Oh, Prague... you have my heart.
As you may know from my previous post, I have already been to Prague a number of times. This last weekend, I went back for a third time. This time, we took a field trip with our professors and learned a lot more about the history that is Prague.
Before our trip, we watched a movie called
Anthropoid which is based on a true story about one of the roles Prague played in the Holocaust and World War II. Czech commandos planned to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich who was a high ranking German Nazzi during WWII. After successfully assassinating Heydrich, the commandos took refuge and hid under the Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius in a crypt for 6 hours while the gestapo searched for them. After hundreds of gestapo stormed the church, all of the commando agents are killed in a fierce battle.
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The memorial located in the crypt of two agents
that Jan's great-aunt offered her home to. |
When we got to Prague, we checked into our hostel and then we took a tour of the Orthodox Cathedral where the commandos took refuge. We went down into the crypt where many of the commando agents were killed. There was still damage from the gun shots, and there was a memorial for every agent who was killed. No words can describe how I was feeling in the moments I spent in the crypt.
One of our professors ancestors played a big role in this mission. Jan's great-aunt harbored two of the agents before the assassination took place. Jan told us about his family's involvement and we were all very moved by his story. I can't even imagine being in Prague during the war or being in a situation similar to Jan's great-aunt. It makes me very thankful for the life that I live.
After we took our short tour of the church, our professors gave us some free time to go to the mall, get some food and then rest for the long day of walking we had ahead of us. Since I've been around Prague a time or two, I knew all of the good places to eat. Some of us girls went to Las Adelitas which is an amazing hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. The pomegranate margaritas and chicken burritos are to die for! We walked back to our hostel and spent some time bonding with one another in a crowded room with many beds. We suddenly received a text from Jess, who was on a conference call for her internship in Illinois. She was at the McDonald's around the corner using their wifi, because the connection at the hostel wasn't that great. A couple of homeless men came up to her and asked her for money so they could buy food. She sternly said no and they left her alone for a while. They ended up cornering her and tried to take her phone, laptop and her wallet. Jess yelled for help and no one would respond. Finally a couple tried to get the attention of a security guard and got her out of the situation. Jess luckily contacted one of us who had wifi connection so three girls ran to McDonald's to help walk her home. Although this mishap was terrifying, we all learned a valuable lesson that night. We learned that we should never go anywhere alone, no matter how comfortable we feel. Using the buddy system is key when traveling in a foreign country because the chances of someone trying to take your money is very slim when traveling in groups. We were all very thankful that Jess made it back to the hostel safely and unharmed and it was safe to say that we were not going back to that McDonald's for the rest of the weekend.
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Statue of the Crucifixion which replaced
a wooden cross in 1629 |
The next morning we woke up to rain, but we met up around 10:00am which was awesome because I'm sure you all know by now that I need my sleep. First we walked across the Charles bridge. I had been across the bridge a handful of times by then, but this time was different. This go around, we had our wonderful professors with us so they could tell us about the history of all the statues along the bridge. I even had the opportunity to touch the Martyr of the Confessional statue for good luck! I'm crossing my fingers that I don't end up losing anything else while I'm abroad. Next, we walked down to the John Lennon wall where I got just a few more pictures. The wall is constantly changing every day with new art pieces and signatures of the people that come to visit it. It was cool to see how much it had changed in just two weeks.
Because it was cold and raining, we found a small coffee shop to get some shelter and a bite to eat. We realized we were missing someone from our group. We got ahold of Abbie who was left behind on the Charles Bridge while she was taking selfies (a typical Abbie thing lol). When our whole group got back together, we headed up a huge hill to see the Prague Castle and Cathedral. Walking up the hill was well worth it because the view was BREATHTAKING. We were all taking pictures of the views and getting some selfies in as well. Then, Maekayla realized that her purse was open and her wallet was missing. I tried to retrace our steps to find it but there was no hope. With all that was going on, someone had managed to unzip her purse and take out her wallet. She froze all of her cards and tried to contact her dad back home but it was 6:00am there so he was asleep and the banks weren't open yet. Luckily, no one used any of her cards and she got them replaced and sent to her as soon as possible. We all learned that we all needed to hold on to our purses at all times. After that, I started to zip my purse up in my coat, just in case the good luck from that statue didn't work.
