We took a few days off this week to rest and take care of some errands. One of the more pressing issues was – buying a new pair of sneakers. In the last 10 months I’ve worn out two pairs, I can’t imagine why. I normally wear New Balance brand sneakers because they come in wide sizes but none of the brands in any of the shops in Budapest or Prague seem to be available in wide sizes so I settled for a pair of Nike’s that are about a half size too big. It seems to be working for me for now.
The other pressing matter has been the computer. Because we have so many photos we store them on an auxiliary hard drive and that drive has been acting up. This morning it died so we had to buy a replacement. Fortunately all of our photos are backed up in the cloud but it’s going to take a fews days to download all of them – almost 10,000 in number.
This respite gave me free time to play some tennis. Our host recommended a club where his son takes lessons. It’s a lovely club with tennis courts, badminton courts, beach volleyball courts and much more. I think they even have canoes that you can rent to row on the river. I hooked up with an older pro who used to coach the national boys team. We had a lot of fun smacking little yellow balls. If I had time for a third session I might actually have gotten my timing back but for now I just had to settle for taking out some of my agressions. The prices were very reasonable: $45 for an hour on the red clay and that included the cost of the coach. I also had my racket restrung with catgut, which cost about $35. That compares favorably with New York where I used to pay around $90.
Sunday, June 24
We decided to go out late and take some night pictures. The sun sets around 9:30 pm in these parts so we left the apartment at 9:00 pm and headed for the hill leading to Letenský Park. It’s someplace we hadn’t been before. At that elevation the park commands a nice view of the city. Besides, it had been a few days since we climbed anything and we didn’t want to get out of practice.
There’s an interesting monument at the top of the hill. It’s a large metronome and, of course, there’s an interesting story to go with it. During the communist occupation the government decided to construct a statue of Stalin and place it on top of the hill. The statute was to be the largest likeness of Stalin in the world. Just about the time the statue was completed Stalin died. The communist regime decided that Stalin was no longer a good model for their people and so they decided to kill the project and blow up the work. The sculptor was so distraught that he killed himself. The site where the statue was to have been is now home to a giant working metronome. We have no idea why they chose a metronome but there it sits. You can’t make this stuff up!
We walked around the park for a while. By 10:30 pm it was fairly dark and we started taking pictures. We walked from the park all around Prague Castle, across the Charles Bridge and then meandered south along the river. We got some really nice shots.
(Prague Castle at Night)
Distance walked: 8.0 miles
Monday, June 25
After our late night we got a late start. We decided we needed a jumpstart so we headed over to an interesting coffee shop called Republica Coffee. The sign in the window advertised the brand of coffee they sell and it really caught our attention. It was very good.
(An Interesting Brand Name)
We spent most of the afternoon strolling around the Old Town checking out the shops until we stopped for lunch at an interesting restaurant called The Cubist Café. They have a beautiful assortment of homemade pastries in the window and it just draws you in. Deborah had a chicken and avocado sandwich with wasabi mayo while I had pork ribs in a spicy rub with a side of mustard and horseradish. Everything was so good we decided to try their pastries. Deborah had crepes with plum jam and lemon creme while I had a donut with creme anglaise filling and white sugar icing. We weren’t disappointed.
(Pork Ribs)
Distance walked: 4.7 miles
Tuesday, June 26
We traveled to Brno to see yet another Mucha exhibit. Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic and about 2.5 hours southeast of Prague by train. We arrived at 11:30 am and had plenty of time to walk the two miles to the exhibition center; our tickets were for 1:00 pm.
Since we arrived in Prague we’ve been hoping to see Mucha’s premier work: The Slav Epic. We went to the museum at the Trade Fair Palace expecting to find it there but were disappointed that it had been moved. The docents at the museum told us that it was in Brno. We did a little research and found some interesting information.
The Slav Epic is a series of 20 massive paintings that Alfons Mucha did over a period of 18 years starting in 1910. His plan was to donate the paintings to the city of Prague on the condition that they build a special pavilion to display them at their own expense. They were displayed at the Trade Fair Palace for a while but for last fifty years or so the paintings have been on display in the city of Moravský Krumlov, which is near to Brno. In 2010 the city of Prague requested that the paintings be returned and a legal battle ensued. In the meantime, over the objections of the Mucha foundation (run by Mucha’s grandson) the paintings have gone on a tour where they spent several years in Japan. According to all available sources the paintings are now on display in Brno.
