Prague Continued

Friday, 16th September

This morning we continued our Prague adventures with a guided walk of the old Jewish district. Only a few of us opted to do this walking tour, but I feel we were the most fortunate members of the group! We visited three synagogues (all museums) and the first detailed the history of the Jews in Prague - over 1000 years - and we saw some of the fixtures normally seen in a synagogue. The Prague synagogues were not destroyed during the Second World War as Hitler decided to retain them as museums of a race that no longer would exist; artifacts from other synagogues throughout the country were brought to Prague for storage.

The second synagogue was perhaps the most subduing and confronting (good preparation for our visit to Auschwitz, no doubt). The men were required to cover their heads for the visit to this memorial to the Czech Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis. The walls were inscribed with the names of all the 82,000 plus who lost their lives and there was a gallery with drawings done by children in the concentration camps. Very chilling and provocative. We followed this up with a tour of this synagogues cemetery, which dated from C1300. Because of the land restrictions, there are up to twelve layers of burials. A far more peaceful feeling for us to end the visit to this particular synagogue.

The final stop of our tour was at the Spanish Synagogue - a very ornate building which tried to emulate a Christian church.

Our guide returned us to our hotel through many of the small, narrow, cobblestoned streets and lanes - we were all totally lost and completely unable to remember our way back to the interesting little shops we had passed on our walk. Prague does not have any logical layout to its streets, which seem to head off in all directions and angles - even with a map it is extremely difficult for us to navigate. Consequently, there are few Prague souvenirs in the suitcase. Souvenir teatowels are non-existant for those who may be expecting another teactowel!

We did spend an period of time in the lobby this afternoon while our room was being serviced. When we returned, we discovered Cat sitting very neatly between the pillows on the bed with a big grin on his face.
Some photos will also be included on another post.