Escape to myself

Well today has been full on. It’s been warm and sunny all day… T-shirt weather. My agenda was: visit to the Jewish quarter, visit to Tyn church, castle and cathedral area, wandering through the city looking at the architecture and finally a concert at the Clementinum.

Prague is a rather beautiful city; cobbled streets, amazing medieval and baroque architecture; it’s a joy to walk around in the sunshine. Great churches and spires, an astronomical clock. Beautiful old town hall and gracious squares. Something to catch the eye around every corner.

Jewish Quarter

The Jewish community was allowed some self governance in the ghetto in Prague in the thirteenth century and were emancipated in 1792. Although much of the ghetto was demolished in the early 20th century six synagogues and the oldest Jewish Cemetery in Europe remain.

The Castle and cathedral.

A very beautiful and elegant quarter of this city with the Gothic cathedral set in the centre of the Baroque castle and amidst charming and spacious squares. The hike from the city to the castle was gruelling (up many flights of steps) but the views of the city and the architecture made it well worth the climb. The castle was the scene of the Defenestration of Prague when the city rose up and threw the German government out of the windows to the rocks below.

An evening concert

Now I’m being curmudgeonly and showing my age. I try to be generous with my fellows but sometimes it’s hard. I sat next to the most enthusiastic “applauder” in the world and throughout the concert he and others perpetually filmed the performance on their phones. I know people do so and celebrity type concerts so they can post on Insta but it’s distracting and how can they concentrate on the music. How can you make a memory in your head? When did it become a thing at classical concerts? However it was a pleasant evening with a popular programme of Mozart, Bach and Pachelbel along with Dvorak. The organist was good and the mezzo-soprano was excellent. As I left I heard an impromptu swing/big band session in a nearby square… fabulous… part of the street culture here.

Just an aside … I visited the John Lennon wall. originally an ad hoc memorial to Lennon after his death it gradually became a focus if protest against communist rule and was continually painted over only to be replaced each night. Today it is semi- legal and continues to be a place of protest on global issues.

Tomorrow is another day.