Day 2: Prague

Oh dear!   It seems that I have some more investigation to do before the photos will be on the blog.  I am posting day 2 and 3 in retrospect and I have them both ready, so will post them without pics and then update them with the pictures later.

Miriam

Day 2: Sunday December 12^th

Happy birthday Ruth and Nic.

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we joined the 2 bus loads of people on the tour for a moring tour of Prague.  Our guides are both English-speaking and are very personable as well as having a phenominal knowledge of their city.

Th e bus trip ended at Prague Castle, on top of one of the seven hills which surround the city.  We walked around the grounds of the castle, which is still used as the Prague residence of the President.

The day was freezing, with snow expected but it didn’t snow.  Roger had come out without boots and so he opted to join those returning to the hotel by bus, but Mim joined a group which walked back to the town centre, down the charming cobbled streets.  It was a wonderful experience, full of interesting sights and bits of history that our guide told us.

    

    Back at the hotel, we decided to have a short rest and then about 2.30pm to head out to one of the many classical concerts that Mim had gathered brochures for on her walk.   Well we woke up at 8.30, obviously having missed all the concerts!

Tempted to just keep sleeping, we decided instead to rug up and go for a walk and find something to eat for tea.  We walked for about an hour, finding the regular shopping area which proved to be very expansive.  We ventured into a pizza shop and had a wonderful surprise with Czech pizza being quite different from what we are used to but absolutely delicious!!!

So now we are packing ready to move on in the morning to Passau.  We are meant to board the ship at Nuremburg but apparently it can’t get that far up the river as the water is too high.  We are still not sure whether we will be going to Nuremburg at all,, but we will just see what tomorrow brings.

Reflection on Prague:

I am aware that what I have written about Prague so far may give the impression that it is less wonderful than we actually found.  The problem is that it is a city so very different from anything else we have ever experienced, and so very beautiful that it is impossible to adequately describe it. I thought then, that I would use free verse poetry to capture not only elements of the beauty of the city but also key things that we have learned about Communist occupation from our guide Simona, who lived under Communist rule as a child and who described in detail the Velvet Revolution and the difference it has made to their lifestyle.

                                Mim

Gentle lady, Prague,

seven hills are your sentinels,

silently protecting your grace,

 the beauty of your fanciful facades.

City of inspiration –

 composers, writers, poets and architects

City of history,

of wicked kings and kind,

of saints and the noble Wenceslas.

Your beauty was your salvation in the horror days:

the evil dictator, also enchanted by your charm,

planned for you to be his own.

Then the dark days of Socialism, Communism:

you are forced to accept it is a better way-

wealth divided, identity lost, choice denied,

the brains of your young washed,

unaware of another existence for those who are free.

Your students awakened your people,

unlocked the chains:

not with hatred and brutality

but with the gentle voice of reason –

the Velvet Revolution.

Your people are free now again,

And now those who could never share your sadness

Come to share your beauty.

M H-P  12/12/2010