European Adventures - Part Two

Have you heard of the Feast of Booths? It is a Biblical Jewish holiday celebrated between October 13th and October 20th. As you may have already guessed, the 15th was the very day we quite unknowingly chose to visit the famous Jewish Quarter in Prague. Even though most of the attractions were closed, that didn't stop Tristan and I from walking around and enjoying the gorgeous old buildings in the area.

It's a door, Savannah!  (Inside joke)

  Since the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague was nearby, I decided that today was as good a day as any to visit. It was spectacular.  Since the museum itself is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice, the building and interior were almost distracting from the exhibits in each room.

A stained glass window in the hall

The ceiling in one of the rooms

  The museum had several rooms housing glass-work from many Czech artists. Bohemian glass is famous, but I was especially fascinated by the glass exhibit with pieces made during the Nazi occupation of Prague. Many aspects of the city are closely tied to deep history that you wouldn't even know if you weren't paying attention. 

  For instance, my second favorite exhibit was one of family household items and heirlooms. The Nazis either confiscated the items from Jews during house raids or the Jews themselves hid their belongings in museums.

Each exhibit had the name of the owner, their date of birth and death, and what concentration camps they had been imprisoned in. The vast majority perished in concentration camps.

  Our picnic lunch of the day was at the Franciscan Gardens. I believe this is where Tristan developed his obsession with roses. 

The Church of Our Lady of Snows

  From the gardens we could see a magnificent building on the horizon. After eating, we went to investigate. It was the Church of Our Lady of Snows, which has one of the most impressive church interiors that I saw in Europe. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the sanctuary. 

Prague is filled with many comical sights like this that didn't really have an explanation... a Mary Poppin's imitator? Who knows?

  We visited many other sights that day, stepping inside churches all throughout the city. We even saw the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral. Czech and Slovak soldiers who had been trained by British Special Forces were hidden in the crypt of the church in June of 1942. They carried out Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a Nazis SS officer who was a main architect of the Holocaust. The Nazis raided the church and killed two of the soldiers. The rest shot themselves rather than be taken by the Nazis. I can't tell you how sobering it was to walk around the building and imagine the scenario of the siege. The pictures of the smiling young men in crisp military uniforms displayed in the church foyer made the moment even more poignant.

An entrance to the crypt where the soldiers hid. The marks from the Nazis' bullets are still there.

The sanctuary

  These events were portrayed in the move Anthropoid, which is rated R. From what I have read, the movie has been criticized as being dull at times, but if you are passionate about WWII history and have studied Operation Anthropoid, you will be able to appreciate the story. It was made for the informed and interested audience, not the casual movie goer. 

  Tristan and I were both a bit tired from our day's walk and ducked into a little cafe on the road before making our way to the metro. From what I can make out, Tristan didn't read the menu carefully enough and only saw the word 'cider.' In the Czech Republic, this is apparently a type of beer. You should have seen his face when the barista served him a beer! We apologized for the confusion and asked to order something else, but insisted that we still pay for the beer. The Czech lady was quite polite and the matter was quickly settled.  This was a hilarious ending to the day and one that we told often afterwards. And the best part for them? The other barista at the counter got a free beer out of it.

Tristan ordered "Hot Pear"  instead.