Many a Wenceslas ...
… two in particular seem omnipresent in this city… Good King Wenceslas of the Christmas carol – actually Duke, not King, of Bohemia in the 10th century -(notwithstanding his goodness he was assassinated by his somewhat less pious brother Boleslav, but scored the last laugh when he was made the patron saint of Bohemia)…
St Wenceslas gets on his high horse in Wenceslas Square
The name in Czech is actually Vaclav, still a common first name for males, as in Vaclav Havel (below), playwright and activist in the Prague Spring of 1968 and two decades later the ‘Velvet Revolution’ which led him to become president of then-Czechoslavakia. (Shouldn’t there be a law that political leaders must be artists, musicians or writers by profession?)
... and Charles IV (also born Vaclav!), Czech-born Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, who made Prague the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, and who was responsible for so much of the city we saw last week – Charles bridge, Charles University (the oldest in central Europe), Prague castle and St Vitus cathedral.
Music …
Prague and music are virtually synonymous – this is the country of Dvorak, and Smetana, (Mahler was born here too) and the city loved by Mozart, who famously proclaimed when he felt scorned by Vienna, “Meine Prager verstehen mich”, feeling this so strongly that he conducted the world premiere himself of Don Giovanni in 1787 in the Estates Theatre below ...
It seemed that on every street corner and outside every church (there are tons!) there were announcements or people handing out flyers for live concerts …
(crystal chandeliered entrance to church in readiness for a concert)
… not to mention folk music everywhere in the streets
(musicians in Old Town Square)
(and on Charles Bridge)
and the touching (on this anniversary of his death) Lennon Wall, a 30 year old tribute from Czech Beatles lovers ...
Angels and Saints …
These are everywhere you look in Prague, and perhaps they've been much needed in the course of this country’s turbulent history
St John of Nepomuk, one of 30 statues lining the Charles Bridge, was a priest thrown into the river here on the orders of the King (yet another Wenceslas) in 1393 for refusing to reveal the secrets of the Queen's confessions to him.
Rub the brass plaque at the base of his statue - the one that depicts him being tossed into the river - while making a wish, and it will come true ... but whatever you do, don't touch the plaque next to it, of the queen's shiny dog, because that will guarantee you bad luck!
A heritage of writers ...
Besides Havel and Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting) who the Czechs have an ambivalent relationship with since his defection to France, Prague’s famous son is Kafka, who was born in Old Town Square and lived in this tiny house in the diminutive Golden Lane underneath the castle. Read about his relationship with Prague here.
All About Food ...
It seemed that literally every second doorway in Prague led one to food. You are spoiled for choice with stylish restaurants ...
The lovely Cukrkavalimonada (I challenge you to get your tongue around that one - it means sugar, coffee, lemonade) where we met friends for lunch and loved it so much we went back for breakfast the next morning. Thank you Corey of Tongue in Cheek for this recommendation!
... cosy cafes ...
... and an incredible profusion of street food - traditional Czech fare, that thankfully the arrival of disgusting MacDonalds and KFC has not succeeded in ousting ...
grilled traditional sausages in Old Town Square - these were so good
the biggest frying pan I've ever seen, with potato dumplings in the making
TrdelnÃk is a traditional Slovakian sweet pastry, made from rolled dough which is wrapped around the long poles you see here, then grilled over hot coals and topped with a mix of cinnamon, ground walnuts and sugar. They are light as a feather and absolutely delicious - a little bit reminiscent of the 'farturas' I loved in Portugal as a child (though those are fried), which is perhaps why I scoffed quite so many of these.
Bad for the neck ...
Maybe Bohemian crystal is your thing, or Czech garnet jewellery, or antiques, but whatever's in your suitcase, one thing you will definitely bring back from Prague is a crick in your neck ...
And a final image ...
Bella & the Bezzies: with school mates at Lennon Wall
Bella & the Bezzies: with school mates at Lennon Wall