New day, new explorations. Breakfast, just as good – Ed has the eggs. I stick with a few grapes and some cheese. I’m sort of fooded out by now. We dawdle around, writing the blog, getting organized (it is Saturday after all, and we don’t want to rush). We end up out the door a little after 9 – yeah, I know, that’s way late for us!
But, that works out well. We are heading to the New Town to wander through the central shopping and business district. Subway gets us there without a problem. First stop, the National Museum at the top of the Wenceslas Square. It is under construction (apparently for quite some time now) but it is still a very formidable and impressive structure.
Statues and figurines everywhere, you can see they have a lot of work on their hands before it is completed. One thing they probably won’t correct are the bullet holes in the columns from the Soviet crackdown in 1968. Sobering reminder of what was…and quite frankly what could be.
Moving on down the pedestrian area, there is the statue of the “good king” Wenceslas – riding his horse. This is a meeting place for locals, where they say, “let’s meet under the tail.”
Also sobering – more so than the bullet holes – is the memorial in the small garden for Jan Palach and Jan Zajic. Both students who decided self-immolation would help spread the “fires” of independence in 1969. These mere children set themselves on fire for something they so strongly believed. Talk about sobering. Sadly, their martyrdom didn’t bring about action until 20 years later.
Further on down the pedestrian way, more pleasant edifices are found. The Hotel Europa, where many dissidents stood for solidarity (now closed for renovation, not even their plush café open to explore), the Lucerna Gallery, a fine example of Art Deco that took over the city of Prague in the 30’s, including the statue of Wenceslaus riding the upside down horse (by David Cerny who was always trying to be a controversial in an effort to open dialogue).
At the end of the pedestrian area on Wenceslas Square/Mall, there is a little market, ostensibly for the weekend tourists. It’s cute and fun, all set up like little cabins, but with crafts (neat earrings – but I’ve got far too many, cool metal works from the blacksmith who has wood burning to heat his implements – as well as fall artwork encompassing fall vegetables as its medium).
And food – oh the food!! The obligatory pork…hams roasting over the open fire….and Trdelnik – mixed, rolled, roasted and served right in front of you. Oh… the joy!
Yum! We tear ourselves away from the food (it is way too early to eat, plus we have packed our picnic from last night for lunch), and head over the Communist Museum….located of all places…in the casino! Stalin would be rolling over in his grave (as many others have opined!).
The museum is actually very interesting. A complete and total overview of the Czech Republic in the early days, through WWII and then into the communist occupation/regime/whatever. Lots of reading, a few good displays, but more tons of historical reading than anything else. A very good history lesson, nicely done and translated in 6 or 7 languages.
There is talk about propaganda, schooling (that had to be all reworked when the soviets took control), bombs, war, secret police and interrogation rooms (as seen below)
There is also an excellent 20 minute film on the communist regime and the velvet revolution. Stunning and not easy on the conscious to tell the truth.
We are ready for a break after the film – so we take our leave – taking photos of the entrance vestibule – into the casino – yeah – kid you not – look hard into the far doorway – you will see the casino neon lights!
Out in the fresh air – we head to the Charles bridge and the Little quarter for lunch (picnic) and the rest of our afternoon.
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