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| Jan, Jess, Martin, Professor Biggs and I at the pub |
After spending a couple of hours touring the Prague Castle and Cathedral, we walked to get some food. We ended up at this burger place that was pretty expensive but well worth it. They made us all pay together at the end, which is a little different from what we are used to. Tasha was a saint and put it all on her card, and we all just paid her for what we ate. Every time we go to a restaurant here as a group, the servers don't like it when we all pay separate. Usually it isn't a problem to go up to the counter and pay separately, but there were about 10 of us eating together that day so the server made us pay together. We had the rest of the day to ourselves, so we decided to relax because our feet hurt from all of that walking we did. Later that night, we met up with our professors and they took us to one of the first pubs in Prague. After a few beers, everyone decided to leave except for the 4 of us who stayed for a few more lol.
DRESDEN, GERMANY
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| Statue of Martin Luther in front of the church |
Early in the morning we hopped on a bus to go to Germany. The bus ride wasn't too long, but it was long enough for me to get a short nap in. Once we got to the main train and bus station, I bought a post card to write to my friend Cortney back home because she loves Germany so I figured I'd send her a little something from there. We walked to the church and saw a statue of Martin Luther and then split up for lunch. After lunch we walked through the church which had been destroyed and rebuilt with the remains and it was still as beautiful as it was before based on the pictures that were on display. After the church we walked around and saw some more beautiful buildings. On every corner there was a new street artist singing and playing music for money. We got to choose if we wanted to go to an art museum or an armory, and I chose to go to the art museum.. there were so many floors filled with works of art and sculptures. Most of it wasn't in English so I had to think of my own interpretation of the art piece, which I didn't mind at all. After a long day, we went back to Prague and spent our last night in the city roaming through the Easter celebration- which reminds me a lot of Czech Days in Wilber. It made me feel at home. :)
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| The old Jewish Cemetery in Prague |
Our last day in Prague was short lived, but it was a very humbling experience. We toured the Jewish quarters of Prague. Right when we walked in, the walls were covered in the names of those murdered in the Holocaust. It put into perspective of how many people were murdered during the War. The names were also played on a recording 24/7. We walked outside into the old Jewish Cemetery. I stayed close to our professor, Jan, as he talked about the history of the cemetery. Here's a little something I picked up on. During the War, the Nazi's buried bodies in this Jewish Quarter as a "trophy" for them to look back on. After the war, it was turned into a cemetery and more of a memorial for the Jews that lived there. In this cemetery, there were 8 layers of bodies buried and the headstones were placed on almost every square foot of the cemetery. Jan continued to explain the rituals of a Jewish burial. Typically, after death, the body would be prepared and buried at the next sundown, so most bodies were buried same day of death, unlike a christian burial. Something else that is different is that their feet would be placed at the tombstone so if they were ever resurrected, they would stand upright and see their name on their tombstone.
Before this, I had never seen a Holocaust memorial before, but only learned about it and saw pictures in my history classes. It was a very big eye opener for me to see all of this in person, especially to see all of the names on the walls of the Jewish Quarter. It really did put things into for me and it will be an experience that I will never forget. Later in the semester, we will be visiting a concentration camp, located in Poland. This will be something that I never thought I would be prepared to see, but I think this trip to the Jewish Quarter and Cemetery will help me be a little more prepared.
Overall, for me anyway, this trip to Prague has been better than the last two. I appreciate Jan, Martin, and Professor Biggs for showing us around Prague and putting up with us especially when we show up late to almost everything. We've put them through a lot in the last couple of weeks but we are very grateful to have them by our sides even if it doesn't seem like it. I am already learning so much, and I'm ready to explore more of Europe with them and the rest of our group from UNK.
Stay posted, because I will be taking a weekend trip for Easter break to Barcelona, Spain!
Thanks for sticking with me through this very long blog- you're a real trooper if you're still here.
Ciao!
