Because I'm determined not to need a vacation from my vacation, I made sure I had enough time in Prague to really take things slow, to focus on really wandering around, and take my time seeing the big stuff. Plus, it's really cold here, and Mike has to limit his outdoor exposure! That said, this morning was luxuriously lazy. I worked on my blogs and got caught up a bit, then wandered around the hotel for a while before heading over to Wenceslas Square in the New Town for a walking tour.
Wenceslas Square has been witness to some of the most major events in modern Czech history. The creation of the Czechoslovak state was celebrated here in 1981, in 1989, more than 300,000 Czechs and Slovaks gathered here to claim their freedom from the Soviets.
This is the National Museum, which is currently closed for renovation. But one of the most important historical features of this building is on the columns decorating the front. Can you see the light colored patches? Those are where Soviet bullets hit during the crackdown against the 1968 Prague spring uprising. But instead of hiding the bullet holes, like the communists wanted, the masons doing the repairs mismatched it on purpose to leave a reminder.
The statue of "good king" Wenceslas (the song in perpetually stuck in my mind now), the 10th century Duke of Bohemia, who was an unusually educated, benevolent ruler who was later canonized.
A memorial to victims of communism. Jan Palach set himself on fire on the steps of the National Museum in an act of self-immolation, and died a few days later. On the 20th anniversary of his death, huge demonstrations took place in this square, and 10 months later, the Czech communist government was overthrown.
I'm not entirely sure what this was, some kind of noodle, bacon sauerkraut smorgasbord of ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS.
A controversial statue called "Wenceslas Riding and Upside-Down Horse" by David Černy.
An old Tesla Radio glass window.
A Franciscan garden.
The Dancing House, aka "Fred and Ginger." Designed by Frank Gehry!
Juan Diego Flórez!
The glassy building to the right of the National Theatre is the Nová Scéna, or the New National Theatre. It's old and new side by side!
More wanderings tomorrow. For tonight, I bid you all adieu!
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