Prague Journal

Saturday, December 18, 2004.

Dick and I had a leisurely morning tour of old Prague, following much the same path that I took with Vicki, walking from Malostrana across the Charles Bridge toward Old Town Square, stopping at the orloj (astronomical clock) before and after lunch at the Prince Hotel café. Since Dick had seen the castle yesterday, we had some time to go in St Nicholas church at Malostranské Square, considered by some to be the most beautiful Baroque church in Prague. This church (kostel sv. Mikuláše) was built from 1673-1765 as part of the Jesuit college which now houses Charles University’s applied math and computer science faculty where Rick meets Ales every week. We strolled across the bridge to the Old Town Bridge Tower and went in St. Francis Church, the small Baroque Church at the edge of the square with the bronze statue of Charles IV, erected on the 500th anniversary of the founding of Charles University.
As we mulled around the Christmas markets in Old Town Square, we saw a large vat of carp, a sure sign that Christmas day is near. Raising carp has a long history in the Czech lands, dating as far back as the 11th century when carp was an important food for Lent. Apparently southern Bohemia is famous for its fishponds, with more than 7,600 of them, covering a surface area of 27 thousand hectares. In the middle of October, the fishermen begin to fish out the ponds, which lasts until the end of November, when they are transported to the marketplaces in time for Christmas. To this day, Christmas dinner traditionally involves carp, usually fried in breadcrumbs and accompanied by potatoes or potato salad. People who purchase carp a week before Christmas keep the live carp in their bathtubs (a nice excuse for kids not to bathe for several days) and bash their heads in on Christmas morning.
We walked from Staromĕstská along Celetna toward the Municipal House in New Town (Republic Square). Continuing on Hybernska, we went to the main train station to check on the schedule for Dick’s Sunday morning train to Dresden. From the train station, it was an easy walk toward the National Museum to Wenceslas Square and then to Můstek. We had time to top in a few stores and kiosks, and walk around the Estates Theater and the Fruit Market square (which now has an ice-skating rink). We walked to Jungmanovo Square and had time to go into the Church of Our Lady of the Snow (established in 1347 as a Carmelite monastery church) to see the November 17, 1989 photo exhibit in the little St. John Nepomuck chapel.
Part of the responsibility of hosting guests in Prague is making sure they get a sampling of Czech food and beer, so we took Dick to U Pinkasů for the beer-lover’s dinner experience, followed by a rather roundabout walk to the Municipal House café for coffee and dessert before heading home on the tram.

posted by JWinn @ 10:41 PM