Prague - Part 2

     Sunday was filled with more time with the Chumbley family.  We met them and went to church with them.  We had visited their church when we were in Prague four years ago, so it was great to be back.  Following church, they go to the local mall food court with many church members and there is a wide variety of food choices.  A new addition to this visit was that the mall now has a Lego store.  No surprise that was where they wanted to go after lunch.  It was great fun for them to go play there for a while as we had a little time to catch up with Terry and Robin.

The Astronomical Clock - It rings on the hour and the disciples march across the front.

     After lunch, we decided to visit the Jewish Quarter of the city.  We had not been able to go there on our previous visit, but really wanted to make time for that.  It was one of several reminders of the difficult history of this city.  It was shocking to see the length of the list of names that covered the walls of one building.  It was of those, just from Prague, who were taken during the Holocaust.

The Spanish Synagogue

The Old Jewish Cemetery- Dates from Medieval times, 15th century.  It is estimated that 100,000 people are buried here, one on top of the other, up to twelve deep.  This is just a visual of the overcrowding one"the ghetto ".

Very different from the well-manicured and laid out cemeteries in the U.S.

     The Pinkas Synagogue - The memorial to victims from Bohemia and Moravia.

One of the most difficult parts, difficult to explain to the boys was the artwork of the children who were captured.  Many had their photographs with birthdate, date arrested, date of death.  The dates were disturbingly close.

Strahov Monastery

St. Norbert founded the monastery in 1140.

Lunch at the  monastery/brewery

Again, the Hungarian goulash was a highlight.

One of the most amazing features of this site is the monastery's two libraries.  They each have colorful fresco paintings on the ceilings and floor to ceiling library shelves filled with books.  

  See here for pictures of the libraries:  http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strahov_Monastery

A great view of the city:  City of 1000 Spires and City of Red Tile Roofs

The Prague Castle

St. Vitas Cathedral, Prague

Back to the Chumbley's house for BIG playtime

On the morning we were leaving, we had time to see one more sight.  We visited the Orthodox Church of Saints Cyrel and Methodius.  See here for details: 

 http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ss._Cyril_and_Methodius_Cathedral

   

    In 1942, during World War II, the cathedral was the scene of the last stand of a number of Czech and Slovak patriots who, in Operation Anthropoid, had assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi SS Obergruppenführer and General of Police. Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld was in command of the troops that stormed the church on 18 June 1942. After a fierce gun battle, they committed suicide to avoid capture.  Presently there is a museum in the church crypt dedicated to them as national heroes.  (This paragraph copied from Wikipedia).

     It truly is heart breaking to walk through some of this city's darkest stories.