Czech us out: Prague on the blog

This week we had a few extra days, so we went to Prague! We had an amazing time, and photos don't do it justice.

We took a 6-hour tour of the city and learned a lot about its fascinating history. We saw dozens of gorgeous churches, but the Czech Republic has one of the least religious populations in Europe; our tour guide said that 75% are atheist. Most of the beautiful churches serve as concert halls/performing arts centers, but some do hold services on Christmas and Easter. The photo below shows Tyn's Church in the old town square. Also in the old town square is a reminder of Prague's importance in the tumultuous Protestant Reformation. The statue in the middle of the square is Jan Hus, an influential Protestant thinker who was burned at the stake in 1415. Hus's ideas influenced Martin Luther and the overall Protestant movement in Europe. We find it ironic that a place steeped in so much religious history is currently so nonreligious (probably a result of Communism).

Also in the old town square is the famous Astronomical Clock, constructed in 1410, with most of the original mechanical parts still operating. The Clock gives an hourly performance where the 12 Apostles appear in the 2 blue windows above the Clock; it was lots of fun to watch.


Our tour included a river cruise along the Vltava River. The cruise also took us into a cute little canal. We haven't been to Venice (yet), but we thought the experience felt a little Venetian.
Then we toured Prague Castle, which is the largest ancient castle in the world. The Castle is dominated by St. Vitus Cathedral, a breathtaking structure where coronations and other significant events have taken place in Czech history. Another historical event that took place at Prague Castle was the famous Defenestration of Prague, which started the Thirty Years' War -- another important event from the Protestant Reformation. (You can see the Castle on the hill above the Vltava River.)

We also took the Haunted Prague Tour, which was a little cheesy and not at all scary; but it was fun to see the amazing city at night.

Famous Prague residents included Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler; they worked on their groundbreaking theories of planetary motion there (Kepler as Tycho's assistant). The writer Franz Kafka was also from Prague. I read his most famous work Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) in German in college. I wasn't a huge fan, but we visited his monument in Prague anyway. The statue is located in the Jewish Quarter (Josefov), which was preserved by the Nazis, who intended it to be a museum of an extinct people.

The Czechs were under the rule of the Communist party from 1946 until 1989 when the famous Velvet Revolution occurred in Wenceslas Square (pictured below).

Charles Bridge is one of the iconic Prague sights. Most sections of the bridge are original--from as early as the 1300s.

The Lennon Wall is filled with John Lennon-themed graffiti and Beatles song lyrics; it was originally an outlet for anti-Communist protest in the 1980s but survives today as a symbol of the ideals of peace and love.

We loved Prague!