Praha (and Ústí nad Labem)
After Kraków, we had start in the direction of Randy's next meeting in the Czech Republic. Getting from Kraków to Praha (Prague) was going to be a bit of a wrangle---we had to fly very early back to Frankfurt, and then catch a series of trains and one bus to Prague. Trains directly from Kraków would have taken longer, actually.
We managed, knowing this place was our goal.
More after the jump
We had gone to Prague before as a family, in 2011 on our first crazy European adventure. It's so funny to look at the pictures from then, when Brigid was sometimes in a backpack carrier, and now. Prague is not someplace I tire of, and seeing it through the kids' fresher eyes makes it even better.
One of the things I liked about visiting Prague was best illustrated by a moment like Myles and I had when we ran out of the hotel to get coffee. We just happened to bump into the Prašná brána (Powder Tower).
Later in the morning we started to head toward the Pražský hrad (Prague Castle), crossing the Karlův most (Charles Bridge) to reach it.
Saint Jan Nepomucký has (at least) two monuments on the bridge. The large stone statue in the image above, and a bronze piece on the reputed site of his martyrdom. He's always easy to pick out of statuary with his halo of five stars.
I pointed out to Myles and Brigid that there was something odd about images of a man who was martyred for refusing to break the Confessional Seal now being rubbed for good luck. We watched a few tour guides in different languages pause on the bridge in front of one of the other St. Jan, and the tourists take turns rubbing and photographing the image. On the other hand, it could just be a ploy to keep the oxides off of St. Jan.
At Prague Castle, our first stop was, as before, was St. Vitus Cathedral. On both of my previous visits, it was grey and rainy. This time, though, it was bright and sunny outside, which made inside St. Vitus something to behold.
It was what we saw first when we walked in the door-- the colors on the wall, even before we saw the windows. If ever there were an argument in favor of revisiting even the most familiar sights, this has to be it.
I love how this was a surprise and made us all gasp. Even though we had been here before, it was still incredible.
The restoration work on Saint Václav's tomb that kept it closed to the public in 2011 had been completed. It was one of the things we most wanted the kids to see this time. It did not appear to glow red as Randy and I both remembered it (I think the difference was the sunny day) , but it was still spectacular.
In another building, "The Story of Prague Castle" exhibit was practically unchanged from our last visit. What was different was that Myles was more interested in the artifacts and the curator's accompanying text and now Brigid wanted not just to look at but actually do all the children's activities. Since we started Story of the World with her this school year, she has been very interested in ancient history and archeology. One of her favorite books right now is Archeologists Dig for Clues, and the rest are all mystery stories (like the Boxcar Children series). The children's material in the secret drawers around the exhibit are perfectly matched to kids who like the history detective work of archaeologists. No pictures were allowed, but I really wish I could have one that showed how the presentation of this exhibit worked to help me explain it. For instance, there were clues about an unfinished stone sculpture that had been found, and the kids were to deduce what it was supposed to be. Another was about a glass vessel that had been pieced back together, and determining its use based on the shape. It was a lot of fun (for me) to go through this with Brigid, as I had with Myles three years ago.
Another thing we saw that night that we had not really the opportunity to experience before was the setting sun behind the Prague landmarks. Again, both times I've been there it was grey and rainy.
It's almost as though Prague had been built for sunsets.
Sunday morning we attended Mass at Our Lady before Týn again.
Even though it is popular with tourists, it is, in fact, an active parish. We were reminded of this that morning at Mass, which included an infant baptism. Prague's Catholic Churches are Roman Rite in their liturgy, but some of their practices are much in line with the Church of the East. The baptism, for instance, began with the parents and godparents holding the infant, outside the door. The priest as part of his procession met them there to perform the renunciations of Satan before they all entered the church.
Later Sunday afternoon, we walked around Nové Město (New Town), which was founded in 1348. It was confusing to our cab driver that we were interested in this part of the city, as most tourists focus elsewhere.
"Family history," we told him. In my mother's genealogy research, she has found an ancestor that was involved in the Defenestration of Prague at the New Town Hall. So we took a few pictures to email over to my mom.
In this area, too, is Vaclav Square, so important during the Prague Spring movement. As we were telling the kids about it, I was able to tell them the year, 1968, so clearly because it has been Jaromír Jágr's sweater number for all his career. I wish I could say it was because I remembered the history so well. Later I showed them pictures of the tanks rolling in. It was kind of jarring that tanks at one time occupied this square and now two Starbucks are found in this shopping district.
That evening we took a short train ride to Ústí nad Labem, where we had also been in 2011. Our time there was very short, just long enough for Randy's Monday morning meeting.
We did not return to Strekov Castle because it was closed on Mondays. We did see it from the train coming in, and on the way out.
And Myles and Brigid did want to see the leaning church. Now that we knew the direction of the lean, we could better pick it out, even from up close.
