After sleeping at 3 am last night, we woke up at 9 am and went down for hotel breakfast. We got the same things as the last couple of days - omelette, croissant, cereal and fruits. We came back up to our room, got ready and left around 11:20 am for another day of exploring Prague.
Our first stop of the day was the Museum of Communism. It's a small museum which started by giving a quick introduction to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin and their socialist philosophies. Lenin's philosophy was a take on Marx with a focus on industrial production. The museum chronicles the story of Czechoslovakia and its communist history. Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918 towards the end of the First World War after the collapse of the Austrian empire ruled by the Hapsburg family. The Czechs and Slovaks were in different stages of economic development and had distinct cultural identities but working together helped them make quicker economic strides so they tried to make the union work. The first republic remained a democracy till 1938 when Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia brought to light the differences between the Czech and Slovak people - Slovakia broke away and declared independence whereas the region of what is Czech Republic today was annexed to Germany. The government of Czechoslovakia kept operating in exile and during the Second World War, they asked the Soviet Red Army to help liberate Czechoslovakia from Nazi rule. Czechoslovakia was back on the world map in 1945 but this new political landscape was dominated by socialist parties in the country. In 1948, the communists took over the country under the cover of superficial legality. Thus began the communist era of Czechoslovakia which lasted from 1948 to 1989.
The ideological divide between supporters of democracy and supporters of socialism/communism still exists to this day in the Czech Republic and it was no different back then in Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union had great influence over Czechoslovakia, so much so that they made super expensive memorials for Stalin and were in effect a satellite state of the Soviet Union. However, by 1960s, Czechoslovakia had completely stagnated economically and there were food shortages in the country. In response, Czechoslovakia started de-Stalinization and started introducing more elements of the free market economy.
When Czechoslovakia seemed closer to democratizing their brand of socialism in the so-called Prague Spring of 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia fearing that their control would be weakened. A student Jan Palach set himself on fire in the Wenceslas Square in January 1969 to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia which shocked everyone in the world. But it didn't achieve any substantial change. Thus began the era of what was called "Normalization" or in other words, the purging of any reformist elements from the communist government of Czechoslovakia that continued through the 1970s and 1980s and kept the population quiet. Then in 1989, there were several anti-establishment demonstrations starting with the anniversary of Jan Palach's death and each one increased the momentum of change. Finally, Czechoslovakia became free of the communist party's control in November 1989. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully separated into Czech Republic and Slovakia.
After the Museum of Communism, we walked to the Municipal House building and had lunch there. We had the beef goulash which was great and tiramisu which was okay. It had become quite windy and there was rain in the air so we stopped at our hotel to pick up cardigans and then walked to the meeting point for our walking tour of the Prague Castle and Mala Strana (Lesser Prague).
We started next to a bridge that has the statue of the man who painted the astrological part of the astronomical clock of the old town square. We crossed the bridge to the Mala Strana area and found out that the name comes from the fact that the elevation of the area is lower than the Prague Castle area which is on a hill. Mala Strana has scores of castles that were built by nobility and are now mostly used as embassies and government buildings. We took a tram up the hill and started our tour of the castle. We stopped at a view point that gives a majestic side view of the castle and then went inside the castle complex by crossing the bridge over the moat. The moat used to be a natural river which was then diverted because the lazy kings wanted the moat area to be populated with deer so that they could go hunting there. Then we walked onward to the second courtyard which is now surrounded by the President's office and a famous ballroom that is morbidly expensive to rent but still features for a few seconds in Mission Impossible 4. The second courtyard also has a well of water that had a cage over it to protect it from tampering by enemies. Then we walked to the first courtyard which is smaller and is the place where heads of states are greeted with a guard of honor. Our guide then pointed out different fancy palaces in the castle complex. Since we were on top of a hill, it had a decent view of the skyline of Prague, the city of a thousand spires (and orange rooftops) and it look magical. He also pointed out the replica Eiffel Tower on top of the Petrin hill and the rocket ship like TV tower that was built by the communist regime. It reminded us of Berlin where the only great building built by the communist regime was also a TV tower. The Prague Castle is the most elaborate complex of medieval palaces and buildings in the entire world and its like you're walking in a different era. Walt Disney's inspiration for medieval castles is also Prague.
Even in this impressive Castle town, the most impressive building was yet to come. That's the St Vitus Cathedral. The building is huge with an outer facade that's fitting for the main church of a castle, with gargoyles and statues and a big round window that was built using thousands of glass pieces. We went inside and the church is equally impressive inside, very spacious with ornate stain glass windows. Then we went to the back of the church and that's even more imposing and grand. There is a gold panel, giant murals, an even bigger window and tall spires. The building is primarily Gothic but in a strange quirk, the top part of the building is baroque! That happened after a lightening strike destroyed the top of the church building and they just decided to rebuild it in a different style, for no good reason. The Wenceslas chapel to the side of the St Vitus Cathedral is where the Crown Jewels of Czech Republic are stored. Then we saw the Royal Palace building followed by St George's Cathedral. Then we went to see the Golden Lane that has tiny houses in different colors and were home to the sharp shooters of the castle. Franz Kafka also lived in one of these houses for six months. Our last stop was a toy museum with a nude statue of a boy outside. Our guide parted ways at a great view point of the skyline of Prague. We took a few pictures and walked around and then took the stairs down the hill. Then we walked back to our hotel and freshened up for dinner.
We had dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant. We ordered the wok fried beef, pad Thai noodles and red curry. The food was really good but we must say that the best Thai food we have had so far is in Calgary! After dinner, we did some souvenir shopping and then came back to our hotel and are going to call it a night. Till the next update, ciao!
