We rallied from a decent sleep, aiming for breakfast for 8:30am. We had met a lovely young couple from Oklahoma who were on their honeymoon, backpacking through Europe. We shared dinner with Jordan and Katie last night, or should I say we ate at the same table in the Hostel Elf enjoying wonderful conversation and swapping stories about travel, our respective countries and family life. They were leaving early this morning, and we wanted to be at breakfast early enough to say goodbye and wish them well. It was great meeting them, and making them feel welcome if ever they are in Australia or London.
We planned to do the ‘Free Walking Tour’ of Prague today, a mega three hour tour. Of course we know there is no such thing as a free tour. A ‘tip’ is expected. Usually, the tip is often just as good as the fixed charge for a tour but seems to be more attractive. It is certainly well patronized. They operate in many cities in Europe quite successfully.
After a slow breakfast, we wandered north to the Vltava River to do a ‘recce’ for our exit by bike tomorrow morning. The bike track would follow the Vltava River for quite some kilometres before joining the Elbe River which then runs through Germany and in to the North Sea eventually. It sounds simple, but the path is never straight forward, especially in the cities. It was freezing cold if not icy, barely above zero. We were not really looking forward to the cold cycling experience.
We made our way to the Old Town Square for the tour, but managed some ‘coffee’ time in a warm coffee shop on the square. At the advertised time, we joined a huge host of others for the tour, which they actually split up into three separate groups. Our group numbered about twenty. English speaking, it comprised Aussies, Americans, British and a scattering of others from around the world who preferred the English speaking group.
Our tour guide was an Aussie! Kate moved to Prague some 20 years ago to teach English, married a local and has now settled. She was very entertaining, and a walking encyclopedia on Czech history which made our tour quite fascinating. It was freezing of course, but we all persevered in the near zero conditions and we all lasted the full distance. It was great to meet other travelers, and especially make friends with other Aussies.
We shared the Old Town Square with hundreds of other people, and these lovely horse drawn carriages who for a mere 1,000 Czech Crowns or so would give you an old fashioned view of the beautiful city. We preferred the cheaper walking version.
This is the view of the beautiful Tyn Church. Kate pointed out the not-so-obvious, that the church towers were not built in equal proportion. For reasons known to the builders, one tower was built bigger than the other. Look closely as we did - it is true. She said one was the 'adam' tower and the other 'eve'. However, as we moved about town, we could see that this was a fairly common thing where multiple towers were concerned.
We lingered at the great statue to the Christian reformer Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake by the church in 1415 for his attempts to bring reform to the practices of the Catholic Church. He was 100 years before the German Martin Luther who is given the credit for the Protestant Reformation. However, the Czechs think differently, and happily claim Hus as the one who began the Protestant Reformation. The very large statue in the centre of the Old Town Square is testament to this.
Also in the Old Town Square are these 27 crosses which we had walked over several times in brief explore in Prague. Only today wa sit explained to us that on this very spot in 1621, 27 Czech Lords were executed (beheaded) for rebellion against the Habsburg Emperor. Their heads were then hung for ten years from the Charles Bridge as a public reminder of the consequences of such rebellion. It was a violent world.
Our very cold walk took us all over the old inner city of Prague, with a continous history lesson as we walked. We were fascinated by the buildings, the markets and the narrow cobbled lanes that ran off in all directions. We frequently were asked to run on the spot so everyone could warm up. As freezing as it was, we seemed to grow more closely as a group. I thought it was amazing that we lost no one over the course of the three hour tour.
The architecture is simply amazing................
We were most impressed with our guide Kate, the Aussie. She was passionate and in love with her adopted country. She told many stories from history, stories of the struggle of the Czech people, whose country has been invaded dozens of times over the centuries, stories of the struggle for survival and the fight for nationhood, the strong resistance to the Nazi invasion and the long, patient endurance under the many decades of communism that promised so much and delivered little except despair and desolation.
When WW2 broke out, Prague was ruled by the Nazi dictator Reich Protector Heydrich (the butcher of Prague). In 1942, two young Czech Resistance fighters trained in England, parachuted in to Prague on a mission to assassinate Heydrich. They succeeded, but in the aftermath over 5000 Czech citizens were tortured and/or executed as a result. Ultimately, the two resistance fighters were cornered in the base of a church tower by the Nazis, where with five others they chose suicide rather than be captured by the Germans. The price of Czech Freedom has been very high, but is neverthless valued and cherished by the Czech people.
We could sense the immense emotion in Kate's heart as she told these stories during our very informative three hours together. Our time however soon came to an end as we looked out over the greatest sights in Prague, over the Vltava River with the unimpeded vision to the Castle and the St Vitus cathedral. If anything will be a lasting visual memory, it will be this one.
We made our way back to the square for a warm coffee in order to thaw, before doing some shopping for our cycle trip out of Prague and further west along the Vltava and Elbe Rivers. The temperatures tomorrow promise to make it an uncomfortable day on the bikes, but being hard core cyclists we are saying just 'bring it on'. It will be 2 degrees when we head out tomorrow, heading for the village Roudnice on the Elbe River, just east of Terezin, the WW2 Concentration Camp from where thousands of Jewish people were sent to their deaths, including almost ten thousand children.
The story of the Czech people has been one of struggle, yet not without triumph. The land has been fought over down through the centuries, but the Czech people have remained stoic and resilient in their determination for freedom and their desires to be a unified people with good leadership and government.
Reflecting on these two days of experience, I can't but help think about the words of the Old Testament prophet Zephaniah to Jerusalem who too had a history of their own struggles for peace and freedom. The promise of God came through the prophet "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17)
As we rest for this final night in the humble Hostel Elf, not that far from the River Vltava in the great city of Prague, we rest knowing that the God who put the stars in place and the planets in their orbit, rejoices over us all tonight as a mother over her child in a cradle.
From the city of Prague we send our love - Kelvin, Julie and Sarah-Jane
The history is far too detailed and complex to even attempt to summarise here.
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