25 Hours in Dresden

After a couple of weeks of apartment living, we are back on the move and using our Eurail passes. We left Prague on Tuesday morning and took a train to Dresden. The ride along the Elba River is quite beautiful. There may or may not have been some Harry Potter audiobook listening to pass the time. Upon our arrival in Dresden, we checked into our hostel for the night and set out to see a few sights. One of the first things we saw was this gleaming golden statue of Augustus upon his faithful steed. We passed this statue a few times and wondered aloud who had the responsibility of keeping it so shiny, especially the horse's hindquarters.

We spent much of the afternoon exploring this church that was destroyed during WWII, but was rebuilt in the early 2000's and dedicated in 2005. It's official name is the Frauenkirche (Mother Church), and we had a good time saying that name out loud as we sat in the pews and listened to an informational audioguide. When they rebuilt the church, they used some materials from the old church and tried to retain the basic structure, with some changes made to take advantage of contemporary technology and materials. The basement was designed as a chapel and included some religious art as well.

We came across some great statuary throughout the city, and here's an example.

On Wednesday morning, we went to explore more of the city. We spent most of the morning Residenzscchloss,, the old city palace that is now a museum. We particularly enjoyed the exhibit on knights in armor and the "Marketplace of the Dead" Here's a great picture of Gracyn at the former Royal Party Palace.

All in all, we had a nice time in Dresden.. We both think it would be a cool city to live in, as there are many fun-looking  cafes, bars, and shops with local goods.

Prague with Friends

Our friends Vicki, Emily, Blake, Molly, and Parker came to visit us! They may also have wanted to see a bit of Prague. First things first, we walked out to the Charles Bridge to have a look at the Castle.

On our first full day, Wednesday, we went up to Prague Castle to see the many sights. We saw the changing of the guard ceremony at noon.

We explored Rosenburg Palace, Golden Lane, and St. George's Basilica. St. George's was established in the 10th century.

Next we went inside St. Vitus' Cathedral, and were completely stunned by the beautiful stained glass and the vaulted ceilings. The cathedral was started in 1324, but only finished in 1929.

That afternoon, we visited Strahov Monastery, where the monks brew beers under the St. Norbert label. That day we tried the Light beer and the Wheat beer. Emily and Blake enjoyed a pint. But wait! Who is watching Rue??, you ask. Blake's brother, Mitch, is on Rue duty. 

The next morning, we finished up the sights at the Castle, including the Old Royal Palace  and Loreta  Church.

For lunch, we visited a different pub serving St. Norbert, and sampled the smoked porter, the lager and the dark beer.

In the afternoon, we went to Old Town Square, and went up inside the Astronomical Clock.

That evening, we visited the Museum of Communism, to learn about Czechlosovakia's experience during WWII and after.

On Friday, we visited some of the sights associated with the Prague Jewish Museum, which is really a complex of buildings in the historically Jewish neighborhood. These sights include the Old Synagogue, built in the 13th century, which now sits below street level as the neighborhood around it has been raised over the years to avoid flooding. Another noteworthy synagogue is the moorish Spanish Synagogue, also used for displays about the Jewish Enlightenment, Jewish writers or artists, and conditions for Jews during WWII.

Pinkas Synagogue has been made over as a monument to the Jews from Prague who died during WWII. Their names are hand-written on all the walls upstairs and downstairs. There was also an exhibit upstairs showing art drawn by the children in concentration camps.

Outside Pinkas Synagogue is the Jewish Cemetery, which has around 3,000 stones but perhaps 10,000 bodies. Because space was limited, remains were layered over time.

We ate lunch at a "British" pub specializing in fish and ships, which was showing Mr. Bean shows non-stop.

That afternoon, we visited the Charles Bridge for some shopping.

In the evening we walked to Wenceslas Square, notable as the location of protests, including the Velvet Revolution protests in 1989.

On our last day together, we took the tram south to Vysehrad Citadel and Cemetery, which turned out to be quite a nice park area. I learned that this area was originally settled in order to build Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral and establish a separate "chapter," a region outside of the dominion of the Bishop of Prague, and instead answerable only to the Pope. Eventually this area was fortified and a town grew, and now it is a suburb of Prague City.

The cemetery was started in the 1900s, and is the resting place of many Czech writers and artists, the most notable of which (to me) is Antonin Dvorak.

We went to the TV Tower, Prague's tallest landmark, built around 1990, to take the elevator up to the viewing platform. There are babies crawling up the tower now, part of an art installation from 2000 that the residents lobbied to keep.