The exhibition was in two parts. The first part was a series of graphic works including posters, postcards, advertisements and furniture designs. Interestingly enough these works were all from a single collection owned by Ivan Lendl who many of you may known as a tennis player from the 1980s and 90s. Lendl was born in Czechoslovakia, emigrated to the US and became a citizen in 1992. He has been collecting works by Mucha for many years and has the single greatest collection in the world. In 2013 Lendl loaned his collection to the city of Prague but they have been moved to Brno as part of the current exhibition.
The second part of the exhibition was the Slav Epic. These are giant canvases that cover the history of the Czech and Slavic people. The paintings were displayed in a room the size of a large airplane hangar and they covered the walls from floor to ceiling. It was a magnificent sight. We were given pamphlets that explained much of the symbolism in the works which was very helpful. It’s a shame that we can’t share pictures with you but no photography was permitted.
It saddens us to say that only nine of the 20 paintings in the series were on display. When we asked the docents they said that the other 11 were on display at Municipal House in Prague. We had recently been there and knew that wasn’t true. Eventually we found out that the 11 paintings that were not in Brno will be on display in Prague starting in July of this year (we’ll be in Dresden by then 😢). It’s not clear whether the nine that are currently on display in Brno will stay in Brno or will be moved. It is likely that the courts will be involved in the final disposition of the entire matter.
We had several hours to kill before our train back to Prague so we spent our time exploring the old town where there are many old Gothic churches. The Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in the 10th century and is considered the best preserved stylistically coherent church in Bohemia. The big attraction is the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul with its grand towers which dates from the 14th century. When we climbed the tower we discovered a passage from one tower to the next so we were able to see the Town from all sides. Included in the price is a tour of the treasury where we could see inside the church from the second floor and had a close view of the beautiful stained glass windows. Neither church permitted photography.
Distance walked: 10.9 miles
Thursday, June 28
If you thought that we’d seen all the worthwhile museums in Town you’d be wrong. Today we bought a combination ticket that would allow us to see the exhibitions at the Sternberg Palace, the Schwarzenberg Palace and the Convent of Saint Agnes of Bohemia – all three for the price of two.
We started with the Sternberg Palace. They specialize in European works from antiquity to the Baroque. You could easily tell that the building once had been a magnificent showplace but that it had fallen on hard times. Only a few of the rooms still had frescos or period decorations. The collection featured the only Rembrandt in all of the Czech Republic and quite a number of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens.
Next we visited the Schwarzenberg Palace. This was another once grand nobleman’s home. They had a special exhibit of ancient weaponry in the newly renovated attic. The vast collection of pieces had been assembled from all over the continent and featured mostly European weapons. There were displays of armor, cannon, swords, pistols and rifles from the 1300s through the 1700s. They also had a number of original paintings depicting famous warriors and battles from that time period. It was very impressive.
(Helmet from the Medieval Armor Collection)
The permanent collection features works from 1500s through the Baroque. Many had been collected by Rudolf II, an avid art enthusiast and King of Bohemia in the late 1500s. Perhaps our favorite works were the etchings by a Czech artist who studied and worked in Amsterdam. His name was Jacques De Gheyn II. His dates are 1565 – 1629. It’s always fun to discover new artists.
Distance walked: 6.1 miles
Friday, June 29
Today, our last full day in Prague, we went to see the Convent of Saint Agnes of Bohemia. Agnes, born in 1211, was the daughter of King Ottokar I of Bohemia. She was cannonized for devoting her life to charity, piety and mortification of the flesh. The convent where she lived is now a national museum displaying medieval works of art. There is also a large Gothic church on the site where Saint Agnes and many royals of that era are buried.
The enormous collection spanned the time period from 1200 through the middle of the 1500s and included works primarily from Bohemia. A large part of the collection were triptychs from churches that no longer exist. Most were in excellent condition. There was also a large collection of wooden sculptures – also from churches of the past.
One of our favorite displays was a series of portraits of saints created by Master Theodoricus in the late 14th century. We also enjoyed touring the Gothic cathedral with its towering vaulted ceilings. It’s hard not to be impressed by that.
(Saint Ambrose by Master Theodoricus)
Distance walked: 6.1 miles
Our time in Prague has come to an end. We’ll see you next week in Dresden, Germany!