After waking up early, checking out of our hotel, and saying
auf wiedersehen to Evgeniya, we
embarked on our journey to Prague.
Sitting in cars that reminded us of Harry Potter, we wandered from one
cabin to another, reflecting on our time in Germany. In Germany we saw a lot of abstract,
relatively new monuments and memorials.
Most of the meanings were, by design, left to the interpretation of the
visitors. This type of memorialization
was not expected, as I thought we were going to see the typical statue, with a
plaque, telling us exactly what to think about the memorial. However, what really stood out to the class
at all the places we visited in Germany, such as the Jewish Museum Berlin, the
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and Ravensbrück concentration camp was all
the personal artifacts and letters, as well as the stories our tour guides told
us. These things gave identity to the
people in the Holocaust, both the survivors and victims, which facts and
figures could never do. It will be
interesting to see how Prague chooses to memorialize the Holocaust and the
Jewish people, which we can then use as a point of comparison to Germany. Overall I believe we all enjoyed our time in
Berlin, and cannot wait to see what Prague has to offer.
After we arrived in Prague, struggled
to get our luggage out of the compartments, and left the train, we met Petr and
checked into the hotel. Once at the
hotel, we were all excited to find out that there were two beds, free in-room
Wi-Fi, a shower curtain, and a door to separate the toilets from the
sinks. Clearly we are not accustomed to
“roughing it.” We were also warned about
pickpockets and told where not to go at night.
Following this orientation we headed to the bank to exchange our euros
and begin our tour of Prague. After
having a minor freak-out at the price of water, and then learning the exchange
rate of the koruna, we headed out to explore the city with Professor
Paces. We walked over to the National
Museum and the old Soviet parliament building and then to Wenceslas Square
where we were given a lot of historical information.
View of Wenceslaus Square from the National Museum
We then walked to the Charles Bridge where we
had a photo-shoot and enjoyed the view from the river, while we waited to go to
the theater to see the Legends of Magic Prague.
Based off Czech legends such as Faust and Golem, this multi-media dance
show featured different music and video projections and was something that I
don’t think anyone had experienced before.
After watching/napping through the unique show, we left the theater and
headed to a restaurant where we sampled some authentic Czech food, such as
venison and duck dishes. After getting a
crash course in the public transportation system, due to the unexpected rain,
we arrived at our hotel, ready to experience what the Prague still has to
offer.
-Jennifer Fraunberger
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