6/27/2016 - Prague - Departure Day

6/27/2016 - Prague Departure

Our last day in Europe (we hope) started at 0530 h.  We had to get our luggage out for pickup at 0700
and our departure was at 0730.  We caught the Viking van (they had loaded out luggage in a trailer and we were on our way the Prague airport.  It took us 30 min. to get to the airport where there was another Viking "Colleague" waiting for us.  He shepherded us through the checkin procedure and right up to the security gate...  Basically, from the time we go to the Amsterdam airport until we arrived at the Prague airport, we have not handled our luggage by ourselves.  Viking has taken care of everything.

Now we are hoping that the French don't go on strike and strand us in CDG.  The Air Traffic Controllers are possibly going to strike today (6/28/16).  We will see?

We successfully made it to CDG and it appears that AF72 is on time- no hint of a strike yet so we are very hopeful.
 Next Update:  AF72 took off on time and we made the flight in about 10h 40 min.  It was pretty uneventful until we tried to get our luggage.. one of our suitcases didn't come so they will send it on to us in Hawaii when and if they find it.
Tomorrow we have an 0900 flight to Kona.
We were up at 0500 and caught the 0600 shuttle because they said there were substantial delays because of airport construction.  We did experience some slow down but it only took about 27 minutes to arrive at United checkin.  We did a curbside checkin with our ONE bag and that went very quickly.  We then were pre-checked so we zoomed right through the TSA screening and were 2.5 hours early- UGH!  Oh well, it is less stressful to be early than it is to be late.
We are really excited to see the family and puppies!!!

LAST NIGHTS CULTURAL EXCURSION TO LISTEN TO SOME MORAVIAN AND BOHEMIAN MUSIC

This was the place we went to out in the country outside of Prague.

Entering the buidling where we would have some intertainment and dinner.

These three musicians were very good and the guy in the middle playing the dulcimer was very talented.

The setting was rustic and, as is the case with country folk, the food is mostly meat and potatoes.

The group included two dancer singers and a soloist and they were all quite good.  I must say that, at least from my standpoint, it was a bit too loud in the confined stone barn.  I guess I am just an old fut!

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There were about 30 guest that board the bus from three different hotels in Prague (all Viking cruisers).

In this particular number the dancers were dressed like we feel!

6/27/2016 - Prague

6/27/16- Monday

Touring the Jewish Quarter and doing a bit of last minute shopping.

The Jewish Museum- Interesting.

One of the museums in the Jewish Quarter.  

To learn more of the history of the Jewish people in Prague go to Jewish Virtual Library. It is a very interesting and saddening read.

The Pinkas Synagogue, built in a Renaissance style, was first mentioned in 1492. Located in a flood zone, it was frequently being repaired and reconstruction occurred in 1953. One of its famous members was Franz Kafka, who prayed there with his family. Following World War II, it became a memorial to Moravian and Bohemian Jews who perished in the war. On the walls of the synagogue, there is a list of 77,297 names of those who died. Following the communist occupation in August 1968, all of the names were erased, but these areas have since been restored. The synagogue was closed from 1968 until 1992 because of the penetration of underground water. Today you may once again see the over 77,000 names of Jews murdered in the Holocaust as well as a display of Jewish pictures and drawings on the upper level.

Inside the Pinkas Synagogue.

There is a second floor of walls with the names of holocaust victims.

One of the many walls of names in the memorial to all of the Prague Jews that were killed during world war II.  Their name and date of death is listed for each of the 80-90,000 that died.

Here is a closeup of a section of the wall.  The entire list is in alphabetical order.

The Jewish Cemetery- a very interesting experience.