But that was all we had time for because that night we had to travel to Günzburg to visit someplace that we hoped would make it up to Myles and Brigid that both of their birthdays would be party-less and cake-less, and this year we would have no Halloween.
We managed, knowing this place was our goal.
More after the jump
We had gone to Prague before as a family, in 2011 on our first crazy European adventure. It's so funny to look at the pictures from then, when Brigid was sometimes in a backpack carrier, and now. Prague is not someplace I tire of, and seeing it through the kids' fresher eyes makes it even better.
One of the things I liked about visiting Prague was best illustrated by a moment like Myles and I had when we ran out of the hotel to get coffee. We just happened to bump into the Prašná brána (Powder Tower).
Later in the morning we started to head toward the Pražský hrad (Prague Castle), crossing the Karlův most (Charles Bridge) to reach it.
Saint Jan Nepomucký has (at least) two monuments on the bridge. The large stone statue in the image above, and a bronze piece on the reputed site of his martyrdom. He's always easy to pick out of statuary with his halo of five stars.
I pointed out to Myles and Brigid that there was something odd about images of a man who was martyred for refusing to break the Confessional Seal now being rubbed for good luck. We watched a few tour guides in different languages pause on the bridge in front of one of the other St. Jan, and the tourists take turns rubbing and photographing the image. On the other hand, it could just be a ploy to keep the oxides off of St. Jan.
At Prague Castle, our first stop was, as before, was St. Vitus Cathedral. On both of my previous visits, it was grey and rainy. This time, though, it was bright and sunny outside, which made inside St. Vitus something to behold.
It was what we saw first when we walked in the door-- the colors on the wall, even before we saw the windows. If ever there were an argument in favor of revisiting even the most familiar sights, this has to be it.
I love how this was a surprise and made us all gasp. Even though we had been here before, it was still incredible.
The restoration work on Saint Václav's tomb that kept it closed to the public in 2011 had been completed. It was one of the things we most wanted the kids to see this time. It did not appear to glow red as Randy and I both remembered it (I think the difference was the sunny day) , but it was still spectacular.
In another building, "The Story of Prague Castle" exhibit was practically unchanged from our last visit. What was different was that Myles was more interested in the artifacts and the curator's accompanying text and now Brigid wanted not just to look at but actually do all the children's activities. Since we started Story of the World with her this school year, she has been very interested in ancient history and archeology. One of her favorite books right now is Archeologists Dig for Clues, and the rest are all mystery stories (like the Boxcar Children series). The children's material in the secret drawers around the exhibit are perfectly matched to kids who like the history detective work of archaeologists. No pictures were allowed, but I really wish I could have one that showed how the presentation of this exhibit worked to help me explain it. For instance, there were clues about an unfinished stone sculpture that had been found, and the kids were to deduce what it was supposed to be. Another was about a glass vessel that had been pieced back together, and determining its use based on the shape. It was a lot of fun (for me) to go through this with Brigid, as I had with Myles three years ago.
Another thing we saw that night that we had not really the opportunity to experience before was the setting sun behind the Prague landmarks. Again, both times I've been there it was grey and rainy.
It's almost as though Prague had been built for sunsets.
Sunday morning we attended Mass at Our Lady before Týn again.
Even though it is popular with tourists, it is, in fact, an active parish. We were reminded of this that morning at Mass, which included an infant baptism. Prague's Catholic Churches are Roman Rite in their liturgy, but some of their practices are much in line with the Church of the East. The baptism, for instance, began with the parents and godparents holding the infant, outside the door. The priest as part of his procession met them there to perform the renunciations of Satan before they all entered the church.
Later Sunday afternoon, we walked around Nové Město (New Town), which was founded in 1348. It was confusing to our cab driver that we were interested in this part of the city, as most tourists focus elsewhere.
"Family history," we told him. In my mother's genealogy research, she has found an ancestor that was involved in the Defenestration of Prague at the New Town Hall. So we took a few pictures to email over to my mom.
In this area, too, is Vaclav Square, so important during the Prague Spring movement. As we were telling the kids about it, I was able to tell them the year, 1968, so clearly because it has been Jaromír Jágr's sweater number for all his career. I wish I could say it was because I remembered the history so well. Later I showed them pictures of the tanks rolling in. It was kind of jarring that tanks at one time occupied this square and now two Starbucks are found in this shopping district.
That evening we took a short train ride to Ústí nad Labem, where we had also been in 2011. Our time there was very short, just long enough for Randy's Monday morning meeting.
We did not return to Strekov Castle because it was closed on Mondays. We did see it from the train coming in, and on the way out.
And Myles and Brigid did want to see the leaning church. Now that we knew the direction of the lean, we could better pick it out, even from up close.
But that was all we had time for because that night we had to travel to Günzburg to visit someplace that we hoped would make it up to Myles and Brigid that both of their birthdays would be party-less and cake-less, and this year we would have no Halloween.
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