At that time in Europe (and I suppose today) it was true. In the 14th century (1348) under Roman Emperor Charles IV, it was the 2nd biggest city in Europe at 50 000, after Rome and even London only had 35 000. Charles was a very important man who influenced a lot and brought much to why this is such a large place. He founded the first university and built many sites that you can see in the city today, but after his death, the city became unimportant. Not until 1526 until the 17th century when Rudolph II became ruler did the city reclaim its fame. He loved all Sciences, Arts and Astrology (more so than his duties) and so many artists started to flow into the city.
And so the story continues: the Hapsburg's taking control, next the 30 years' war (where the protestant nobles wanted total power so they began to throw the Catholics out of the castle windows) then independent CZ and then WWII. Are you getting the picture? Sound familiar?
Of course, as you know, the story of the Jews here in CZ is no different than any other place. When the Communists were in control, they left a very definite mark on these people. They suggested that the people not attend church or follow any religion because, in the Comm government, Communism was their god. So, only 10% of the population are RC, 1% is Protestant and the rest of the population, amazing really, is Agnostic.
In 1989 (Hallelujah) the CZ began their own revolution and called it the "Velvet Rev" where no blood was shed but the decision to give up on Comm. was decided. Again in 1993, they decided to separate the entire state and became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Again it was peaceful and so they called it "The Velvet Divorce."
You know, this place reminds us a bit of Winnipeg. There's a bit more than 1 million population and they are spread out all around a river that runs winding through the city with various bridges to connect the two sides. If you stand far away, you can see lots of trees but the difference is that once you hit the centre of the city, it's all concrete - cobblestone actually - dangerous stuff where you can't just assume to walk without looking but have to check with every footstep. Annoying really and so today, I took a great fall as we were walking to a church and I hit a cobble or something, couldn't really tell, but I ended up prone all over the stairway with a bruised finger, scraped chest and sore legs. Such is the life of a traveler - I'll live.
In the olden city there weren't any numbers on the important houses so they places emblems on the front facade somewhere and so the emblem you see in the pictures is from the snake house. Also today as we sat for a rest in the shade, we watched a bike copper remove a Mercedes from the street as the car didn't have a pass. Because of how crowded it is these cities, we thought we would show you the ingenious way to ditch a vehicle.
Prague is beautiful. When walking around here G and I feel a bit as if we are in Gulliver's travels and that we are part of the Lilliput Land from the Wizard of Oz. We are just tiny specks beside a building. We stopped to watch the people walk down a street beside the architecture, they were little ants compared to the giant bldgs. Sometimes it's hard to feel a breath of air and one smell will remain for a long time as it has nowhere to go and up is too high to escape from the top of each home or building.