During the more than three centuries in which it was in active use, the cemetery continually struggled with the lack of space. Piety and respect for the deceased ancestors does not allow the Jews to abolish old graves. Only occasionally the Jewish Community was allowed to purchase grounds to expand the cemetery and so many times it had to gain space in other ways; if necessary, a new layer of soil was heaped up on the available area. For this reason, there are places where as many as twelve layers now exist. Thanks to this solution the older graves themselves remained intact. However, as new levels were added it was necessary either to lay over the gravestones associated with the older (and lower) graves to protect them, or else to elevate the stones to the new, higher surface. This explains the dense forest of gravestones that one sees today; many of them commemorate an individual who is buried several layers further down. This also explains why the surface of the cemetery is raised several meters higher than the surrounding streets; retaining walls are necessary to hold the soil and the graves in place.

This is the tomb of Rabbi Loew, a very famous and revered Rabbi.

Judah Loew ben Bezalel, alt. Löw, Loewe, Löwe, or Levai, (between 1512 and 1526? – 17 September 1609)^[1] widely known to scholars of Judaism as the Maharal of Prague, or simply The MaHaRaL, the Hebrew acronym of "Moreinu Ha-Rav Loew," ("Our Teacher, Rabbi Loew") was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic, and philosopher who, for most of his life, served as a leading rabbi in the cities of Mikulov in Moravia and Prague inBohemia.  (Wikipedia)

Smoking some ham for sandwiches.

We had a sausage from a street stand and ate it on this bench.

Having a bite of lunch from a street vendor.

Havelske Market square a few hundred meters from the old town square.

The market square.

Having a little ice cream with a pastry.

Street musicians playing in Old Town.

Our last moments in Prague Old Town.

Boarding our Viking shuttle to head back to the hotel.

6/26/2016 - Prague

6/26/16 - Sunday

We departed for our tour at 0830 after we had a hearty breakfast at the hotel.  We were taken though much of the old town and the new town .. I have uploaded a series of pictures but have not had time to label them... sorry.  I will get to them as soon as I can.

The blue track shows the outline of our day in Prague.  The morning tour and the afternoon wandering.  It amounted to 22.6 Km  (14 Km of that total was on foot.) and 8 hours.  We were tired but happy when we finally got back to our hotel.   

Here is the same trip on a street map.

Rod is indicating that something Pat said just sailed right over his head!  It had something to do with a witch she knows.

Our Two Cats restaurant.

Sitting at our first dinner in Prague at a restaurant called 2 Cats- see below.  Pat had chicken schnitzel, Rod had Pig Knee, I had Czech Chuck- lots of different pork and a piece of duck.  Sandy had some sort of meat rapped in a pancake.

  

We stopped at a candy store on the way back from our meal.... we really needed something else to ear, NOT!

Some sort of chocolate/caramel candy.

This is the famous astronomical clock on the tower of city hall in the old city square.  It was put into operation in 1410.
The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square. The clock mechanism itself is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of the Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures—notably a figure of Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. According to local legend, the city will suffer if the clock is neglected and its good operation is placed in jeopardy and a ghost, mounted on the clock, was supposed to nod his head in confirmation. Based on the legend, the only hope was represented by a boy born in the New Year's night.^[1] 

Looking at menu options in the old city square.

A store that had wonderful ceramic beads, necklaces and various glass lamps.

Pat must have been hungry, chewing on her glasses.

The square's center is home to a statue of religious reformer Jan Hus, who for his beliefs was burned at the stake in Constance, this led to the Hussite Wars. The church in the background is the Gothic Church of Our Lady before Týn.

The tower is the old town hall tower and, on the opposite side is the Astronomical clock.

Walking across the Charles bridge crossing the Vltava River is the oldest bridge in Prague.

Looking toward the Prague Castle.  Out of Wikipedia-Prague Castle (Czech: Pražský hrad) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic, dating from the 9th century and the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. TheBohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world,^[1] occupying an area of almost 70,000 m², at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide.

