Saturday and the weather was becoming hotter. Early morning was still cool so best to set off early. Breakfast at Pauls preceded a stroll over to the central rail Station. The original building looked very sad from the outside but it had been extended with a modern glass and steel extension and tunnel under the road to make it a very busy station. At the same time as building the extension they freshened up the art deco interior of the station making it really swish inside. Outside in the park we found the memorial to Woodrow Wilson who is remembered by all the Czech citizens of the USA for the services to their home country after WW1 by this monument in his honour.
We intended to visit the Jewish Quarter but were unexpectedly confronted by the Jerusalem Synagogue. I don’t know what you would call the style – baroque meets art deco with a touch of Arabia. Shanelle thought she would put the synagogue to good purpose with a poignant photo about evil.
As we turned back to our apartment we could not help but find interesting features on the buildings – like the wall mural on the soup kitchen. If there is any one thing that makes Prague stand out it is the diversity of its architecture and the use of colour design and art to enhance its appearance. Oh and the Tram turned into a restaurant as well.
This is Ivor and Shanelle’s last day and they fly out around noon so we farewell them and watch them leave in their cab. We decide to continue our walk and head onto the Jewish Quarter. The temperature has climbed to 34C so we seek the shade wherever it can be found. The Jewish Quarter is made up of a number of synagogues and the old cemetery. The oldest synagogue is still the finest in my view.
We found more of that diversity and some interesting street art – from the Franz Kafka statue in the precinct where he was born to the statute of recreation. We even stopped at the Restaurant Amos for refreshment. Although Prague is a large city it can be easily navigated particularly when you are centrally located. We made our way to the Powder Tower and the shopping precinct (via the shade) and visited the National Orchestra House a superbly baroque styled building inside and out. Where it had taken us hours to walk to this point from Wenceslas Square we found that 10 minutes down the road we were back at our apartment.
glendon1954 