Molly is showing Parker the sights.

I think that is a mini-golf course down there.

We are so grateful that our friends came to visit us and we had so much fun! We had a few rounds of Flapjacks and Sasquatches, without any serious injuries. We were so sad to see them drive away. Alan and me, on our own again.

Alan and I had two more days in Prague, which we spent with Alan's friends Jan and Jana and their daughters, at their home. We really enjoyed being with them in their home, and seeing a bit of daily life in Czech.

Buda and Pest: Part 2

On Saturday morning, we set out to visit the Parliament building, and once we emerged from the train station, we were noticing that most people had Hungarian flag ribbons pinned on. We found out that Sunday was a national holiday, celebrating the 1846 uprising against the Austrians.

In the square, we saw a stairway leading below street level, and people emerging or heading down. So, not knowing what it might be, we descended. It turned out to be a memorial and an exhibit of the 1956 Uprising, against the occupying Russian communist forces. There were video interviews with folks who lost family members, photos, a hologram showing tanks in front of Parliament (exactly where we were), and a monument to those who died. An older gentleman asked me to take his picture. He asked first in Hungarian, then, seeing my quizzical look, asked in English. He stood very erect next to the tattered Hungarian flag over the monument. I wonder what his story is.

Next we came across a military band playing several tunes, and watched some parade marching and flag presentation. The line to enter the Parliament building turned out to be very long. Since it was very cold outside, we opted to come back another day.

We passed this memorial on another street, and I don't even know what event or what people it honors. But it was well attended with flowers, letters, and photos.

After lunch, we visited St. Stephen's Basilica, which is a church completed around 1900. It is famous for housing an honored relic: the mummified right hand of its patron. It also has beautiful statues and paintings, and incredible high vaulted ceilings.

This is the hand.

We also attempted to visit the Great Synagogue, but as it was Saturday, we could not enter, so we followed a walking tour around the Jewish Quarter. Which led us to.... donuts! Mine had nutella in the middle.

That afternoon we went to a chamber orchestra performance in the Hungarian State Opera House. TThis was a very cool afternoon event, costing something like $8 per person for an hour of music, one classical piece, one modern, and one  romantic.

On Sunday, we visited  a  Church of Scotland congregation where the minister was from Florence (South Carolina) and the other minister is from Nairobi, but went to seminary at Columbia Theological in Atlanta.

After the service, we grabbed lunch at a street festival we had seen. This was when I tried goulash. I think it is required when one visits Hungary.

We also tried this rolled dough pastry that was dipped in cinnamon!!

Aftte lunch we visited the House of Terror Museum, dealing with the events around WWII, the German occupation of Hungary, which lasted around 5 months, then the "liberation" and occupation by the Russians for 40 years.

The first thing we saw upon entering was a tank, then a wall three floors high with photographs of the victims.  Then we would go through each exhibit, sometimes photos or video or interviews, sometimes objects. We needed to read the paper printouts of the English translation of the content in each room.  I have never seen video like that-- skeletal bodies being bulldozed into a pit.. 

So the atrocities under the Germans may be more well known, the persecution of the Jewish people. But a lot of the museum dealt with the atrocities of the Russians-- informants, inprisonments, executions, rigged elections, labor camps. The last prisoner taken in the 1950s to a labor camp in Russia  was returned in 2000.  I think the history goes that Hungary revolted in 1956, and the revolution was suppressed, but Russia's grip loosened. That is now why Hungary is more advanced than other former Soviet states.  The very last exhibit was a photo wall of the "Victimizers," the people who had perpetrated these crimes. But II also read that these people were frequently turned on by their own organizations and policies, also beaten and executed.

Suffice it to say, we were moved and sadden by these events. We spent the last but of daylight that afternoon at the park on Margaret Island, watching a guy blow bubbles for excited children.

The next morning, our last day, we tried again to visit Parliament, but it was closed to visitors. So...next time. We walked by the Danube to visit a memorial called "Shoes on the Danube," a monument to the Jews who were killed by the fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944-1945. They were ordered to step out of their shoes, then shot so they wold fall into the river.

We were able to visit the Great Synagogue, the largest Jewish worship center outside of New York City.

IIn the courtyard next door is the Memorial Gardens,with graves for the dead found when the Ghetto was opened. Those who are known have name plaques, but there are many unknown.

Lastly, we took a bus up Gellert Hill to visit the Liberty Monument. From the top of the hill we could see the city light up as dark fell.

The next morning, we boarded a train for Prague at 5:30AM.