Prague- Day 1

Onto Prague, my ancestral homeland.

The Wolf Pack woke up at 4:45 am to get ready for the train which was leaving Berlin at 6:30. We got out of the hostel by 5:20 and we stumbled over to the train station. Once we got there we got some food at the food court and every popped a Dramamine to insure that we would sleep during the train ride and be refreshed for our first day in Prague. I slept about three hours and eventually ended up moving to a row of seats of my own to stretch out. When Brittany awoke and saw that I wasn’t sitting next to her she was worried I was kidnapped. It’s nice to know she cares.

View from the train

Trains are really the way to travel and the scenery was gorgeous. Unfortunately our train was an hour and a half late so we really had to hustle to drop our stuff off at the hotel and make the 2 pm walking tour. We did meet up with the tour and our guide, James from Belfast, at Old Town Square just in time to hear the history of Prague. The tour was nice because Prague is the most fairytale city I have ever been in. Every street has so much character and all the buildings literally have faces that look back at you.

Here is the clock in Old Town Square that shows not only the time but the date, moon, stars, zodiac sign, and whether it is night or day. The clock also does a little routine on the hour and a man comes out of the top and blows a trumpet. The designer of the clock was blinded after creating it so that he could never share the secrets of the clock to anyone but he cursed it so that it would not operate for one hundred years, and it didn’t.

Around the edges of the clock are all the names that a Czech boy or girl can be given. Each of these names corresponds with a nameday which is when that boy or girl has to buy drinks for all their friends. Needless to say people don’t broadcast their namedays.

On the other side of the square is the Tyn Church which is simply beautiful and a symbol of Prague. It is also pretty when it is lit up at night. And how blue is that sky?

The Estates Theatre was our next stop because this is where Mozart premiered don Gionvanni and performed The Marriage of Figaro. It is the only theatre left standing that Mozart played in.

Wenceslas Square is a nice and busy part of town and right by our hotel. There is a statue of Good King Wenceslas on a horse in the center that is supposed to come to life when the Czech need him. As you might I have guessed I also sang “Good King Wenceslas” about three thousand times during our stay at Prague. It’s a catchy tune.

The Powder Tower where the gun powder was stored.

This church has a severed arm hanging from the wall for an unknown reason. The common story is that there was this one priest who carried an axe under his robe and one day caught a thief in the church and cut off his arm, then to make him a lesson to others he hung it from the wall. And believe it or not, this is the first of two mummified arms I saw in churches while on vacation.

Franz Kafka was from the Jewish Quarter of Prague and this is a statue commemorating him and his odd dream.

The Jewish Quarter of Prague was meant to be a museum about the Jewish people after they were all exterminated so it was kept in good shape by the Nazis. One of the synagogues is now a memorial where the names of all the Czech Jews who were murdered are written on the walls.

The Rudolfinium is the arts center of Prague and has statues of composers on the top. When the Nazis came through they were told to push off Mendelssohn because he was Jewish but they pushed off Wagner, Hitler’s favorite composer, by mistake. I would not want to be them when Adolf found out.

After the tour we got back in Old Town Square just in time to see the Astronomical Clock chime 5 pm and then headed back to the Musketyr Hotel. Stacy really wasn’t feeling well and Jen called her parents who suggested we find Stacy a doctor. Easier said than done because although my trusty guidebook had a doctor listed the cab driver could not find the clinic. Instead Stacy, accompanied by Brittany and Jen, went to the Prague Hospital, which I understand was quite the adventure. Of course, while they were having this new experience Laura, Stevie, and I were shopping and eating cake; there was no point for all six of us to go to the hospital.

Discussing what to do about Stacy

After Stacy got back to the hotel we had to find somewhere to fill her prescription, like a 24 hour pharmacy. I made it my job to find one, and after receiving no help from the front desk I did. For future reference, pharmacy is “lekarna” in Czech. Jen, Brittany, and I headed to fill the prescription at the 24 hour pharmacy while Laura and Stevie got Stacy some good comfort food at KFC (there are about 12 KCFs in metropolitan Prague.) Taking care of Stacy proved to be a bonding experience for the Wolf Pack and now we know we can handle anything.