Wednesday 8 June 2005
Our first full day in Prague - the city of 1000 spires.
After last nights post we went to the cafe, but it was so popular we couldn't get in. We went to a different cafe where I had:
1, litru Krusovice Piva (Beer)
Krocan biftekand hranolky (Turkey steak and chips)
Bramborove (Potato pancake)
And Chaucey had:
,5 litru Krusovice Piva
Smazeny syr adn hranolky (Fried cheese and chips)
Salat (Salad)
Total cost of the mean was 320Kc (about NZ$20) including drinks.
This morning I was woken by Church bells at 7am. Breakfast this morning was rohilky (banana shaped bread rolls) with salam (ham) and grvias (cream cheese), Joghurt and Kava. (Kava is coffee, not Fijian Kava)
We walked down Uvoz towards the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) this morning with hardly anyone around, before wandering over to the Old Town square and Wenclasas square. We headed back to the Old Town hall where the astronomical clock does a show when it strikes the hour. There was a couple of hundred tourists around even at 10am. The old town square (and a lot of Prague) will be familiar to movie fans. The old town square was used for several scenes in Mission Impossible, and movies like Amadeus and From Hell were also filmed in Prague. It looks like how you imagine a European city to look.
Afterwards we went on a walking tour of Communist places in Prague. Just down from the town square was Stalin's statue, which was blown up by dynamite when Krushkev was Soviet Premier. A few years ago Michael Jackson put up a plastic statue of himself on the same spot to promote his upcoming concert.
We then walked past the Klement Gottwald buidling, which was a memorial to the first Communist leader. It is a huge building that was given over to exhibits about one man, trying to create a nationalist, communist cult. It's now a bank.
We then went to the memorial to the two students who died during the Prague Spring in 1968. Any friends from Viard reading this may remember the story of Jan Palach in the school production "Czechmate" who burnt himself in protest over the invasion. He died three days after the protest after begging his friends not to follow his protest.
Then we went to the 1989 Velvet Revolution monument. It is of many hands held up in 'V' for victory signs. The revolution story is very interesting. While there had been no official acknoledgement of the previous revolutions in Poland and East Germany it was reasonably well know. The day, 16 November, was 50 years after the Nazis had closed all Univerisities to stop protests and had killed a student who protested. The Communists organised a rally to commemarate this but the students broke free and pleaded with the army (who were conscripts of the same age as them) to allow them into Wensclasas Square. Word got out that a student had been killed by the army and this stirred the whole nation into action, forcing the overthrow of the government. A few days later the 'dead' student appeared on television to show that he was alright.
Our tour guide was very interesting and very anti-communist. She said that when McDonalds had first opened in Prague people queued to buy fries in a box because that was one of the most prominent images of western european culture they had. She also showed us a sculpture of King Wensclasas on an upside horse - it symbolises how Czech's had thought that throwing away communism would be like going from black to white. The reality is that they went from grey to grey, and some people hanker for the old days as they don't cope well with the new ways.
Afterwards we had lunch at McDonalds - I had a McCountry burger, which has Turkey patties. Chaucey had a Western burger, which had an interesting flavour and a McBacon.
We then went to the National Musuem, which is in a very beautiful building and has specimens of every conceivable rock, animal and bird. If you want to take photos inside the building you have to buy a special permit but I recognised the magnificent staircase from a scene in Mission Impossible.
We then walked over a the river and found the John Lennon wall before sitting down for a half litre of beer - a mere 35Kc (or NZ$2) each.
Tonight we will try to get into that cafe again - it's popularity means it must be good!
After last nights post we went to the cafe, but it was so popular we couldn't get in. We went to a different cafe where I had:
1, litru Krusovice Piva (Beer)
Krocan biftekand hranolky (Turkey steak and chips)
Bramborove (Potato pancake)
And Chaucey had:
,5 litru Krusovice Piva
Smazeny syr adn hranolky (Fried cheese and chips)
Salat (Salad)
Total cost of the mean was 320Kc (about NZ$20) including drinks.
This morning I was woken by Church bells at 7am. Breakfast this morning was rohilky (banana shaped bread rolls) with salam (ham) and grvias (cream cheese), Joghurt and Kava. (Kava is coffee, not Fijian Kava)
We walked down Uvoz towards the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) this morning with hardly anyone around, before wandering over to the Old Town square and Wenclasas square. We headed back to the Old Town hall where the astronomical clock does a show when it strikes the hour. There was a couple of hundred tourists around even at 10am. The old town square (and a lot of Prague) will be familiar to movie fans. The old town square was used for several scenes in Mission Impossible, and movies like Amadeus and From Hell were also filmed in Prague. It looks like how you imagine a European city to look.
Afterwards we went on a walking tour of Communist places in Prague. Just down from the town square was Stalin's statue, which was blown up by dynamite when Krushkev was Soviet Premier. A few years ago Michael Jackson put up a plastic statue of himself on the same spot to promote his upcoming concert.
We then walked past the Klement Gottwald buidling, which was a memorial to the first Communist leader. It is a huge building that was given over to exhibits about one man, trying to create a nationalist, communist cult. It's now a bank.
We then went to the memorial to the two students who died during the Prague Spring in 1968. Any friends from Viard reading this may remember the story of Jan Palach in the school production "Czechmate" who burnt himself in protest over the invasion. He died three days after the protest after begging his friends not to follow his protest.
Then we went to the 1989 Velvet Revolution monument. It is of many hands held up in 'V' for victory signs. The revolution story is very interesting. While there had been no official acknoledgement of the previous revolutions in Poland and East Germany it was reasonably well know. The day, 16 November, was 50 years after the Nazis had closed all Univerisities to stop protests and had killed a student who protested. The Communists organised a rally to commemarate this but the students broke free and pleaded with the army (who were conscripts of the same age as them) to allow them into Wensclasas Square. Word got out that a student had been killed by the army and this stirred the whole nation into action, forcing the overthrow of the government. A few days later the 'dead' student appeared on television to show that he was alright.
Our tour guide was very interesting and very anti-communist. She said that when McDonalds had first opened in Prague people queued to buy fries in a box because that was one of the most prominent images of western european culture they had. She also showed us a sculpture of King Wensclasas on an upside horse - it symbolises how Czech's had thought that throwing away communism would be like going from black to white. The reality is that they went from grey to grey, and some people hanker for the old days as they don't cope well with the new ways.
Afterwards we had lunch at McDonalds - I had a McCountry burger, which has Turkey patties. Chaucey had a Western burger, which had an interesting flavour and a McBacon.
We then went to the National Musuem, which is in a very beautiful building and has specimens of every conceivable rock, animal and bird. If you want to take photos inside the building you have to buy a special permit but I recognised the magnificent staircase from a scene in Mission Impossible.
We then walked over a the river and found the John Lennon wall before sitting down for a half litre of beer - a mere 35Kc (or NZ$2) each.
Tonight we will try to get into that cafe again - it's popularity means it must be good!
posted by Michael at
6:53 PM
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