Westminster Trip Day 3

June 15, 2008 – 18:38 Local Time

We made it safely, and in time for dinner, no less! The rest of the journey was wholly uneventful, and everyone finally made it to Prague. Dinner was at the hotel – soup, Wiener schnitzel, potatoes, bread, and a gin & tonic just for me. After dinner some of the interns (mid-20s folk) went out dancing, but Nathan and I were both so exhausted that we just went back to the room and collapsed, haha. After writing a few emails, setting up this blog, and showering (FINALLY), we basically passed out. Our room is really nice – quite large (25x13, maybe), with 3 (!) twin beds, a nice desk, a TV, a sofa, a coffee table, a mini-fridge, a bureau, and a quite comfortable bathroom. The entirety of one of the long walls is floor-to-ceiling window panes. Technically, there’s a balcony, but the door to it is welded shut, so no such luck there. However, the 2nd through 5th floors of the building are apartments, and there’s a very funny elderly lady across the courtyard from us who likes to come to her balcony in her robe and shoo away something with a rag!



We woke up at about 7:30am to get ready for breakfast. The food started at 8:00, but we didn’t have to be on the bus until 9:15, so we weren’t in a big hurry. Breakfast was INCREDIBLE! We had meats, breads, mixed fruits, crêpes, eggs, Vienna sausage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and a wonderful oat/grain cereal with bits of chocolate in it! After breakfast, and a quick jaunt upstairs to brush our teeth, we were off to sing the church service.

This morning was our first real encounter with Joop, our guide/driver, and Johannes, the Prague guide. Joop seems quite friendly, and I look forward to being with him for the week. Johannes, however, was quite dry, and I can’t say that I'll be sorry to see him go, haha. We drove across town listening to Johannes tell us how many meters long the tunnels were that we passed through and in what year each road sign was installed (*snore*). Finally, we stopped and were told that we had about a 500m walk to the church – not so bad, eh? Yeah, right! 500m was the biggest understatement of the decade! We walked at least that far before arriving at the Senate House and Garden, which we toured and photographed. There was a wall of artificial dripstone rock there that was apparently considered a spooky place during Baroque Prague. Personally, I thought it looked like the yucky part of the inside of a cave, haha!



After much more walking and maneuvering, we made it to the Kostel Sv. Tomáše (St. Thomas Church), one of 170 churches just here in Prague alone! The Catholic service made me feel pretty close home, having missed St. George’s this week! This was, fortunately, an English-language Mass, and we were the choir of the day, singing the Introit, the “Gloria,” the Offertory, Communion, and the closing Processional. The priest and congregation seemed more than appreciative of our efforts, and it was a real treat to sing in that lovely space.



Next was lunch! (Does it feel to anyone else like we eat a lot?) Nathan and I found this wonderful little (and I do mean VERY little) authentic Czech restaurant about 2 blocks from the Charles Bridge. On the way in, we spotted John and Carrie Allyn, and they joined us. The food there was excellent (Executioner’s Goulash and potato pancakes were my choices), and we all had a Czech Budweiser, or Budějovický. After the meal and some wonderful conversation, the Allyn’s were kind enough to buy our lunch. It was unnecessary, but a wonderful surprise!



The afternoon was comprised of a hefty walking tour of the Royal Garden, Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Basilica of St. George, and an absolutely stunning photo opportunity at the top of the city. The Royal Garden is the official garden of the Czech President’s home. It was originally the garden of the royalty (hence the name), and has only been open to the public since somewhere around the 1980s. At the far end of the garden is the Royal Summer House, built for Queen Anna in the mid-16th century. Also here are the national birds-of-prey – eagles and falcons which are trained and controlled by the government. They are out in the open, but appeared to be tethered to posts, though very discreetly.



From the garden we passed into the area of Prague Castle just in time for the changing of this guard. This was rather anti-climactic, but still exciting to see and photograph.



Next, we took a tour of St. Vitus Cathedral which is now near the top of my list of the most stunning places I have ever seen. Sure, there is obvious construction/repair work going on both outside and in, but it remains a truly remarkable example of gothic architecture and liturgical opulence, haha. The church’s construction was actually begun in the 14th century on the site of an existing Romanesque rotunda by Charles IV but wasn’t finished until 1929! The space inside is 124m long and 33m high and contains the largest [stained-glass] window in Prague. One interesting point of note is that the Crown Jewels of the Czech Republic are hidden here in this church behind a door with seven locks. Each key is in the possession of a different person, each in a particular government office, and all seven must be present to open the door.







Outside the church we passed a large monolith (vaguely resembling the Washington Monument) and a statue/fountain of St. George slaying the dragon which was said to have run with wine for many years. At the far end of the plaza we entered and toured the Basilica of St. George. This contains two crypts of famous Czech saints, though I cannot remember who because I didn’t recognize them and photographs weren’t allowed. Next we went briefly into the gathering hall and All Saints Chapel of Prague Castle. These were lovely spaces, but our guide was rather in a hurry. From there it was down the “Golden Lane,” on which used to live many apothecaries who attempted to convert common metals into gold, as well as find the Elixir of Life. Neither worked, of course, but they make for good legend and catchy street names! At one point Franz Kafka lived in No. 22 of the Golden Lane. His home is now a cute little bookstore with many of his works in the window and a commemorative plaque on the wall outside – how quaint. It is interesting to realize that the Golden Lane was a street of houses built into a 3-meter-thick wall around Prague Castle. Sort of gives you an idea what the royalty thought of apothecaries, eh? After a WC/Toilet break, we continued out behind the castle onto the city overlook. WOW!!! Nowhere in the U.S. does a view that breathtaking exist, I assure you!! In one single glimpse, you can see old and new Prague sitting side-by-side. The Moldau is running through the heart of the city (I can hear Mikhail Glinka’s flutes even as I'm typing this), and the hills rise up on all sides. I’ve heard of the beauty of this city, but getting to experience in person it was a true blessing. By the way, I found it interesting that we could see the summer home of the American Embassy from up there, haha.







After all this walking (about 4.5 hours) we were all ready for something to drink and to take a nap. We had about 45 minutes before the buses would be there to pick us up, so we stopped in a pub of sorts and had our respective choice of beverage (red wine for me, thank you). Then there was a short walk to the bus, and about a 20 minute ride back to the hotel. That brings us up to now. I’m not sure if we’ll feel up to going back out later, but a nap is definitely in store for the immediate future! Thanks to everyone for reading this – it helps motivate me to know that people care enough to do that! Tomorrow we're off to Terezín for the Nazi prison camp tour, and then on to Dresden for our stay there. I love you all, and miss you dearly! I wouldn’t pass up this trip for the world, but I’ll be glad to see you all again!!! ~AJR