Prague and its Unearthed Treasures
Our final goodbye to summer 2022 was as special as the summer itself. We planned a trip to the interesting city of Prague, not knowing that this destination would impress us in more ways than one. Prague was an emotional rollercoaster, and one of the best places in Europe to witness the onset of fall.
We took a walking tour on our first day in Prague. Coincidentally the weather took a sombre turn as we visited the Jewish Quarter, which is also the birthplace of Franz Kafka. Prague is the only major European city that was not bombed in WWII. But this certainly doesn’t mean it was untouched by evil. Apparently Hitler planned to use the Jewish Quarter to create a museum of the “Extinct Race” :( My heart wept as I saw many stolpersteine in the neighborhood, but some of them looked really clean. I was amazed to know that a British man cleans them regularly and has even written a book about them. I was touched, and my faith in humanity was restored.
Stolpersteine in Prague Jewish Quarter
As we continued the tour, our tour guide stopped at the Opera house. And there it was: a dementor! No no I’m kidding, the world of witchcraft isn’t real (sigh). But this hooded figure creeped me out. I asked the guide why someone would place something so spooky outside the Opera house. Turns out this sculpture (The Cloak of Conscience) by Anna Chromý was inspired from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Its placement in Prague commemorates the first place where Mozart performed Don Giovanni. Needless to say, we were amused by the time the tour ended.
The Cloak of Conscience
People always talk about the cultural richness of Prague. We didn’t expect it to have a quirky side, until we saw the “Hanging Man” sculpture! We had read about it online, but what was a total surprise was the “Hanging Woman” sculpture right across it (hey that’s not what we meant when we asked for gender equality :P). Anyway the “hanging man” is a statue of Sigmund Freud and it is so lifelike that many people have called the police thinking that someone’s actually attempting suicide! Well, quirkiness comes at a cost! I wondered why Prague was starting to resemble Bratislava. The first epiphany of the trip came when I realised that Bratislava and Prague were both in Czechoslovakia until 1989 (yes, I am not very bright when I’m on vacation).
Hanging Man and Woman
Once we caught a glimpse of this unexplored side of Prague, we dug even deeper. This led us to the narrowest street of Prague. It is a 50 cm wide walkway which has its own traffic lights (because only one person can walk through it at a time). The street led us to a restaurant whose exasperated staff stared at us, realizing that we, like the others, were going to walk back and not eat at their restaurant (oops). We walked back, feeling pretty stupid about the so-called “narrowest street”. This ended up being a fun experience which we can someday tell our children, while warning them to not expect all European tourist attractions to be “attractive” in the usual sense!
Narrowest Street in Prague
If you’re already tired of this peculiarity, I have some bad news! Prague has more unusual, almost bizarre attractions. The sculptor of “hanging man” also sculpted the rotating head of Frank Kafka. “Hang” on, I’ll explain! A 11 m tall sculpture of Kafka’s head is located in front of a busy shopping center. It rotates twice in an hour, and keeps rotating for 15 minutes! We caught one such rotation and couldn’t help but wonder if it was the shopping mall’s strategy to boost sales! Nevertheless, it was fascinating. The Engineer in me was jumping with joy (much like a kid who sees a roller coaster)! The Dancing house (which I won’t talk about much here), which looks like a couple on the dance floor really left us wracking our brains!
Left to Right: Franz Kafka Rotating Head and the Dancing House
Prague surprised us in many ways. When life seems difficult, I will dream of this: a summer day spent with my best friend exploring the secrets of Prague! Each European town has a tale to tell, and some have many, each as special as the other! While this post covered the hidden treasures of Prague, the next one will talk about the part that makes Prague a cultural paradise. Stay tuned, for our summer is not over yet!