Because some leaves don’t grow on trees
INSTALLMENT 3: PRAGUE
As soon as I hit the streets of Prague
I was immediately soaked to the skin during a walk (in the rain) when
I went to explore the town. I then got soaked to the skin a second
time during my evening run where I was continuously slipping on the
wet paving stones that I swear were made of wax or something! The
town is beautiful with a mix of gothic, baroque and communist
architecture, Jewish culture, medieval history and lovely river
walks. I particularly like the random pianos placed around the
streets by one of the University departments that anyone can
play....So I gave one a go when I though no-one was looking and ended
up surrounded by a crowd- very embarrassing- won't be doing that
again! (Although I did get a round of applause).
I walked to the Old Town Square in the
morning and watched the astronomical clock which is supposedly a big
tourist attraction. As it strikes the hour two little doors open and
two sets of 6 apostles circle round so they can be seen through the
opening of the two doors....Cute, but not spectacular. I then did a
free walking tour of the city where I learnt the history of the
clock: :
It was built in medieval times and
accurately tells the time, the position of the sun and moon (which is
pretty amazing in itself). The idea is that 12 apostles come out to
bless the city and the people below. There are four figures below the
clock face which depict the four things that the Czech people were
scared of in Medieval times:
- Vanity
- Greed
- Death
- Foreign Religions
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| Prague Astronomical Clock: The clock of death and greed |
This was the first clock of its time
and was thus a really big tourist attraction in the Medieval
times. So much so that the Medieval dignitaries of Prague were so desperate to make sure that it was the
only one of its kind that they blinded the clock designer! The poor
man spent the rest of his life unable to see so that when he began to
die of old age he went back to visit the clock with the pretence of
“going to say goodbye to his clock”. He climbed to the top with
the help of a steward and (when no-one was looking) he threw himself
into the clock mechanism. This stopped the clock from working for ten
years and was his way of getting revenge on the people who blinded
him.
I now can't walk past the clock. It's
beautiful, but hides a truly horrible story of greed and death which
I find ironic considering they are two of the statues staring from
the clock tower and judging the town below.
In the evening I saw a live music
concert in St. Michaels Monastery just off the Old Town which was
really lovely. I always forget how enjoyable it is to see a great
saxophonist. The soprano was a little disappointing because it
usually took until midway through her songs until I could work out if
she was singing in English or Czech, her
annunciation was so bad! But, she did have a beautiful voice and it
was a great show overall.
I spent the next day in Kutna Hora
which is an hour to the East of Prague by train and seems to have
been untouched by time since the Medieval period. I first visited the
Cathedral of Assumption of Our Lady where I climbed the steps into
the Nave and entered through a small door into the attic area. Wooden
planking had been laid down to allow you to walk over the top of the
domed ceilings (that house the domed art work in the main cathedral
hall below). It was quite dark up there with only the light from the
end window to show the way. I was suddenly over-come by an eerie
presence in the space with me that made the hair on the back of my
neck stand on end. I forced myself to ignore it and walked slowly and
took a picture until I just had to get out. When I got to the other
end I was disturbed to find that I had to turn around and walk back
through the attic space and I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I
walked pretty quickly straight out and down the stairs!
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| Proof that I stayed long enough to take a picture in the Nave of the Cathedral |
After this I was even more apprehensive
about visiting the “Bone Chapel” which is the main tourist
attraction in Kutna Hora, but seeing as I had already paid for a
ticket I thought that it would be silly to miss it so I forced myself
to walk through the cemetery into the Chapel. Now people who know me
know that although I have a tendency towards superstition (I'm a
sailor, what do you expect) but I'm still pretty hard to shake.
However, as soon as I entered the Chapel and was surrounded by human
skulls and bones I felt distinctly uneasy and actually found myself
breathing quicker than usual. Is that really pathetic? I made myself
stare at the Ossuary in the middle of the Chapel and take some
pictures and to remind myself that the people were already dead
before they decided to build the chapel....But it's still a bit
difficult to take in. Too close to a mass grave for my liking.
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| Bone Chapel in Kutna Hora |
I walked down to the Medieval town and
enjoyed the rest of the day wandering the cobbled streets, sampling
the cafes and visiting the Plague Column, Italian Court, Jesuit
College (that is now a contemporary art gallery) and the Church of
St. Barbara that both sit on the top of the town with a beautiful
view over the valley. I'm still blown away by all the history in this
little, landlocked country. Visiting the Jesuit College art gallery
exacerbated my unease when I came across the painting below that (in
mind mind) depicts a man being killed by the mechanisms of a clock!
(see picture below)
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| The Jesuits are playing with my mind...Not sure I would pass a Rorschach Inkblot test right now |
The next day I did a lot of walking,
visiting the City of Prague Museum, the Military History Museum,
Vitkov hill (with the city monument and the grave of the unknown
soldier) and then crossing the river to walk through the large park
“Letenske sady”. I walked passed the Prague metronome which is
possible the most random thing ever and I didn't even bother taking a
picture. Mind you, it was surrounded by weed smoking teenagers on
skate boards and was completely outdone by the beautiful view across
the river of Prague at night.
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| Prague at night |
I was amazed to learn about the history
of the Sokol which began as a gymnastic society in the Czech Republic
but became so much more as members became caught up in the Politics
of country boarders and the operations of war. If you have never
heard of it- look it up! If nothing else, just watching the gymnastic
displays is awe inspiring....It really helped my hill training that
day and I will be thinking of the Sokol members as I run through the
desert during the Marathon des Sables in April!
That evening I was truly blessed to be
able to meet up with an old University friend. Four years vanished in
the time it took us to walk out of our meeting place in the metro
station and it was great to see a friendly face again.
My last morning in Prague was mostly
spent watching the world go by sitting in a cafe in the Old Town
Square. I then went to a Czech Church service and did a fast walk up
the old steps of the castle. I had a good explore around the Castle
and Palace grounds and gardens before heading back across the river.
It was a beautiful view from the top and great to see the Czech
Guards standing at the gates.
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| Guarding the Prague Castle |
I finished the day in the gym where I
was reminded how terribly British I am as I slid into the sauna with
my towel wrapped tightly around me and my eyes glued to the floor as
all the Czech women threw their towels off outside the showers and
walked the 5m to the sauna butt naked....Surely I'm not the only
person who finds this awkward, especially when the capacity of the
sauna is reached and you start touching naked thigh to naked thigh
with strangers.(Note: You will be pleased to hear that there is not a
picture of this!)
Anyway, I survived the sauna and am now
getting ready for my next adventure: The night train across the
border to Krakow. Bring on the Polish stage of my leave! (...Someone
ought to warn to Polish people)
