Before coming to Europe I knew next to nothing about Prague and the Czech Republic in general. After some friends went and had great things to say, I put it on my list of places I had to see. After a late Friday night flight, my group arrived and tried to find a live jazz club but failed and settled for a cool bar where we drank Czech beer until very late. After an early wakeup we went on a free walking tour of the city. Lead by our Welsh tour guide Huw, the tour was very informative and gave us a broad overview of Czech history.
The Czech Republic has undergone many changes throughout it’s history and wasn’t what it is today until the early 1990s, after the fall of Communism. Because of all the changes, Prague contains many different styles of buildings, creating a unique and beautiful city. After the walking tour we took a castle tour, which surveyed the grounds surrounding Prague Castle. The grounds contain everything from government buildings to villages to the Castle itself.
After a lackluster bar crawl throughout the city we called it an early night. During our last day we were eager to see as much as possible. A quick walk over the Charles Bridge took us to the John Lennon wall. Since his death in 1980, people have been writing and drawing Beatles and Lennon related things on the wall. It is much smaller in person than it seems in pictures. Given all the wonderful things we saw in Prague, I’m surprised that the wall, something completely unrelated to the city itself, turned out to be my favorite site. Although not all the messages were positive, many of them spoke of peace and happiness, something almost everyone can agree upon.
The afternoon took us to a Salvador Dali exhibit and a Jewish Ticket Tour. The city of Prague once contained a small Jewish neighborhood that was eventually walled off and seperated from the rest of the city. The Jews here were mistreated and in many cases deported. Because the Jewish area was so small, the cemetery quickly filled up from wall to wall. To accomodate for the new deceased, they started burying their dead on top of one another, creating layers of graves. Walking through the cemetery and surrounding monuments reminded me yet again of the gross acts of the first half of the 20th century and WWII towards Jews. Although it is hard to stomach at times, I hope to one day take a World War II tour throughout Europe and see what’s left of the concentration camps.
This trip to Prague was completely new to me. It showed me just how much Europe has to offer. One week prior I had barely heard of the city. After just a short weekend I know a bit about Middle-European history and have found yet another city I love.