Just the Beginning

Now that we have spent a few days in Prague and in Olomouc, it’s easy to pick out the differences and similarities between the two. Prague is, of course, a lot larger, but most of the people that we saw were tourists whereas in Olomouc I am able to see and meet more people that are from the Czech Republic.

Friday was our first full day here and we decided to go on the walking tour that our hostel had in order to get a taste of the city. On the tour we saw Wenceslas Square, Old Town, New Town, the Jewish Quarters, and Jan Palach Square. 

Wenceslas Square, National Museum in the background

Our tour guide showed us this mural and through it told us the way that Prague was founded. The legend says that the youngest daughter (depicted in the center of this mural) had special powers to see the future with, so when the king died, she took the throne. Two farmers were fighting over land and decided to come to the new queen for a solution. The farmer that was awarded the land was very happy, but the farmer that was denied questioned why he should listen to a woman. So, the queen told them,  "find a man just outside of town who will be plowing and bring him to me. He will be my husband and we will rule together." This is how the royal family was founded. The queen also said that on this land a great city will be built that will touch the heavens and it will be called Praha.

This building can be seen from the Old Town square. If you look closely, you will see that the two towers are different in size. This is explained in many different ways. One is that the first king under which it was built was meticulous and wanted the towers to be perfect, but passed away before the whole building could be finished (the left tower was build by him). So, it became the job of the next king, but he was lazy and simply told the builders to copy the first tower. Another is that the building plans were lost. Still, another story goes that they represent man and woman with one being taller and leaner and the other being shorter and fatter.

In the Old Town Square there was a lot of activity, like this man making giant bubbles.

This is the famous astronomical clock. Once again, a story was told with this. The man that designed and built this clock was later seen with plans that looked similar to it. The king was upset as he did not want a clock like this to be made anywhere else because it would take away from the uniqueness of this one. So, he had his men cut out his eyes so that he could not create anything as beautiful ever again. Unfortunately, his plans were simply to improve upon the clock in Prague.

This is the Opera House in Prague which is located in Jan Polach Square, previously known as Red Square. The name change was made to signify that the Czech Republic was no longer a communist state and to honor the sacrifice that Jan Polach made (burned himself alive in protest to communism).

This is what they call a hot potato. It was basically potato chips on a stick.

The view from Prague Castle.

The front of Prague Castle.

Shelby, me, Jess with the view of Prague from the castle behind us.

We also learned a few words in Czech:

Dobry den = Good day

Ahoj, Cau = Hi, Bye

Pardon = Sorry

Prosim = please & you’re welcome

Pivo = Beer

Na Zdravi = Cheers (to your health)
Dekuji = thank you

Shout out to our new friends Spencer and Brian from Chicago and Sierra from Michigan who we spent the rest of Friday and Saturday exploring Prague with! Saturday we went up to see the castle and got a pretty good view of the city- at least that’s what we thought. The next day we went to the top of the Tower on Petrin and got a view that had us looking down on the castle! Of course, along the way we ate traditional Czech food like Goulash (the version here reminds me of pot-roast), fried cheese and potatoes, and red pepper sausage. We have also had the opportunity to have Czech beer on many occasions- one of these was even at a monastery on the way back down Petrin Hill.

Entrance to Charles Bridge named after Charled IV, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire

Fried cheese and potatoes, a traditional Czech dish.

View of the monastery from the top of the Tower on Petrin.

On the way up to the Tower on Petrin.

View of Prague from the top of the Tower on Petrin.

Tower on Petrin.

On Sunday, we finally got a place to call home- Olomouc. Shelby and my biggest adventure here so far was trying to go grocery shopping. We were told to go to Globus, but had no idea where this was at, so we got directions from the very nice staff at Café 87. They told us to take the tram and then the bus, and we did everything correctly, except that the bus was taking us away from Globus! Luckily we ran into Anne, an alumna of this NSA program and current Graduate student at Palacky University, and she was able to help us out and show us the right way. Hopefully we won’t have as many problems navigating Olomouc after our tour on Thursday.

These can be found all over Olomouc (and Prague) and they signify that a Jewish person who lived at this place disappeared during World War II. They tell their name, their birth date, the day they were last seen alive, and where it is presumed that they were taken to.

Inside the town hall, there was a mini replica of the Trinity Column that stands in the center of the Olomouc town square.

The real Trinity Column in the center of town square.

View of Olomouc.

View of Olomouc

Until next time, ciao!