Today, I went off to tour Jewish Prague, Dan went off to...... I don't know where Dan went off to... my tour promised lots of stairs up and down so Dan was left to his own devices and went off to find a pub. Just as a side note, Google maps is not all that helpful. There are a number of synagogues in the old Jewish Quarter, not all of them still hold services, one of them has been turned into a museum of the history of the ghetto, another holds the Holocast memorial, (These two are as old as the city itself) There is also the Spanish Synagogue, which was built after the break up of the Soviet union which is a functioning Reform Jewish synagogue. It is open to the public and contains exhibits of the industrial and cultural contributions of the Jews of Prague.
Did you know that the safety pin and the snap closure came from here? I didn't. Also, the Art Nouveau movement had its beginnings here, and Franz Kafka. No one actually seemed to read Kafka when he was alive. However, since his death, he has become a celebrated "native son" and his works acclaimed, not that it makes them easier to read and understand. This is a statue of Kafka and his friend who was responsible for the wide spread rebirth of his writings. A woman came along, placed her hand on his boot tips and bowed her head. Our tour guide had no idea what this meant, though from the polished condition of the boots it seems a popular gesture. I must research this.
We also toured the Jewish Cemetery, which is are old as the Jewish Quarter itself. The size of Cemetery was never allowed to get any larger over time, so basically, the inhabitants were laid to rest in layers and it holds about 800,000 graves.
The afternoon was free, and after more walking about, I located Dan. Then more exploring followed by more cursing google maps, and a few restorative glasses of wine in a nearby wine bar, we went back to the hotel to ready our selves for the next day departure to Budapest.
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