For breakfast, the girls were super happy to have hardboiled eggs and crepes with jam…they really like Prague already!
Off we went for our 3 hour walking tour and started at the Starbucks in the Old Town Square. Oliver was quite happy with this meeting place! I’m happy if I can find a Diet Pepsi that has bubbles and is cold…they tend to sell it flat and warm…oh well – it’s a good way to give up the habit!
Our tour guide’s name was Jana and she was amazing – a small person with a big voice and personality! She’s from Prague, but has lived in Spain and America while doing her studies so she spoke perfect English. The tour was amazing as she shared a lot of social history on what it was like to grow up in Prague. Her grandmother lived in the city her whole life – but was officially part of 7 different countries over her 84 years. Jana’s parents were also part of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 when communism was defeated and they joined hundreds of thousands of Czech’s who met on Wensleslas square and jingled their keys to indicate it was time for them to claim back their homes – it was really interesting to hear what life was like with the secret police and how people were afraid to trust their friends, neighbours and even their families.. We all so appreciated how lucky we are to live in Canada.
There were a few key highpoints the girls really enjoyed – one was the legend of St. James church where a thief tried to steal a gold necklace off of the Virgin Mary and it grabbed his arm and wouldn’t let go. In the end, they had to cut his arm off and the mummified arm is suspended over the door to warn others not to steal. Creepy – but the girls found it neat.
The other topic that fascinated the girls was the story about the Catholic Priest Jan Hus who proposed that mass should be delivered in the language of the people and that communion should be given to all. He was burned at the stake for being a heretic. His followers rebelled and during a number of religious wars took part in defenestration – where they threw the Catholic leaders out the window. In one instance, the victims survived because they landed in a pile of manure. The Catholic church said that it was a miracle because the angels came down form Heaven to save them. Our girls just thought it was hilarious they landed in poop!
The other topic that fascinated the girls was the story about the Catholic Priest Jan Hus who proposed that mass should be delivered in the language of the people and that communion should be given to all. He was burned at the stake for being a heretic. His followers rebelled and during a number of religious wars took part in defenestration – where they threw the Catholic leaders out the window. In one instance, the victims survived because they landed in a pile of manure. The Catholic church said that it was a miracle because the angels came down form Heaven to save them. Our girls just thought it was hilarious they landed in poop!
After the tour we went back to Starbucks and met up with Mae. It’s amazing we don’t have many opportunities to see each other in Toronto, but yet we can meet in another country?
After catching up and a lengthy rest with the pigeons we continued to walk around and view the Astronomical clock that was voted the most over-hyped tourist site in the world. We thought it was cute and tried to see it as often as possible.
Then we walked over to the Charles Bridge towards the Castle…of course the bridge is magnificent with all the different statues and Saints. We decided to be royalty so the girls acted as our knights and led our group through the palace grounds.
At one point we stopped to listen to a beautiful choir practicing…while this was taking place, Mik and Zoe were investigating a fountain…all of a sudden, we had a very wet Zoe as she took a tumble face first into the water. Luckily, teta Mae had a warm jacket that Zoe was able to wear as we made our way back to the hotel.
Then we walked over to the Charles Bridge towards the Castle…of course the bridge is magnificent with all the different statues and Saints. We decided to be royalty so the girls acted as our knights and led our group through the palace grounds.
At one point we stopped to listen to a beautiful choir practicing…while this was taking place, Mik and Zoe were investigating a fountain…all of a sudden, we had a very wet Zoe as she took a tumble face first into the water. Luckily, teta Mae had a warm jacket that Zoe was able to wear as we made our way back to the hotel.
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