In Pursuit of Chopin: Staré Město, Prague's Old Town

For a tour of the Old Town in Prague, we split into two smaller groups, each group going with a local guide. I was in the group led by Jana, whom we first met yesterday. Just outside the hotel, she talked to us a bit about what it was like to live here under Communism, escaping to the West, and coming back after the Communists were ousted.

I noticed this decoration on the roof of a house on Wenceslas Square. I'm sure the picture of the bee hive, sun, moon, and lots of other things is very symbolic, but of what I can't say.

Don, our indefatigable videographer, at work.

The side facade of the theater where several of Mozart's operas were first performed. We'll see Così fan tutte here tonight. The plaque is attached to the wall, and gives the premier dates for some of the operas, notably Don Giovanni.

Speaking of which, an interesting modern statue of Il Commendatore is just outside the hall. He's an empty shell (only the cloak is there), which I suppose is appropriate.

The building on the left is, in part, the oldest building that's part of Prague University. It's said to be the oldest university building in Europe that's been in continuous use as part of a school. It's been added to over the years, and so multiple styles can be seen.

The university building faces a pretty square. Prague has many such squares; this is a bit larger than most.

As we continued on, we came to the Powder Gate (it stored gunpowder at some point in the past, apparently). The Old Town used to have city walls and several gates; this is the only remaining gate, and the wall is now gone. The gates were not only for protection, but served as control points through which all traffic (people on foot, carts with goods) had to pass, which made collecting taxes on travelers and goods easier.

I noticed this car as we walked down the street. There seem to be a lot of English words incorporated into business names, business slogans, product names, and the like. This is understandable for businesses and products aimed at tourists, but no tourist could possibly need a moving company. Apparently, the Czechs are enthralled by all things Western, and including English (or, less often, French) words into a business name makes it seem more modern and up-to-date.

We went through the Powder Gate and found the municipal hall containing the Smetena Concert Hall. We will attend a concert there Saturday night.

We passed this Citroën 2CV on the street. Jana told us that it was the same type of car that she and her husband escaped to the West in in the early 1980s. They had "jumped ship" from a vacation to Yugoslavia and had tried to cross into Austria at several points but were turned back at each. Finally, they convinced some Austrian students to take them across in the trunk of a 2CV. We tried to imagine what it must have been like.

From the sublime to the tacky. These buildings are very close to one another. The Hotel Paris is famous for its art nouveau decorations. The souvenir stand is indistinguishable from hundreds like it.

Another example of English in a business name. This one is entirely English.

The chair is a work of art, not a real chair. It would suit a person about 8 1/2 feet tall. Another small Prague square, with no traffic and several restaurants. We stopped for hot chocolate in one of them.

Prague street scenes; lots of beautifully preserved old buildings.

There are several synagogues clustered near one another in the Jewish quarter of the Old Town. This one is called the Spanish Synagogue because of its architecture.

Next to the Spanish Synagogue is this statue that is a memorial to Franz Kafka. Suitably enigmatic.

This is the entrance line to see one of the synagogues and to see the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was not permitted to expand over the years, although there were more and more people to be buried there. The result is that the cemetery, which is only part of a block, has thousands of graves. Grave stones are piled almost on top of each other.

One of the synagogues has a memorial to all of Prague's Jews who were lost in the Holocaust. Their names are listed on the walls, in the fashion of the Vietnam War memorial in Washington. There are more than 85,000 names.

The Nazis, who forced the Jews to wear yellow Stars of David on their clothing, were not the first to require that Jews wear something to single them out. In medieval times, the Jews had to wear yellow conical hats. This synagogue recalls that in the symbol above its entrance: there's a representation of the hat within the Star of David on top. In addition, the shape of the roof over the entrance echos the shape of the hat.

A modern statue of Moses. The Russians removed the statue and melted it down. After Communism ended, the sculptor had died but his wife still had either the original molds for the statue or a model that could be copied. A new statue, just like the old one, was cast. The clock has Roman numerals on one face, Hebrew numerals on the other. The hands on the lower clock run in reverse, as Hebrew is written.

The bulding with the darker gray facade and red tile roofs is the High Synagogue. It's not "high" in any religious sense, it's just on the second floor (called first floor here) rather than at street level.

Leaving the Jewish quarter, we passed a wedding party at this church door.

A poster for a Franz Kafka exposition, and the extremely unprepossessing building that was Kafka's house. The street is now named for him.

During the demonstrations that eventually led to the fall of the Communists, the Czech people would jangle their keys (thousands of people at once) to make a distinctive sound. This sculpture, which says "revolution", commemorates that: it's made out of keys.

At the end of our walk through the Old Town, we emerged in Old Town Square with its two distinctive churches.

A statue of Jan Hus, a church reformer a bit ahead of his time (a century before Martin Luther) dominates one side of the square. Hus was eventually burned at the stake.

The famous Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square. Huge crowds gather here each day at noon to see the clock's indicators change. Looking just left of the clock, a scene typical for Prague: centuries-old buildings on a narrow, winding street.