John of Nepomuk was a priest in Prague under King Wenceslas IV (son of Charles IV).  The Queen made a confession to John of Nepomuk.  Unfortunately for him, the King being a very suspicious man, pressed John of Nepomuk for the Queen’s confessions which John of Nepomuk would not reveal, not even to the King, because it would be against his commitment of confidentiality. John of Nepomuk was therefore executed by being thrown into the Vltava River from the bridge and drowned.  Rubbing the plaque is considered to insure that you will return to Prague.

Charles River bridge gate on the Prague Castle side.

The statuary of St. John of Matha, St. Felix of Valois and St. Ivan.  The most popular bridge statue and also the most capacious and expensive one.  It was built in honour of two founders of the Trinitarian Order, the Order taking care of buying out and gaining christians from unbeliever's power.  The pedestal of the statue is formed by a cave, in which three chained Christians as God for salvations.  On the side of the cave window a Turk is on guard - this is one of the most famous Prague plastics.  St. Felix holds the cartouche with one hand while presenting the other hand to a liberated Christian.  Above the Turk the figure of St. John of Matha with a deer, whose vision prompted foundation of the Order.  Then St. Ivan Kneels above St. Felix. (http://www.charlesbridge.cz/l_14.html#).  

These models of old cars are very popular as tourist touring cars. 

The church of St. Nicolas.

There were many shops with multitudinous glass and crystal pieces for sale.

The Lennon Wall or John Lennon Wall is a wall in Prague, Czech Republic. Once a normal wall, since the 1980s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs.

The Devils Stream is a side branch of the Viltava River which was once used to drive the wooden water wheel to power a mill.  The statue is a ghoulish creature that was supposed to drown people that came by the mill or some such story.

Hundreds of people waiting to enter the Prague Castle.  We were held up because of the changing of the palace guards.

This glorious entrance gate is a part of Rococo railing which comes from the period of the reign of the empress Maria Theresa. Above the main gateway, you can see a partly gold-coated wrought archwith a royal crown at the top. Sides of the gate are formed by bulky square columns bearing sculptures of fighting giants from 1768. There are other beautiful sculpture works on other columns but not as monumental as the first ones. In front of the largest columns, you will always find members of the Castle Guard on duty. If you have already seen the gate and the guards, enter the First Courtyard. (http://www.praguecityline.com/prague-monuments/prague-castle-entrance-gate-and-the-first-courtyard)

One of the fighting giants on the entry gate.

The other pair of fighting giants on the entrance gate.

St. Vitus Cathedral  is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in the country. 

The back of St. Vitus Cathedral clearly showing the flying buttresses.

Stained glass inside of St. Vitus Cathedral on the grounds of Prague Castle.

Inside the St. Vitus Cathedral.

St. Vitus Cathedral stained glass.

St. Vitus Cathedral stained glass.

Statues inside of St. Vitus Cathedral.

Statues inside of St. Vitus Cathedral.

St. Vitus Cathedral stained glass.

St. Vitus Cathedral stained glass.

Christmas cutout decorations... Xmas is a big deal here in Prague.

Taking a look at the "kitchen witches" that apparently bring good luck if you have one in the kitchen.

The old town square as seen from the top of the Town Hall Tower.

One of the rare times we had a beer!  This was on the Prague Old Town Square.

St. Vitus Cathedral and Prague Castle as seen from the Charles Bridge.

The Svatopluk Čech Bridge connects the districts Holešovice with the Old Town. At 169 meters it is the shortest bridge in Prague.

Listening to some explanation in the Jewish Quarter.

A street in the Jewish Quarter leading up to the Kausova Synagogue.

Tourists waiting for the astronomical clock to do its thing on the hour.

I saw these two signs and thought of how many times we have been suggested to Museum Torture during the trip.

Charles Bridge gate at the old town side of the bridge.

The folks of Prague seem to have a strong love of John Lennon and the Beatles.

Love locks on the railing over the Devils Stream.

The narrowest road in Prague and it actually as a stop light.

Changing of the guard at one of the gates into Prague Castle.

Our navigator.

Seemingly happy shoppers!

Charles Bridge gate from the Prague Castle side.