Our first stop of the day was the Museum of Communism. It's a small museum which started by giving a quick introduction to Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin and their socialist philosophies. Lenin's philosophy was a take on Marx with a focus on industrial production. The museum chronicles the story of Czechoslovakia and its communist history. Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918 towards the end of the First World War after the collapse of the Austrian empire ruled by the Hapsburg family. The Czechs and Slovaks were in different stages of economic development and had distinct cultural identities but working together helped them make quicker economic strides so they tried to make the union work. The first republic remained a democracy till 1938 when Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia brought to light the differences between the Czech and Slovak people - Slovakia broke away and declared independence whereas the region of what is Czech Republic today was annexed to Germany. The government of Czechoslovakia kept operating in exile and during the Second World War, they asked the Soviet Red Army to help liberate Czechoslovakia from Nazi rule. Czechoslovakia was back on the world map in 1945 but this new political landscape was dominated by socialist parties in the country. In 1948, the communists took over the country under the cover of superficial legality. Thus began the communist era of Czechoslovakia which lasted from 1948 to 1989.
The ideological divide between supporters of democracy and supporters of socialism/communism still exists to this day in the Czech Republic and it was no different back then in Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union had great influence over Czechoslovakia, so much so that they made super expensive memorials for Stalin and were in effect a satellite state of the Soviet Union. However, by 1960s, Czechoslovakia had completely stagnated economically and there were food shortages in the country. In response, Czechoslovakia started de-Stalinization and started introducing more elements of the free market economy.
When Czechoslovakia seemed closer to democratizing their brand of socialism in the so-called Prague Spring of 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia fearing that their control would be weakened. A student Jan Palach set himself on fire in the Wenceslas Square in January 1969 to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia which shocked everyone in the world. But it didn't achieve any substantial change. Thus began the era of what was called "Normalization" or in other words, the purging of any reformist elements from the communist government of Czechoslovakia that continued through the 1970s and 1980s and kept the population quiet. Then in 1989, there were several anti-establishment demonstrations starting with the anniversary of Jan Palach's death and each one increased the momentum of change. Finally, Czechoslovakia became free of the communist party's control in November 1989. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully separated into Czech Republic and Slovakia.
After the Museum of Communism, we walked to the Municipal House building and had lunch there. We had the beef goulash which was great and tiramisu which was okay. It had become quite windy and there was rain in the air so we stopped at our hotel to pick up cardigans and then walked to the meeting point for our walking tour of the Prague Castle and Mala Strana (Lesser Prague).
We started next to a bridge that has the statue of the man who painted the astrological part of the astronomical clock of the old town square. We crossed the bridge to the Mala Strana area and found out that the name comes from the fact that the elevation of the area is lower than the Prague Castle area which is on a hill. Mala Strana has scores of castles that were built by nobility and are now mostly used as embassies and government buildings. We took a tram up the hill and started our tour of the castle. We stopped at a view point that gives a majestic side view of the castle and then went inside the castle complex by crossing the bridge over the moat. The moat used to be a natural river which was then diverted because the lazy kings wanted the moat area to be populated with deer so that they could go hunting there. Then we walked onward to the second courtyard which is now surrounded by the President's office and a famous ballroom that is morbidly expensive to rent but still features for a few seconds in Mission Impossible 4. The second courtyard also has a well of water that had a cage over it to protect it from tampering by enemies. Then we walked to the first courtyard which is smaller and is the place where heads of states are greeted with a guard of honor. Our guide then pointed out different fancy palaces in the castle complex. Since we were on top of a hill, it had a decent view of the skyline of Prague, the city of a thousand spires (and orange rooftops) and it look magical. He also pointed out the replica Eiffel Tower on top of the Petrin hill and the rocket ship like TV tower that was built by the communist regime. It reminded us of Berlin where the only great building built by the communist regime was also a TV tower. The Prague Castle is the most elaborate complex of medieval palaces and buildings in the entire world and its like you're walking in a different era. Walt Disney's inspiration for medieval castles is also Prague.
Even in this impressive Castle town, the most impressive building was yet to come. That's the St Vitus Cathedral. The building is huge with an outer facade that's fitting for the main church of a castle, with gargoyles and statues and a big round window that was built using thousands of glass pieces. We went inside and the church is equally impressive inside, very spacious with ornate stain glass windows. Then we went to the back of the church and that's even more imposing and grand. There is a gold panel, giant murals, an even bigger window and tall spires. The building is primarily Gothic but in a strange quirk, the top part of the building is baroque! That happened after a lightening strike destroyed the top of the church building and they just decided to rebuild it in a different style, for no good reason. The Wenceslas chapel to the side of the St Vitus Cathedral is where the Crown Jewels of Czech Republic are stored. Then we saw the Royal Palace building followed by St George's Cathedral. Then we went to see the Golden Lane that has tiny houses in different colors and were home to the sharp shooters of the castle. Franz Kafka also lived in one of these houses for six months. Our last stop was a toy museum with a nude statue of a boy outside. Our guide parted ways at a great view point of the skyline of Prague. We took a few pictures and walked around and then took the stairs down the hill. Then we walked back to our hotel and freshened up for dinner.
We had dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant. We ordered the wok fried beef, pad Thai noodles and red curry. The food was really good but we must say that the best Thai food we have had so far is in Calgary! After dinner, we did some souvenir shopping and then came back to our hotel and are going to call it a night. Till the next update, ciao!
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