I thought that it's about time I told you all a bit about my trip to Central Europe. Today I will focus on Prague, which is the first city that we visited on our 10-day driving tour. For those who don't know, I met my friend Patrick in London (he is on sabbatical from his law firm and he and his wife are staying in Bristol, England for two months. His wife is a visiting professor and is, therefore, working. Patrick is goofing off and traveling around Europe with people like me. Anyway, back to Prague. Prague has always been a favorite city of mine despite never having visited until this year. The history and power of the city has always intrigued me and I was thrilled to start my journey there to see for myself the place where the Prague Spring was born, lived for a glorious time and then was snuffed out by brutal aggression. So, to wit, below is Wenceslas Square, the site where, in January of 1969 (I don't remember the date), Jan Palach, lit himself on fire to protest renewed suppressions of free speech. This heroic act came at the end of a period of tremendous hope that began in early 1968 when the Soviets backed off of threats to oust reformer Dubcek only to relent later in the year with a crushing military invasion that squelched any hope of freedom for the next 21 years; until the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
The photo below is from a courtyard outside Hradcany Castle on the hill overlooking the Vltava River, which runs through Prague (now the capital of the Czech Republic).
Hradcany Castle, undergoing repairs, as were most of the castle and palaces that we saw throughout Central Europe, oddly.
This is the famous Charles Bridge over the Vltava River. The Charles Bridge was constructed between 1357 and the early 1400s. For more than 400 years it was the only bridge connecting the two sides of the river, and served to establish a link on a very important trade route between Eastern Europe and Western Europe. The bridge is decorated by some 30 or so statues that date from the mid 1800s and depict various saints and folks of that nature. You can't tell form this photo, but the Charles is nearly always overwhelmed by tourists (mostly German, of course) cruising across the river. It turns what could be a beautiful and scenic walk into a stressful and annoying fight for personal space and room to breathe.
Well, that's all for now. Next week, if I stay on topic, I'll post some pictures of Krakow, my favorite city in Central Europe. Thanks for reading.
3 comments:
If you click on the Charles Bridge picture to make it bigger you can see hordes of people on it. Nice picture - I really like that bridge. Interesting post - I know little about the history of that area - now I know something! Are there really other people like you & is Patrick now traveling with them?
I have been told my entire life that there is nobody like me. Usually the person saying it, however, was throwing something at me.
I loved the pictures and the history lesson.
I didn't comment on your Auschwitz post, but had wanted to. I've always been very interested in World War 2, the death/work camps and the Holocaust in general. I still remember reports I wrote in school. It was always a favorite theme for me. If you have picture of the camp I would love to see those also.
I know the only way I'll see anything in Europe or anywhere else of distance from me will be through picture (at least in this life)
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