The train had screeched to a halt in small station with a sign that read "Prage - Holeservice." (Or, thats how my brain translated the Czech) Was this the only stop the train made in Prague? Being prepared and knowledgeable travelers, we had no clue, and got the hell off the train, lest we be unwillingly shipped to Austria. As soon as I realized my jacket and important documents were *not* stowed on my person, we found the information desk and hesitantly asked, "Angliski?" ["English?"] The woman behind the glass gave an impartial nod. She informed us that the train had one more stop in Prague, which was the main station. Prague - Nadrazi. It was also a stop on the metro. We could catch the next Metro train and have a chance of racing it to Nadrazi, where it would depart in... oh, 10 minutes.
Exactly 10 minutes later we arrived at the Prague main station and ran. Ran, ran ran. There were no signs for the platforms, no helpful information anywhere. We found the train against all odds (luck was a distinct factor), and hopped on, hoping to find the compartment we had been in before the train continued out of Prague. The train lurched to life before we could find my jacket, but all that was left now was the simple matter of walking through the train and poking our noses in each compartment. Folks in our compartment recognised us as we walked past, and handed my jacket (and wallet! and pasport!) to me with a smile. We got off at the next stop and caught the next train heading in the opposite direction- back to Prague. As we sat down in victory, I noticed that Holly did not have her favorite ski-jacket on, nor was she carrying it. Turns out, we had left it on the same train that I'd left mine on a mere 10 minutes before. It proved unrecoverable. Our hostel host told us that she would call the station, but that "If there were Czech people on that train, you will not get your jacket back. I'll call the station, but the lost-and-found man at the station will just be holding your jacket, telling me they can't find it."
SO, with the fresh frustration of lost property and a fresh determination to enjoy ourselves, we set off to explore Prague! The language was a challenge, but eventually I stopped confusing "Hello!" (Dobrei den!) with "Thank you!" (D'yeh qui!... these are phonetic, to excuse my poor knowledge of Czech) and we proved to navigate life effectively.
A treat for you this time! Holly and I made little comics of the little things that happened to us over the journey- so I've put them up to illustrate~
Remember, if your revolution isn't big enough to see the whole picture in the column, right click the image and copy the url into a new window to see it separately.
Here's the jacket fiasco:
Prague has some amazing history. Being around since "Bohemia" existed leaves a lot of time to be filled with adventures. What stood out the most to me was how Prague (then under a different name) was founded. A psychic preistess of a group of nomads decided that she would like very much to settle down. So, she had a vision! A citadel, for her people! And so it was. Maybe she really was psychic.
I would say "Another anecdote!" But somehow describing the deaths of three men as such makes me uncomfortable. The Three Defenestrations of Prague! At three points in Prague history, people (all clergymen, I think) have been pushed out the castle window in a rush of rebellion.
Prague Plague Post
I have yet to hear someone mention this casually without a verbal trip. But the story itself is even more amusing than the name! The Prague Plague Post (Mother of PEARL, its even difficult to type!) was the brainchild of the people; amidst the ebb and flow of the Black Plague, people decided that something must be done! The Mother of Jesus, Mary certainly could take pity on them and ensure the plague did not return, if only they could win her favor! A statue! This calls for a statue! Hey! Monks in the Monastery, could you build us a statue of Mary to keep us alive in the face of the plague? Unfortunately, the Monks had just spent all of their money founding a local hospital... obviously they could do *nothing* to help fight the plague. The King, however, thought the statue was a GREAT idea! Hell, make it a huge post with saints AND Mary on it, maybe then the King would bear a son as an heir! (But omit the patron saint of the Monastery... they don't deserve to be included. Unhelpful bastards.)
And so it was built!
...and so the plague came back. I bet the hospital was a pretty happenin' place at that point.
The Prague Plague Post is right in the courtyard before the Prague Castle, the BIGGEST medieval castle standing, if memory serves. Besides a huge cathedral in one of its inner courts (which took 600 years to complete!) it is a pretty modern place. the government is still based in the castle, and the President lives there. It has a modern facade or white and light purple. (...not very 'of the times...' but it does look nice.)
Holly and I trekked up the hill to watch the main "Changing of the guards" event! This ensued:
The Alphonse Mucha Museum
This man LOVED the Czech people. And what an artist! I have never seen lithographs and fine as the ones he produced over the years. Theater posters, portraits, calendars, an HUGE series of oils called The Slav Epic. (The last project was dedicated to the Czech people.) In short, Alphonse Mucha is my favorite artist. And Prague loves him too! The Mucha Museum has an AMAZING collection of his work... no pictures allowed, of course.
National Museum
What a haven for two Ladies of Science! Holly and I absolutely DEVOURED this museum. From the high-tech "INSIDE OF THE EARTH" exhibit to the EXTENSIVE collection of taxidermied animals, this museum kept us occupied for hours. We even went down every single row of minuscule fossils and pinned bug collections. And loved every minute of it.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/4565548884_af16cd21f9.jpg
Orchestra Concert
In which Holly spilled, and much fun was had listening to Vivaldi in the last orchestra hall standing that Mozart played in.
Kutna Hora
Rewind back to the bit where I was mentioning the Plague. The world's population was * devastated.* If the human race has ever come close to a mass-extinction event, that was it. One small chapel in the town of Kutna Hora, just outside of Prague, was supposed to be a very holy place for those who fell to the plague to be buried. Hundreds, thousands of corpses, skeletons were sent to this small chapel, and they ran out of room quickly. One enterprising monk had an idea! lets make art out of the bones!
...and so it still stands. Morbid, but fascinating. This, I will deff post pictures of when I get them.
To balance out the extreme sense of unease you get from the chapel, or maybe just because it was Easter Sunday, there was a street fair in the town! There were SO MANY stalls of cookies and candies. Frosted gingerbread cookies were EVERYWHERE, with mysterious exciting phrases written on them in Czech. Holly and I selected a cookie, and translated it on the way home.
The Sleeper Train. I don't want to even think about it. But when we arrived in Lyon the next day, it was *wonderful.*
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