In Good Company

20. Oktober 2010

Yesterday morning I met up with my good friend from high school, the Violin Man, in Old Town Square. We may not have too many opportunities to see each other again in the next few years, so it was really perfect how my Fall Vacation lined up with when he’d be in Prague. We decided to visit Vyšehrad Castle as some of the Violin Man’s classmates had said it was nice, and a couple of them were also planning to visit that day. Sure enough, when we got there, Logan and Chris were sitting up on a bench on the hill with all of their stuff, just chilling. They looked like they were waiting for a bus or something. The Violin Man introduced me to them and we all proceeded to make a rather haphazard tour of the grounds. We sought out Dvorak’s grave, peeped into the doors of the still-closed cathedral and enjoyed the vistas from various points throughout the grounds, including a few we found by accident when we were trying to find our way out.

After that The Violin Man and I went to the National Gallery in the Messepalast to view the 19th and 20th century art collection. We were there for about five hours straight and managed most of the museum in our marathon stretch. I could’ve lingered much longer in many places had there been time, but I got to see the French and International exhibits as well as lots of Czech Art, which I rather liked, so I really can’t complain. I’ll definitely be reading up on Kupka, Mucha and others in the near future. If you’re a Modern Art enthusiast, don’t overlook the Czechs! They’re worth more than a second look.

We were pretty hungry (read: ravenous) when the museum closed at six. It’s probably a good thing it closed then because otherwise I don’t think the Violin Man or I would’ve had the will to leave the art, no matter how famished we were. Earlier we had agreed to go my veggie restaurant and had mentioned to Chris where it was. After our chance meeting that morning, I wasn’t surprised when the Violin Man and I saw him standing outside the restaurant as we rounded the corner. Once again both the food and the company were excellent; Chris even wanted to go back the next day. It was nice to be able to show people an awesome place in a town where I don’t live and get commended for it – especially since the restaurant was vegetarian.

After dinner I was telling the Violin Man and Chris about my Pied Piper experience. They told me that apparently Prague has a gypsy problem, and they were convinced that I’d nearly been taken by gypsies. They thought it was a great story, and now that I’m not totally freaked out, I think so too. Finding the gypsies was kind of a running joke as we strolled through the streets. Chris took the Violin Man and I to the Lennon Wall, where people continuously paint/write quotes from and homages to John Lennon, and then to the lock gate, where people lock locks to the wrought iron bars – there are literally thousands of them. Then the Violin Man wanted to show me the “peeing statues” “if I was into it.” I’m not really sure “into it’ is really the right phrase, but I’m not going to turn down a piece of culture, no matter how strange, without a pretty good reason. Up the street from there a little ways, we found a book shop and perused the selection for about an hour. I could’ve bought several books (most of them about the Czech Republic), so I wrote down their titles for later. The book I started reading was a wrenching biography called Under a Cruel Star by Heda M. Kovály and was a Jewish woman’s story of her experiences in the Holocaust and later in Soviet-occupied Prague. It is definitely worth seeking out and finishing. The guys walked me to the metro station afterwards since it was getting late. It was nice to spend a day with travel buddies, and I just want to thank them for letting me be a part of yet another pleasant day in Prague!

Deine,
N*