Walking Around Prague - The Capital of the Czech Republic All Day

Lulu studying at the Strahovska Library

America's rival

The gate to the city of Prague

Prague is a lovely capital city. It is bisected by the Vltava River - sometimes called the national river. The Old Town is on one side of the river and the Prague Castle sits high on a hill on the other side. After World War II - this capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia - became one of the Soviet satellite countries. For 40 years - they were ruled by a communist government- very similar to East Germany. They had their secret police and everyone that wanted to advance told secrets about their neighbors to the government. Travel to the west was impossible. In 1989 - when the Iron Curtain fell - and the USSR died - they became the Czech Republic or Czechia - take your choice. 

Today we walked around a vibrant city. We visited the Jewish Museum - the Communism Museum - and the Strahovska Library Museum. We did a lot of walking and climbed a few hills. The library museum is in a working monastery high on a hill. On the iPhone map it looked close - but you can't see hills on an iPhone map. Luckily the temperatures were in the low 70s. After that climb we took Uber cars to the other spots. Imagine - for $4 or $5 - a black Skoda sedan wisks up and takes you door to door. The car service in Prague has been excellent. We do not take regular cabs - with Uber there is no chance of an overcharge. 

The Jewish Museum was 5 different buildings and a cemetery - it is called the Jewish Quarter. There was a large Jewish population here for hundreds of years. When the Germans marched in and took Prague without a fight in 1939 - they started right away loading trains with Jews and sending them east to Auschwitz. After the war - they were very few Jews left. 

The Communist Museum reviews the rise and fall of communism in the Czech Republic. For 40 years - from WWII to 1989 - they were cut off from the free world. During the Olympics - many times the Communist athletes would escape from their handlers and seek asylum in the West. I remember some of my classmates at Tamaqua - fresh off the plane - free from communism. 

The Communism Museum had some neat displays of the Jawa Motorcycle. They were made in Prague and exported the world over. They looked very much like early Hondas. What came first the chicken or the egg? They were made of pressed steel - and were dependable cheap transportation. This wonderful museum had maybe 4 or 5 other people in it. No locals - they want to forget. 

Today - Wednesday - we are checking out of the wonderful Grand Hotel Bohemia - we will pick up our rental car and drive into Poland. We will be traveling by the seat of our pants - no plan. We just plan to be back in Prague on July 29th - to catch our plane back to Paris. I think we are renting a Skoda - the number 1 car made in the Czech Republic. It is a very nice looking car and voted many times the most dependable.

If you don't hear from us - call trump - he has good connections - his wife is from nearby.  

This poor fellow - parked in a handicap
spot - someone smashed his window - 
and then he got the boot

Check out this old Dodge at
the Aloha Restaurant

Garnet is the national gemstone.
Lulu loved the FSU colored stones.

Synogogue

Jewish Museum

Jewish Cemetery

Hanukkah Harry

These Cylinder donuts filled 
with ice cream

Prague Castle high on the hill

Salvador Dali Unicorn

They have both modern and old commie 
streetcars

Lots of very good artists.

We just crossed to the West Bank

You could hire this Mercedes replica

Crystal is famous here - 24% lead 

This is a Ford - really tiny

Strahov Library

1376 book. Hand written

Library was $4

This giant statue of Stalin was built downtown
for millions - then tore down 5 years later

Winston on communism.

Communist art

Little Jawa - pressed steel frame