Blague (Prague Blog)

Wow! After walking around the Prague castle and St. Vitras Cathedral, we head to dinner

over top of grape vines and fruit trees down the hills to red tiled roofs, winding

cobblestone streets, and church spires. Walking back down the hill we watch fireworks from

the Charles Bridge while a pair of young men play concert level classical fusion on cello to

a large entranced crowd. Amazing! Day 2 we hire a guide to take us through the Jewish

Quarter. The tour is a little long and tedious, however the Pinkas Synagogue walls with the

plaque of those who hid Jewish kids and families and the 77 thousand names of those who

didn’t return moves us. Sierra finds some of Hersh’s family names. Of the 10,000 children to

be murdered, some is still childlike, as adults tried to help the kids retain hope. One

child’s art piece is particularly striking—a huge table with chairs. One lone child remains,

sitting alone in this big empty room.
After lunch we wander past sculptures into the overly ornate and musty St. Nicholas Church

with endless cherubs, saints, and depictions of Mary and Jesus. We end the morning by

climbing up the medieval Powder Tower. Sierra had been particularly patient through this

long day and we head back to give her some extended facebook time with friends and us some

rest. In the evening we attend a beautiful candlelit chamber orchestra concert, wander

through the newer section of Prague and watch as the seagulls glide in the dark, full moon

sky around the stone bridge tower. Between the tower, the castle backdrop, and a strange

light shadow show on the water, it feels rather enchanted, here in Prague—We overlook the

pollution and dismissive manner of some merchants—reasonable given the swarms of tourists

like us. Everything to see is close by. We walk in a general direction, as often would

happen and say ”hey—there is that cool monument we read about,” or we stroll around a

corner and think, wow, another amazing sculpture! Sierra isn’t usually wowed, however, was

impressed by the hip hop break dancing marionetters. Earlier we added our wish on the

famous John Lennon wall, smiled at the gate with piles of locks symbolizing marriage and at

another spot, the keys to the locks. When we noticed the sculpture of Jesus with Hebrew

writing it leads to an interesting conversation with a young man and group travelling via

Birthright from Israel.