Peter: Prague Journal 5
This is my final journal entry for Prague. It amazes me how quickly our month here has passed by.
Thursday 10.10.2013
We went to the Museum of Communism, ironically located just off the main shopping strip in Prague, above a McDonald’s and next to a casino. From a little blurb that I read somewhere, it’s not an official museum but was founded by a businessman. One finds inside mainly some old Communist-era knick-knacks, like busts of Lenin and propaganda posters, and a series of illustrated posters describing the history of communism in Czech Republic, from the beginnings in the 1920’s to the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Reading the posters proved actually very informative and interesting, though Noha thinks that we could just have read a book (or web site) and gotten the same information, which is probably true.
Later we went again to the weekly Couch Surfing event. We thought the heavy rain would prevent many people from coming but in fact it was just as busy as the previous week. We saw again Zdenek and met Kostas, from Berlin; Zyed (?), from Tunis; Jaakko, from Frankfurt; and some more local Prague residents whose names I forget. Overall the experience was pretty much the same as last time: nice to meet some new people and chat a little but unlikely to lead to any lasting friendships, and I still feel a little uncomfortable in social situations. Our abstinence from drinking also makes it a little difficult to socialize, but probably our general shyness and awkwardness is enough.
Friday 11.10.2013
We had some errands to do — I did the laundry in Vinohrady while Noha did her hair — so we didn’t go out until late. It rained most of the day but it stopped in the evening, and on the way to Kavarna Slavia on the Charles Bridge there was a very nice sunset. We read at the café (I finished Neruda’s Prague Stories) then had dinner. It was heavy (duck and chicken) and we again swore off Czech food, which is fine in small doses but hard to eat repeatedly.
Saturday 12.10.2013
Today one year ago a judge in Chicago’s City Hall married us, with Noha’s brother, Sherif, as our witness. To celebrate we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at La Veranda, an Italian restaurant in Josefov. But first we went to the Mucha Museum. Reader, you may not recognize* Alphonse Mucha, but I can guarantee that you will recognize his style and some of his famous posters. The museum forbids photographs so I can’t show you anything here, though Noha, being the rebel that she is, managed to take a few before being sternly reprimanded by the staff.
* In fact if you consult your notes (detailed, I’m sure) you will see that I referred to him in an earlier entry on St. Vitus cathedral, where several stained glass windows that he designed decorate the interior.
Sunday 13.10.2013
Someone that we met at a Couch Surfing event recommended going to Průhonice Park, a little bit outside of the city. The weather forecast was clearest today (it had been raining the past few days) so we planned to go. We took the metro to the end of the line then took a bus about 7 km further to the park. As a day trip it’s very cheap: the bus is only 18 Kc and admission to the park is 50 Kc, so at 68 Kc that’s less than 4 USD. At the main entrance to the park stands a villa with a beautiful pond behind it. We took pictures here then proceeded to walk around the rest of the grounds, about 10 km of walking overall. The rest of the park is also quite beautiful and peaceful, though I think nothing else quite matches the introduction to the grounds. One has to follow the paths and cannot stray off into the wooded areas, so it’s not very adventurous, mostly just a pleasant stroll.
Monday 14.10.2013
A quiet day as we enjoy our last remaining week in Prague. Noha got her bangs trimmed, we went to Vinohrady park, hung out at a café, and had dinner.
Tuesday 15.10.2013
After going to the Mucha Museum on Saturday I was excited to see his Slav Epic, a series of twenty murals that he worked on over eighteen years depicting scenes from Slavic history. For several years they were kept in a small Moravian village but last year they were moved to Prague for two years (which caused controversy), to the Veletržní Palace. Well, I don’t want to write too much about my impressions because they will bore you. One can find good pictures of the Slav Epic online so I won’t put too many pictures here, but I want to show a few so that one can get a sense of the scale of the pictures. Their hugeness is the first thing that makes an impression on you. It reminded me a bit of seeing the Raphael Rooms at the Vatican: they are huge and filled with historical and allegorical figures, and impossible to understand without supplementary material to explain the themes. I’m glad I got to see them. It’s odd that they seem a little obscure, far less well-known than Mucha’s posters. After the Slav Epic room we looked at some of the permanent collection, but I was thoroughly arted out by then. I love art but can only spend about 2-3 h in a museum at once before I get art fatigue.
Wednesday 16.10.2013
Rozloučení, Praha!
Journal for Noha and Peter 