a bit and tried to decide my next move. I wanted to go to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Muzeum Moderniho in Veletrzni Palace, but the Museum closed at 6. I thought, what the hell, I can see it all in less than 2 hours and hopped on the Metro to get there. I hadn't used the Metro here yet, and was planning to just avoid it unless necessary, but I figured it wouldn't be too hard. A nice homeless man (young man) gave me some pointers at the ticket machine and once I was finished asked for some spare change. I gave in since he did help me after all. I had no problem navigating the tube even though I had to jump off and switch train lines. But three stops later, I was there. I found my way to the Museum and walked up to the ticket desk. I asked for 1 adult. The lady behind the window looked horribly sick and I stepped away and took my hands off the counter to get away from her and between sneezes, the lady said "free" and motioned to a sign. "The Museum will be free today from 3:30 - 8:00 pm." Can you believe my luck? Not only was it free, but it was open two extra hours!
I stayed at the Museum until about 7:00 and really did enjoy myself. I went through the usual pondering questions at a Museum, "they call this art?", "what the hell is that?", "who thinks of this stuff?", etc etc. I did find a few pieces I really liked and considered buying a poster of, but then thought about getting it home and decided not to. The exhibit has some Andy Warhol, Kupka, Rodin, Gaugin, Van Gogh and a nice exhibit by Picasso to name a few. I was very happy that I made the trip.
I walked back to the metro and made my way back to my area of Prague. I decided to stop at my usual smokey Internet cafe before I grab some dinner. So here I am, I will try another new place tonight, once I find one, then off the bed. I'm exhausted from walking for nearly 13 hours.
The weather is supposed to change tomorrow and I heard it will be "horrible." Cold winds, drizzle and perhaps snow...not so fun for my last day in Prague.
All for now, Cheerio. Anna
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment