Prague, Day 2

We got up this morning and took the tram to the other side of the river Vltava, where the Old Town is. We started at the Mucha museum. Mucha is the guy who created those simplified paintings that were popular in turn-of-the-century Paris (and, indeed, are some of the most common art seen from the period.) Mucha was a serious Czech nationalist, and many of his most powerful works are centered on Czech nationalism. It was a great way to start the day.

From there, we walked through Old Town, to the Municipal House. This has numerous examples of Mucha's artwork, as he was called upon to decorate the place when they built it. We had coffee and a pastry and beer there, though truth be told it was a little early for beer but I was taken in by an advertisement for the amber beer "Master". It was nowhere near as good as the amber from the monastery brewery!

After this, we went to the Cathedral of St. James, because we heard this tale:

Visitors should also notice a mumified forearm more than 400 years old hanging on the right of the entrance. It belonged to a thief who tried to steel some jewels from the Madonna on the high altar one night. But the Madonna grapped his hand and didn’t want to let it go. The thief had to wait there until the next morning. The next day, when the Minorites came to the Church, they tried to separate the thief from the Madonna, but in vain. They had to cut his arm. Then the Madonna let the hand go. The monks hung the arm to remember this event and as a warning for other thieves.

Wow! A mummified arm! Well, the church was closed. They close for lunch, from 12:00 to 14:00. Argh!

We went around the corner to an Irish pub and had potato soup and shepherd's pie. It was a bit cold, but these dishes helped warm us up while we waited for the Church of the Mummified Arm to re-open. At 14:00 we walked back over to the church and checked (czeched?) it out. The arm itself was kind of disappointing, but the church was really gorgeous, with a tremendous show of gold and jewels.

From there, we walked to the Spanish Synagogue, but decided against going in. Truth be told I was getting kind of tired of sightseeing, so Elise and I split up -- me to head back to the hotel, and she to head over to the Daliborka. The Daliborka is part of Prague Castle that we didn't see last time; it was a prison whose name comes from its most famous prisoner, Dalibor, who learned to play violin while he awaited his death. I'm sure she will give a review when she comes home.

Before going back to the hotel, I picked up some sandwiches for dinner tonight, and some pastries for breakfast tomorrow. This was a Rick Steves hint-- hit a pastry shop and get some nice cheap pastries, and then have coffee and pastry in your room for a cheap breakfast. No kidding -- hotel breakfast is $25 or so, but the pastries were around $1 each and the coffee is complimentary in the room.