Poor ol' Alison. When we all flew to Europe, she had to catch a later flight than the rest of us. So that meant she missed out on spending the first day strolling around Prague, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. So, Ali, here's what ya would've seen if you got there 8 hours earlier.
They started building St. Vitus's Cathedral in 1344, but didn't finish it until 1929. Hmmm. Well, it is a pretty big church! And in that time arkitextural styles kept changing! So in one building you see examples of many periods of Cathedral fashion! St Vitus was a 3rd century martyr and patron saint of dancers.
St. Vitus's, Prague Castle and various palaces stand on Hradcany Hill and overlook the Vltava River. It was from Prague Castle in 1618 that envoys of the Hapsburg king were defenestrated*, and this led to the Thirty Years War.
If you are on foot, the best way to cross the Vltava into the 'old town' is by the Karluv most (or Charles Bridge if your Czech is a bit rusty). The bridge was built in the 15th century and has 16 arches and many statues. Many Czech art dealers gather here to flog paintings to passing tourists, of which there are also many.
It's our Alison posing in typical Prague streets she never even visited! Oh, the wonders of modern computer paint programs. (Honza has too much time on his hands, hey?)
| It's me, setting my watch to central European time. Well, who's website is this anyway??? It can't ALL be about Alison! This astronomical clock has been working since 1490. The guy who winds it has a job for life! As well as the time, it displays the day and month and zodiac stuff and phases of the moon. Every hour, the saints and apostles pop out of the windows near the top, and those other little statues all come to life! (not really, just some 15th century hi-tech trickery!) And you think your digital watch is pretty cool... |
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Here's most of the team sitting at the foot of the John Hus memorial
wondering where Alison was at that moment. Somewhere up there we all decided,
between us and Brisbane...
John Hus was a preacher who spoke out against corruption in the church. This upset some very powerful religious politicians in Rome. As a result, in 1415 he was burnt at the stake for heresy and became the reformation's first Martyr. When the news reached Prague, his followers defenestrated* the Mayor and several Councillors from the town hall and for the next 20 years, the country was caught up in the Hussite religious civil war. |
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The team were all wearing their red Salvation Army YES shirts and this caught the eye of many people. One of them was another Salvo, a guy called Jim from Kentucky. After the guys explained what we were doing there, Jim explained he was on his way to a conducting gig in Vienna. It turned out that 'Jim' was really James Curnow, noted music guy, all the team members who played in bands recognised his name at once. Despite taking hundreds of snapshots between them that day, no-one got a photo of the meeting... Thank goodness for the wonders of modern computer paint programs! |
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| Many people flocked to Wenceslas Square to greet the tanks and for
awhile things were tense. Eventually the Czechs saw things the Russians
way (it's very difficult to defenestrate* someone from a tank...),
and the 'Prague Spring' was over... Eventually things changed. The 'Velvet
Revolution' of 1988 finally brought about the end of communism in the Czech
Republic. Again Wenceslas Square was filled. See that building above left?
It's now a MacDonalds, see below right!
Wenceslas Square was filled again in 1998 with happy Czechs celebrating the Ice Hockey team beating those Russians for the world Championship! How sweet that must have been! |
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It's Alison again! The Neo-Renaissance building is the National Museum built in 1890. In front of that is the statue of St Wenceslas on a horse. He was an early ruler of the country, and is well known for being the good king in a Christmas Carol. Right in the front is a memorial to the victims of communism. |
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And so our visit to Prague ends, a pretty city, we are sorry Ali missed it. One day however, we all hope to meet again in a place that will not only house Alison, but Jim Curnow, John Hus, St. Vitus and Good King Wenceslas. And won't that be a great day, in the New Jerusalem, no tears there, no sorrow and no defenstration* for those who love God! |
| Get back to... | Czech Republic | YES Program | Murray's World |
A story about The Armada Spasy in the Prague Post
* Defenestration: the act of throwing someone out of a window, a distinctly Prague form of protest! From the Latin fenestra, which means window...
