Archive for November, 2007
November 20, 2007 at 11:52 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
Even though Peter, Favor and I only had three days in Prague, we did and saw so many interesting and wonderful things, and ate and drank so many yummy Czech specialties. Prague is such a strange and beautiful city. The architecture looks much like a typical Western European city but there is a strong Eastern European vibe about it.
Even though (as Favor mentioned when she sent out her pictures) there seems to be a photo op around every corner, I did my best to only select the highlights of our visit. Even with the scaling down it might take you a bit to get through the many photos and pictures. I hope you enjoy reading about our trip as much as we enjoyed experiencing it.
As always, we hope this finds you healthy and well.
Much love,
Ri and Peter
November 20, 2007 at 10:04 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
Peter sure does look happy squished between two lovely ladies!
November 20, 2007 at 9:58 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
November 20, 2007 at 9:47 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
Though Peter, Favor and I arrived in Prague fairly late on Thursday night (almost 11:00p.m.) we were lucky enough to find a place close to home with a nice girl that would feed us dinner and let us have some wine. Once we were satiated we head out to wander the streets for a bit and explore our little corner of Prague. We stayed in Mala Strana, also know as The Little Quarter. It was conveniently located just below the Prague Castle and near the Charles Street Bridge. We made our way through the charming cobblestone streets until we happened upon the bridge. Even though it was quite cold we decided to take a walk across the bridge. Though it was cold, it was not raining and the walk across the bridge was truly, stunningly, beautiful. We were practically the only people there, which we learned on other walks across the bridge, is rare. As is often the case, these pictures cannot do justice to how magnificent the view was. I put them here, none-the-less, in hopes that you may get some idea of how grandiose the scene was…
November 20, 2007 at 9:42 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
November 20, 2007 at 9:24 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
The first thing we did on Friday morning (after coffee of course) was head out to The Jewish Quarter. The Jewish Quarter is located near Prague’s center in what was once called the Jewish Ghetto.
Within the walls of the Jewish Quarter is The Jewish Cemetary. It is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe, opened from the 15th Century to the late 18th Century. Over the next 400 years, about 200,000 residents of the ghetto in Prague were buried in its confines. Since the cemetery could only hold about 10 percent of that amount, the tombs are layered on top of each other, at one section reaching 12 layers (www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org).
In addition to the Jewish Cemetery we saw the Pinkas Synagogue, which has been a place of worship for 400 years. Today the synagogue stands as memorial to the victims of the Nazis. The walls are covered with handwritten names of 77, 297 Czech Jews who were sent to Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Hometowns are in gold, family names in red and then the individual’s names, dates of birth and last known date to be alive are in black. In the background, playing on speakers, the names of the victims are read (the names being read are alternated with a singing of the Psalms). To be in this room was a strange and heart-wrenching experience. To hear these names being read and see these names COVERING the huge white walls with an endless sea of black writing (dispersed among moments of red and gold)- whole families killed, young children too- is so sad. But in a strange way (and I feel sort-of wrong even saying this) it was moving in its ability to elevate the memory of these people - making observers interact at their highest emotional level… (We were not allowed to take pictures in here).
Another room that moved me deeply (in the same haunting and heart wrenching way) was a small room that housed the art drawn by Jewish children who were imprisoned at the Terezin Concentration Camp. The woman who ran the program at Terezin was having children create pictures as an emotional outlet. The children who drew the pictures ranged in age from quite young to adolescence. The drawings encompassed a variety of subjects, from abstract issues like tolerance, to more tangible issues like daily life at the camps. The aforementioned pictures of daily life in the camps were the most evocative to me - pictures of people fenced off, waiting in lines for trains (we can only assume to die)…so, so haunting and arresting. (We also could not take pictures in here – and even if we could I do not know I would post them here)…
November 20, 2007 at 8:32 am · Filed under Mariah's
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November 20, 2007 at 8:27 am · Filed under Mariah's
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November 20, 2007 at 8:23 am · Filed under Mariah's
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November 20, 2007 at 8:21 am · Filed under Mariah's
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Originally uploaded by mariahamckenna
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