Austin and I got up earlier than usual this morning to catch a bus to Karlstejn Castle, a hulking gothic structure commissioned by Charles IV in 1348. Situated atop a formidable crag an hour from Prague by car, Charles built the castle to safeguard his shiny things. Even during the Hussite wars (a religious war between Catholic czechs and the followers of Jan Hus, a church reformer who beat Martin Luther to the whole church reform thing by almost a century) and the Thirty Years War - the castle was never captured.
Like Something Out of Disney: The Magic Happens Here
Just as interesting as the castle tour was the drive to it. Our driver, Milada, confirmed my suspicions that most Czechs live outside Prague's center on account of expense, opting instead to live in one of the many art deco apartment blocks on the city outskirts. She also waxed poetic about Czech trends: how the biofuel industry is burgeoning and golf courses are "coming like mushrooms" to accommodate the growing wave of Czech businessmen.
Upon arriving back in the city, Austin and I set out to find this delicious bakery in the Jewish Quarter, where Jared took us to buy cakes yesterday. I had the cross streets, and even asked several people for directions but after about 15 minutes Austin and I were too famished to keep searching and settled on a character-void pizza place. Granted my hippocampus is the size of a shriveled raisin from relying on GPSs all the time, but I find Prague nearly impossible to navigate.
Prague's streets were likely mapped by a flock of headless chickens. They are nonsensical - zigging here, zagging there, and often resulting in dead ends. To make matters worse, the street names are incomprehensible. Even if you know you're going to Bratancu Veverkovych street, for example, YOU try pronouncing that well enough that a local understands you. As much as I complain, it must have been much harder to get around a few centuries ago when the streets had no names. Instead of street names, storefronts and restaurants differentiated themselves by painting different symbols - usually some sort of color + animal, such as "golden snake", or "white rabbit "- above their doors.
After a feast of pizza and more than a few circles, we finally found the Jewish Quarter. We were too tired to really give the old synagogues the time they deserved, but we did wander into the Spanish Synagogue. From the outside we weren't expecting much. The building's exterior is drab - a concrete block facade that could easily house a furniture warehouse. The inside, however, was breathtaking. Every square inch of the walls and ceiling was inlaid with in intricate mosaics painted in golds, rich blues and reds. It was like walking through a kaleidoscope (albeit with about 100 other gaping tourists).
Inside the Spanish Synagogue
After a lengthy nap, I left Austin in the hotel to go for a jog and thanks to my aforementioned directional incompetence, ended up literally and figuratively on the wrong side of the tracks. Instead of crossing the river to Malastrana - a chic neighborhood home to Prague castle - I made a wrong turn and across the train tracks in Zizkov, an area of Prague that according to one travel website still causes many Prauguers to "recoil in fear" at its very mention. Woops. It didn't seem that rough to me, but it definitely wasn't where I meant to end up, especially alone, without a map (sorry Mom and Dad!) On the upside, I got a close up view of Prague's monolithic TV tower and the black metal babies attached to it (because really, what building doesn't look better when decorated with gargantuan titanium tots).
To unwind from our day of missteps, I dragged Austin to the most safely fun place I could think of: the grocery store. Those of you who know me well will know that I have an obsession with quirky, and especially counterproductive marketing. Prague's Alberts did not disappoint.
CHOCO FREAKS
Ah yes, Choco Creeps. Finally, a cereal to go with one's morning dose of facebook stalking.
Anyway, thats all from me for now. Here's Austin:
Today we went to castle 45 mins from prague it was very big and old to on the top of a hill and fully furnished it was like 1,000 years old but really impressive for its time the best part was bridge crossing to top room their where great views
Hope you're all rocking out as hard as we are. Love, H&A.
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