Escape to the Continent: What's in a name ...

7/29 The starting point of our explorations today was the Philippine Embassy, where we accompanied Mamer and Merlines to work after breakfast. The embassy is within the border of Stare Mesto (Old Town) so we immediately headed for the Old Town Square. As in every other place we've visited we have sought out a tower to climb, in this case it was the Old Town Hall clock tower. it was a short climb compared to some of the other structures we've mounted, but the views of the square below and the city were no less enjoyable. One of the most intriguing features of the 600 year old tower is a medieval astronomical clock with two faces that show: the day of the month, the feast days, the season depicted in a painting (today, women with sickles harvesting wheat), the astrological sign, Babylonian time - aka planet time based on ancient Babylon time that designated 12 hours between sunrise and sunset - as is used in the Bible, Old Bohemian time - aka Italian time with a 24 hour day beginning at sunset, German time - which like modern time divides the day into two 12 hour segments, Sidereal time time which is related to the movement of the stars other than the sun, the day of the lunar month and the phase of the moon, and the sun's movement through the zodiac including marking the equinoxes and solstices. It includes multiple coordinated rotating hands and disks - perhaps the highest expression of medieval math and scientific understanding about the universe! On the hour, bells ring, the twelve apostles parade before two windows and turn as they pass to face the crowds below, a skeleton dances and turns an hour glass, and turn a golden crowing cock appears to mark the end of the spectacle - almost - for last but not least a trumpeter (live) in medieval dress trumpets out the change of hours from the top of the tower. We left our perch in the tower just in time to be standing before the clock to watch the passing of the eleventh hour, after which we took seats at a cafe and enjoyed some coffee and pastries.

getting ready to climb ...

the astronomical clock of Prague ...

we made it ....

big deal ... an easy climb ...

view of Prague's castle from the tower ...

bird's eye view of town's square ...

One of the purposes of our visit to Prague was to connect with family on both the Philippine side - Mamer, Merlines and Mathew - and on the Zeniseks side. And one of our objectives on the Zenisek side was to view some of the artwork of Frantisek Zenisek - a significant Czech artist from the turn of the 20th century. To this end we headed back to the National Museum after our coffee break where Frantisek has two large lunette (hemisphere shaped) murals in The Pantheon - the central hall of the entire building. After walking up the long Vaclavske Namesti to the museum we were disappointed to discover that it closed for renovation until 2015.

So we walked back to the Old Square, and across the Charles Bridge once again and then proceeded on a long climb up to Prague Castle and St. Vitus' Cathedral that occupy a hilltop overlooking the city. We took a tour of the Old Royal Palace where we found out that it - and Prague - had once been 'center of the world' as the capital of the Holy Roman Empire for several hundred years. The castle has undergone numerous additions and renovations over the years that have absorbed and hidden the medieval fortifications that once surrounded it. One curiosity was the discovery of the Renaissance room heating that replaced huge open fireplaces with large metal boxes (ornate of course) within which fires were maintained out of view from adjoining rooms. Another was the Riders Staircase which allowed riders on horseback to dramatically enter the large Vladislav Hall for tournaments. The castle offered new views of the cityscape - but didn't allow photography.

From the earthly palace we entered the spiritual one of St Vitus. classic monstrous Gothic cathedral begun in the 14th century but only completed in 1929. We were only permitted to view the cathedral from the back of the nave as we didn't have time for a formal tour.

castles, palaces and dreams ...

entrance to the Prague palace ...

St. Vitus Cathedral inside the compound of Prague's palace...

Gothic architecture ... St. Vitus ...

an intricate stained glass ...

the flying buttresses ... St. Vitus ...

We walked back down from the mount working our way toward the Old Town Square near which we were meeting Merlines and Mamer for dinner at the Kolkovma Restaurant across the street from the Municipal House where Mamer had discovered that Frantisek also had a large mural, the triptych "Song of Love, War and Death" - unfortunately it was too late to go in and view the piece! After dinner, while Mamer was off taking care of some diplomatic business and Lyn and Merlines were shopping, Serge and Joe sat looking through "Prague: A Detailed Picture Guide" - book they had purchased earlier in the day - looking for other references to Frantisek - and sure enough we found a third venue that featured works by the artist - The National Theatre - "the most important neo-Renaissance construction in Prague." Here Zenisek had several pieces including the original stage curtain - which unfortunately burnt down in a fire that ravaged the building only two months after its opening in 1881. The theatre reopened two years later after a generous outpouring of donations from citizens across the nation. Zenisek's other works in the building include a triptych in central section of the ceiling in the main foyer, Fall of Art, Golden Age of Art, Resurrection of Art; four wall paintings also in the main foyer, Life, Myth, History, and Heroic singing; and ceiling paintings of eight Muses in the main auditorium - Lyricism, Music, Painting, Architecture, Sculpture, Dance, Mime and Epic. Whether we will get a chance to view any of these works remains to be seen…

just another beautiful building in the old town square ...

the municipal art museum ...

a tribute to Mozart ... Don Giovanni was premiered in Prague

taking a break in the old town square ...

arch of the Powder Tower ... where the Czechs turned lead into gold ...

We returned for coffee and dessert to the Municipal House - significant structure in its own right as one of the most celebrated examples of Czech Art Nouveau. Over coffee, Mamer googled the birthplace and resting place of Zenisek and so after dinner we were off looking for a plaque on the side the apartment building where Zenisek had been born. We arrived at the area well after dark and began searching the older looking residential buildings for the plaque. Just when we were about to give up, Merlines and Serge spotted it - only quite high up the side of a relatively newer building - well above easy eye level - evidently attached to to the apartments that had replaced the original structure Zenisek grew up in. No wonder we had missed it. We tried taking some photos through the dark with less than satisfactory success, and yet satisfied we had tracked down some new information about this distant relation - or is he? That is a question that was raised later when we met the relatives of my great grandmother - the Maseks - but that is a story for another day...