Prague Journal

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Today is Shavuot, the Feast of the Weeks, the Jewish holiday celebrating the harvest season in Israel. Shavuot, which means “weeks,” refers to the timing of the festival which is held exactly 7 weeks after Passover. Shavuot is known also as Yom Habikkurim, or “the Day of the First Fruits” because it is the time the farmers of Israel would bring their first harvest to Jerusalem as a token of thanksgiving. Shavuot also commemorates the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai.
We had lunch with Marty and Harriet at Velryba (Whale) Restaurant in Old Town, and then went to the Manes Gallery to see the art auction. The Manes Gallery building bridges an arm of the river separating the mainland from Slav Island, a sleepy, dog-eared sandbank, named after Slav conventions held there since 1848. At the south end is a 15th century water tower - Sitovska vez - with an 18th century onion-dome roof. The Manes Gallery was established in the 1920s by a group of artists headed by painter Josef Manes as an alternative to the Czech Academy of Arts, and still one of Prague’s better showcases for contemporary art. We didn’t stick around the auction very long, but it was interesting to see how art is auctioned these days: photos of the paintings projected on a screen, with the actual works hanging in the gallery.
We strolled down to Strelecky Ostrov island to see the children’s festival. Strelecky Ostrov means Sharpshooters’ or Riflemen’s Island, which used to have a shooting range. This is World Music Weekend, and this afternoon there was a benefit concert and children’s festivities to support world hunger awareness. We walked back toward Old Town, stopping at Café Montmartre for coffee and Cream and Dream for ice cream.
Our evening was spent with Charlotte and Bruce and Michele and John. John is finally in Prague, after a delayed move here to wrap up things in the States. He’s already received his first pension check, so he’s more than officially retired. We had dinner at Square, a small but elegant restaurant right at Malostranska námĕstí, to celebrate Charlotte’s birthday and John’s move to Prague. We went to Michele and John’s new flat for dessert. They are renting a grand apartment in a former renaissance-era palace, just off Nerudova Street near St. Nicholas Church in Malostrana. Nerudova (the Royal Way or Kings Road linking Prague Castle to the Charles Bridge) is characterized by ancient burgher houses, most of which have been transformed into quaint hotels, restaurants and small shops. Nerudova is named after the 19th century Czech writer and journalist Jan Neruda. Rick says that if we could find an apartment like Michele and John’s, he’d relocate to Prague in a heartbeat.

posted by JWinn @ 10:45 PM