Silsby Samizdat

Seven Day Recap

First time I've had to sit down at an internet cafe to really type an entry (just too much to do in this city and too little time)

Another list, followed by a little more indepth thoughts:

Places visited:
Prague Castle
Jewish Quarter
Vyšhrad (the original castle of Prague and the cemetary where Dvořak and Smetana are burried)
more of the never ending winding streets with interesting pubs and cafes and 15th-early 20th Century buildings.

I am almost overwhelmed by the omnipresent sense of history in this city. Not only old buildings, but a cultural connection to the heroes that over 1000 years of recorded history will provide. The pub where I had lunch was playing a hip-hop song dealing with Jan Hůs's martyrdom and the Hussite Wars (which, incidentally, the opera I mentioned last time also dealt with). This martyr's story moves me, too, if only for how it didn't end in the 15th Century. Jan Hůs was a Protastant and supporter of the poor who was burned at the stake for criticizing corruption in the Catholic Church. As he died, he shouted "The Truth shall prevail!" which also became the rallying cry of Havel during the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

Walked around the Jewish Quarter, where th golem was supposed to have been created and destroyed by Rabbi Low to protect the quarter. The cemetary in the Jewish Quarter is on a hill, but it wasn't built on a hill. The space they were allowed was so limited, that once the cemetary was full, they had to burry people on top of previous graves - making for a very eeire cemetary where gravestones are packed as tightly as possible (some dating from 14th Century) and with a very randomly uneven terrain.

But the most shocking moment was last night at a pub near the foot of the castle. We were trying to find a place that wasn't filled with people watching the Euro 2004 soccer matches, and eventually settled on an over-priced pub catering to tourists, but it was open and not showing the soccer match, so we stayed. As I was returning to our table from the restroom, someone called out to me in English: "Did you go to Carleton?" I stopped dead and spun. Turns out that they were two Carls from the class of '03 travelling across the world from Japan to England. Not even by travelling half-way across the world can I avoid randomly running into Carls. (Of course we took a picture for the alumi magazine)

Once again, I haven't touched on all the things I wanted to write, but there is a whole city out there still waiting, and now I only have a little more time with it.

Posted by silsby at June 26, 2004 06:57 PM