M's Adventures in Austria: Prague: Feb 18-19 (Walking, Cafés, Synagogue)

Feb 18: In the morning, we did lots of walking. We visited the Charles Bridge again, where we perused lots of jewellery and artwork. It was a very relaxed day, just playing things by ear and taking LOTS of pictures. We saw lots of Czech garnets . Some people were dressed up for Carnival, as well – colourful Renaissance costumes, masks, and painted mustaches. ;-)

The whole gang! Click to enlarge.

P & E.

One of the synagogues. The Jewish cemetery is behind.

View of the castle.

Charles.

Garnets!

P on the Charles Bridge.

Prague has many really interesting cafés, so when lunch approached, we headed over to the Café Slavia. Opened in 1881, it was a popular meeting place for artists and intellectuals. Very fancy, although not all guests seemed to agree with the non-smoking sign…;-) My coffee was truly a work of art. I never knew mint would be such a delicious addition…

Cafe Slavia.

Examining the menu...

Mint coffee!

Just Tiny & me. :-)

We also visited a market near the centre where we found lots of Czech souvenirs. Many were quite commercialized, but there were some beautiful hand-made items. Painted eggs, artwork…I fell in love with some of the wooden boxes they were selling and brought one back with me. J

Some food-related shots:

Very nice informal cafe. I did a lot
of writing here before the others arrived.

Waiting for supper.

Czech beer!

I liked the dark stuff. :-)

Feb 19: Our last day in Prague! We decided to visit the Jewish Quarter. There are a lot of really fascinating museums, but since we didn’t have so much time, we only went to the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Europe! It was completed in 1270 and is still active today. One interpreter was very informative and answered all our questions. The entrance has a molding design with twelve vines and grapes to symbolize the tribes of Israel. There was a beautiful curtain hung in front of the Torah ark (a kind of ornamental closet), which contains the Torah scrolls (the first five books of the Jewish Bible). The ark is placed against the eastern wall – the closest wall to Jerusalem.

The Old-New Synagogue.

Another synagogue down the street.

The Old Jewish Cemetery. I'll have to come back
to see it another time. :-)

According to legend, in the late 16^th century the chief rabbi of Prague created a human-like creature out of clay. This was called the Golem, and became animated to protect the Jewish people against anti-Semitic attacks. When the persecution stopped, the rabbi deactivated the creature. However, its remains are said to be stored in the attic of the synagogue, waiting to be brought back to life at the next hour of need.