Wednesday 7 November 2007
2007 Thus Far: A Recap - Part 4, Cross-USA Road Trip
7 days driving with Alissa from Cincinnati to San Jose. Plenty of adventures along the way.
Sunday 4 November 2007
2007 Thus Far: A Recap - Part 2, Prague
My second trip with Aish HaTorah this year from late May through mid-June brought me to Israel for a few weeks, with a three day jaunt in Prague on the way. We spent the first day trying to walk off our jet lag as we some of the main historic/tourist sites: The Royal Castle and its cathedral and gardens, the Royal Plaza for the changing of the guard ceremony, the Charles River with its bridge famous for its array of statues of important Christian figures. We passed by, but unfortunately didn't have time to go in, the Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments and well as the Sex Machines Museum. Later in the day, we stopped in Old Town Square, with Prague's famous astronomical clock. After dinner at the local Chabad house, we retreated for the night.
On the second day, we took a trip about an hour outside of Prague to Terezin (German: Terezinstadt). Terezin was built in the 19th century as a military fortress during the Austro-Prussian wars, but later grew into a garrison-town and was later used as a political prison, where Archduke Ferdinand's assassin was held. When the Germans took Czechoslovakia in WWII, it was used a Nazi barracks, and later as a labor and concentration camp for Jews in the region. We drove back into Prague and made an unpleasant discovery that the bus driver who had been driving us around for the past two days was in fact, a supporter of Hitler. We had a free evening, and more energy that the previous night, so suffice it to say, we all returned to the hotel at some early hour of the morning thoroughly debauched.
On our third and last day in Prague, our tour guide, Eva, as well as Rabbi Lieber, who were just with us for the Prague portion of the trip, showed us around the old Jewish quarter of Prague, with history, buildings and cemeteries dating back to the 14th century. We saw the grave of the Maharal and heard the story of the Golem and saw his resting place, in the attic above one of Prague's oldest synagogue. After that, we packed up and shipped off for Jerusalem.
On the second day, we took a trip about an hour outside of Prague to Terezin (German: Terezinstadt). Terezin was built in the 19th century as a military fortress during the Austro-Prussian wars, but later grew into a garrison-town and was later used as a political prison, where Archduke Ferdinand's assassin was held. When the Germans took Czechoslovakia in WWII, it was used a Nazi barracks, and later as a labor and concentration camp for Jews in the region. We drove back into Prague and made an unpleasant discovery that the bus driver who had been driving us around for the past two days was in fact, a supporter of Hitler. We had a free evening, and more energy that the previous night, so suffice it to say, we all returned to the hotel at some early hour of the morning thoroughly debauched.
On our third and last day in Prague, our tour guide, Eva, as well as Rabbi Lieber, who were just with us for the Prague portion of the trip, showed us around the old Jewish quarter of Prague, with history, buildings and cemeteries dating back to the 14th century. We saw the grave of the Maharal and heard the story of the Golem and saw his resting place, in the attic above one of Prague's oldest synagogue. After that, we packed up and shipped off for Jerusalem.
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