A delightful day out in Prague today. Off to a Farmer's Market first thing where I picked up some beautiful biscuits and pastries for breakfast, and a hot chocolate. It was fun to see some traditional Czech food and be able to compare the market to those back home.
Then it was across the Vitava River and hiked up through a park to Petrin Tower (with a little impromptu rock climbing along the way just for kicks). The view from the tower was stunning, Prague really is the most beautiful city in the world - thank goodness it escaped WW2 bombing. Apparently Hitler wanted to keep it as a 'Musuem'. Wow!
For lunch I dropped into the famous Strahov Monastery after being told it had a fantastic brewery. In short, it does. Started with an amber ale which was a little warm, but I didn't mind this at all considering I was outside and in Prague its freezing at the moment. No snow, but my hands did feel like they had frozen at one point. The brew was pretty potent stuff so I sobered up by dropping into the monastery's other famed asset, its library. (Photo) (Website)
The library is a symbol of the Age of Enlightenment (mid-17th to 18th centuries) with collections of insects, butterflies and other preserved creatures within the Cabinet of Curiosities. Then there is the Theological Hall and Philosophical Hall each with their own collection of marvelous books. It shows how far we have come with science and technological within the space of a couple of hundred years. It does make you question the deterioration of the humanities in modern universities and our unquestioning acceptance of modern science. As we continue our search for truth you wonder if there will ever be a revival of the non-material ... or is perhaps physics going to take us there anyway. Thought-provoking stuff.
I returned to the brewery to continue my contemplation, that's what monasteries are for right? Well, yes, but they have also perfected the craft of beer and make a wonderful beef stew encased in hand-made bread. The way the relationship between art and Christianity has baffled me, this relationship between beer and religion is also a little bizarre. Oh well.
Once I had finished my trip into one old world I was off to visit another, Prague Castle. Another extremely exquisite building, immaculately preserved, but what do you expect I'm in Prague!
Back to the present, I headed back across the river and into the Rudolfinium Gallery (website) to see an exhibition on the 2010 Czech Grand Design Awards and an exhibition called 'Mutating Medium', which traces the evolution of photography over the past two decades. Both were great, in the Design exhibition (Website) the winner of the Fashion Award stood out (Hana Zarubora, Fix-yo) as did Salim Issa in the photography section.
I have found visiting art galleries a good way to experience new cities, museum's can be a little heavy and dry, but galleries tend to inspire and give a good sense for the creative spirit of a place. Each country has its own cultural and historical background so you often see some pretty unique things.
Finished the afternoon by walking back along the river as the setting sun was spraying golden light across Prague's beautiful buildings. Back to the hostel ... still full from the lunch, although I do have a loaf of hand-made bread from the Farmer's Market and a slab of goats cheese still in hand but might leave that for tomorrow. An organic apple and apple strudel might suffice for tea, also from the market.
Tomorrow's agenda? You will just have to wait and see.
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