Praha

Friday Laura, John, and I left for our first trip outside of Austria, Prague! Our train left at 12:26 and we arrived in Prague around 8pm. We stayed at Emma Hostel, which was much nicer than I had expected a hostel to be. Saturday we woke up early to see Charles bridge before the crowds. The bridge is lined with statues and artists trying to sell their work.

On the other side of the river, we stopped in St. Nicks Cathedral to have a look around and then decided to tour the castle. However, when we finally reached the stairs to the castle, we were told it was closed because they were having a reception there for the Pope. Disappointed we turned back and started towards Petrin Hill, a park nearby.

St. Nick's Cathedral

As we were walking down the street we noticed barricades along the sidewalks and about 20 or so people gathering in front of a Church. They seemed to be waiting for something so we stopped and asked a girl about our age what or who they were waiting for. She replied that the Pope was scheduled to arrive at the church in a little over an hour. Well we weren’t touring Prague Castle like we had planned and none of us had ever seen the Pope, and what were the chances that we would ever stumble across such an opportunity again…so we decided to stay and wait. As the hour passed more and more people began to gather. Because we were fortunate enough to come when we did, we were in the second or third row of people waiting on the side walk. Then, right on schedule, the Pope arrived. He exited the car and was greeted by government officials. One of the officials gave a very brief address right there on the sidewalk, thankfully in English, and presented the Pope the keys to the city.

Waiting for the Pope...

He's here!

Once the Pope entered the Church, we decided to leave, but getting to Petrin hill seemed too difficult due to the crowds, so we made our way back to Charles Bridge and wandered around Old Town. We visited the Museum of Communism, which was very interesting. It told the story of life under communist rule and the walls were filled with statues, posters, and all other sorts of Communist propaganda. Then there was a room playing continuous video footage of protests, Soviet tanks, and police beating protestors. It was hard to imagine that it only changed 20 years ago.

We walked to the Old Jewish Cemetery but it was closed by the time was arrived. So we walked back toward Old town and watched the astronomical clock at 5 o’clock and little windows opened up to reveal wooden figures. Then we walked through St. Wenceslas Sq. and by the national museum and then back to the hotel. Our hostel had a kitchen so for dinner we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some chicken and rice.

St. Wenscelas Square

Sunday we woke up early to catch a bus to Terezin, a former concentration camp during WWII. I read about Terezin before we left and had the impression that it was a fort built in the 18^th century taken over by the Nazis during WWII. But Terezin was actually an entire town, not just a fort. During WWII, the residents of the town were evicted and the town and the fort became a concentration camp. Many from Terezin were later taken to Auschwitz where they died. So we spent the whole morning walking through the museum, the town, the barracks, the crematorium, and the fort. People still live in the town of Terezin, but it still feels eerily deserted. We saw a number of buildings that looks abandoned or in serious need of some repairs.

That afternoon when we arrived back in Prague, we climbed up to Prague Castle and toured the grounds and the Cathedral, the actually palace was still closed, though I am not sure why. On our way down from the castle we walked through some sort of wine festival. We stopped to watch some street performers dressed in medieval clothes playing music, dancing, and even sword fighting.

Sword fighting is fun to watch

Then we walked back to the Jewish Cemetery and toured the Ceremonial Hall, two synagogues and the cemetery, which contains over 12,000 head stones and the remains of around 40,000 people. Many of the Jews from this historic neighborhood were taken to Terezin during WWII. We then walked back through Old Town square and again cooked dinner at the Hostel.

The Old Jewish Cemetery

Monday we woke up even early and took the train to Kutna Hora to see the Bone Church. We arrived around 9am beating the crowds. After walking through the bone church we walked around a bit, stopping in to see another cathedral and then took the train back to Prague.

Chandelier made out of human bones

We stopped at a café for lunch and then climbed to the top of Petrin Hill. When I go hiking in the US or to a park, most of the time the path will wind back and forth so that the incline is not as steep. However, in Prague and even in Austria, I have noticed that many of the paths go straight up the hill and are very steep to climb. At the top we had some amazing views of the city.

Also at the top was a mirror maze, and mini replica of the Eiffel tower, gardens, and restaurants. Climbing Petrin Hill wore us out so we walked back to the Hostel to rest for the evening. That night we went out to enjoy the views of the city at night. It seemed like we wandered around the entire city. We stopped at a café for some late night desserts, like ice cream with warm raspberries (yum!).