Oh, the buildings! Architecture from old times to the very new are crowded along the banks of the Vlatava river, with a castle above, and a crowded city below. Numerous bridges connect the two, with the Charles Bridge being the most famous. (It is also infamous - we know of several incidents of theft or attempted theft on or around the bridge - including an attempt on Roswitha's pouch on her last visit. Scott strongly considered putting a mouse trap into his pouch.) Sadly, we really only had one day to rush among the sites, and to spend far too little time with Josef Snitily, a distant cousin of our friend Mark.

Wenceslas Square was our first stop, mainly because of the Christmas carol. His statue was there, but it listed his Czech name, so we got no satisfaction. Also there were many tourists, quite a few dressed in camoflage colors. We saw this fashion a few years ago, and it has returned. So strongly, in fact, that we've seen more camo than Burberry tartans. From there, we navigated the one-way streets to find the Gothic Powder Gate and its neighbor, the Obecní Düm, a wonderful Art Nouveau building built in 1912. Roswitha guarded Waldo (the minivan) while Scott ran in to take a look around.

     

       

Connie had suggested that we take in the view of the city from the other side of the river, just below the Technical University. The view was great, and we encountered an unusual sculpture, a huge metronome which oscillated between Yes and No, regarding the choice of the Czech Republic entering the EU.

 

The next stop was a traffic jam. We were not sure where we were going, but we were not getting there anyway. We tried to get out of it, only to find streets which had been laid out by Escher. Eventually, and with much yelling, we parked near the Prague Castle. At its center sits St. Vitus Cathedral, an impressive French gothic structure built between 1344 and 1929.

   

 

     

   

     

 

Golden Lane, within the castle walls, was a tradesmans' quarter, and Franz Kafka also lived there for a while. However, they charge to go in, and there was too much of a crowd. So, instead, we just looked to see if we could find a big cockroach. We attempted to get away from the crowds to eat lunch, and found a typical Czech tourist restaurant, albeit one which was not too crowded.

   

Josef, who we were about to meet, suggested that we visit Josefov (no relation), the old Jewish quarter, part of which had been turned into a museum. Running tight on time, and encountering a slow-moving entrance line, we opted to visit only the Staronová Synagogue (built in 1270 - one of the oldest in Europe). From there, we walked through the Staré Mesto to meet Josef at the foot of the Charles Bridge.

     

 

   

A few years ago, Josef Snitily decided to use his new access to the internet to find and meet all of the Snitilys he could. Several had emigrated from Czechoslovakia, and one of his distant cousins eventually made his way to San Jose, where he made himself known as a chilehead extraordinaire. This is our friend Mark; he suggested that we look up Josef on our visit. Josef turned out to be a real pleasure - sweet, funny, and very knowledgeable in local history. We joined him for a drink, and then he took us for a marvelous and informative stroll along the river.

     

Josef pointed out unique architecture, and locations of key events. Prague has had problems with flooding in the historic downtown, so they built a system of foundations and walls which could be quickly erected; this has already avoided serious flooding. He pointed out where the Polka was first danced. He showed us Frank Ghery's "Ginger and Fred" building, which is right next to Vaclav Havel's apartment.

 

   

     

   

 

After a lovely stroll, Josef led us to a local, non-tourist restaurant which happens to share a wall with a large Prague brewery. Of course, we had to have the proper food, so Scott had a roasted pig's knuckle, and Roswitha had pork neck with bread dumplings. Yum!

   

We'd like to thank Josef for his hospitality, delightful sense of humor, and for sharing so much time with us, along with part of his city.

 

Konopište    

Josef recommended that we head south to see Konopište castle, a hunting lodge built by Austria's Hapsburgs in the 14th century. The last owner was crown prince Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in Sarajevo kicked off World War I. Ferdinand became the crown prince after crown prince Rudolph shot himself.

 

 
   
   

     

 

 

Since we had to wait for the English tour to kick off, we rushed to the cafe and had a second breakfast.

 

 

Ferdinand was an avid hunter, and is said to have killed 300,000 animals (which he counted in his diary). About 7,500 of them are displayed in the castle, mounted, stuffed, or skinned. It is said that on a visit to Yellowstone in the USA, Ferdinand even killed two squirrels by throwing rocks at them (after they took away all his other weapons). We were not allowed to shoot pictures inside, so these were done on the sly. The tour guide had no clue (yeah, right...).

     

 

   

Befitting a hunting castle, there was a bear enclosure (but no bears visible), a display of (damaged) hunting birds - Pose with one!, and a watchdog.

     

     

 

Time to hit the road, Northward to Berlin. After crossing from Czechia into Germany, we stopped at a roadside station to have first dinner, Scott's first asparagus of the season (tender white asparagus is a special event in late Spring throughout Europe), along with a breaded schnitzel, goulash, and a jelly doughnut (known as a Berliner). The second dinner was later, in Berlin, where Scott had his second asparagus of the season.

 

   

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