Tours of Castles and Jewish Quarter

Trip Start Jun 23, 2010

Trip End Aug 07, 2010

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Flag of Czech Republic Prague, Bohemia, Czech Republic
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Cemeteries are very interesting places to explore. We spent time at the cemetery at Vysehrad Castle after a tour. There is a basilica by the cemetery, but not much remains of the castle itself. This was one of the first castles (900's) in the area of Prague and has many myths and legends associated with it. The best was about the Maiden Wars with a powerful queen Lebuse who lead this group of women warriors.

Earlier in the day listened to a talk by on the people educated in the underground education which was held during the time of communism. This was the only way for students of dissidents or those wishing to study humanities, philosophy, political science – courses requiring independent thought. It was dangerous to not only hold these seminars, but also to attend. One interesting thing was that those wanting to attend these seminars were people you would least expect by looking at appearances --- the long-haired "hippies" into rock music during the 70’s

Dyvoraka's Grave

. These musicians and writers of the 70’s who attended these seminars later became the political leaders after the fall of communism in 1989.

Great dinner at an Afghanistan restaurant. The food was really good. Something I probably wouldn’t have tried on my own. There is really not a large Afghani population in Prague, but there are several Afghani restaurants in the city.

Wednesday-

Interesting lecture by an important and respected member of Czech politics. He was a former Minister of Education and is the head of the Humanities Department at Charles University. He was also a dissident and part of the underground during the tine of communism. Many of the same issues we face in the US are being faced by the Czech education system. They are moving from a more centralized system to one of greater freedom. Quite ironic since in the US we seem to be moving the other direction.

Finished the afternoon with a painful tour of the Jewish Quarter – a group of 20 people trying to listen to an elderly guide that barely spoke above a whisper. Definitely something to visit on your own. Since I had been there previously it was an especially long tour.

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