Prague

Prague has a very rich history...it had the position of the "crossroads of Europe". Being the Christmas season, you may want to know that "the good King Wenceslas" was one of its best known saints. Prague came out of World War II almost unscathed by bombings so many of their buildings have been preserved. In 1989, the "Velvet Revolution" took place and ended communism. Prague has a castle and I am sorry to say the only picture we took...the changing of the guards.

Prague also has a very rich Jewish history. In the 1890's the city authorities decided to raze the ghetto slums because the area's complete lack of sanitation made it a health hazard...however and lucky for me, because I love cemetaries, a number of synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetary were all saved. We toured at least 3 synogogues. The history of the Jewish people is so interesting to me. One of these days maybe I'll study it more.

We walked through this entry into the "old city" every day and I just liked it so I made Tom, in his red coat, go over and stand by it. Tom doesn't like to stand and pose for pictures so I appreciate it every time he does.

This is the Town Hall Clock on ...you guessed it....the town hall on the Old Town Square. On the hour all kinds of things happen...little figures come out of the two doors right above the clock, makes all kinds of noise and is just fun. It is an astronomical clock and I won't go into all of the details but it was built between 1552 and 1572. It's hard for me to imagine something as complicated as this and in such fine condition being that old. I loved the church towers of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn. This church was started in 1365.

I took this picture just because I liked the profile of these buildings and their color. Prague is a beautiful city.

Just one of the many beautiful churches in Prague. This is Church of St. Nicholas which is situated on the Old Town Square. While we were there there was a festival going in in the square. You can see some of the little huts in the foreground. Holidays of Spices and Cheese....doesn't get better than that. Can you tell it was a bit nippy?

The highlight of the festival for the Holmans was the food booths. We really liked this booth. Trdelnik was a bread dough wrapped around a large dowel and cooked over coals. The symbol over the booth gives you an idea of what they were like.

Do you think we could pass one up? You can see them cooking...after they are cooked they are rolled in butter and then cinnamon and sugar. I can still taste them!

This is the "Dancing House" also known as the "Fred and Ginger House". This was the first building built after communism left (completed in 1996). It was built to show the political change in Prague...very interesting!

Got hot chocolate! It was so cold in Prague. One night Tom and I stopped at a little sidewalk cafe on the main platz in Prague and had cups of EXPENSIVE hot chocolate. It came all frothy with cream. Yum!

Good times in Prague!