My family is in Europe! They successfully arrived, sort of, on Friday afternoon, without Sara's luggage and with some issues with boarding passes. Luckily, everything got sorted out, she has her bags now, and they are enjoying the Marriot in Namesti Republiky (which, I must say, so am I).
Upon arrival Friday and doing the usual sweep of the hotel, we walked through Old Town and Old Town Square to get them some metro passes at the Mustek station, at the base of Wenceslas Square. So, basically, they saw many of the major sights right there. I don't think Mom could've said, "That looks magical" one more time. At least not without everyone yelling at her.
Friday we took it pretty easy because they were all pretty tired from traveling. I showed them a few cool points of interest near their hotel, then we found a touristy pasta and pizza place for dinner (actually pretty tasty). After relaxing in the hotel for a bit, I left them for the evening and they went to sleep, and I went out with my friends.
Saturday morning I somehow woke up to meet them at the hotel about 10 am for brunch, but it was absolutely worth it. Complete American style with eggs and pancakes and bacon and breads and potatoes. It was a nice reminder of home. We headed over to the astronomical clock in search of a free tour. I could try to be a tour guide, but would never be as efficient as the pros. I knew that the newEurope tours (the one I went on in Berlin) also had one in Prague, so we set out to find it.
We found a girl/woman who was waiting to give her free tour, so we figured that must be it. However, a few minutes into the tour, we quickly realized that it was some other free tour, and I saw the tour we intended to go on a few groups over. But, our group wasn't that big, and we would have felt really guilty for leaving our group, so we stuck with it. Turned out to be a great decision.
The person guiding us was a native Czech who had just finished law school at Charles University. She was looking for a good job and giving tours in the meantime. This was already an advantage over the other tour groups, who were sure to be led by a native English-speaker from Ireland, Britain, etc. Throughout the tour, she gave us little bits of her own life in the tour and really made it authentic, such as when she talked about "her" country and differences between communism and now, and how her grandpa takes a shot of the Czech liquor Becherovka every morning because it is made with herbs and is good for the blood, and how the language is so hard that trying to help us pronounce things was pretty futile (lucky for me, I have Czech class for that).
We walked all around Old Town, across a bridge where we got a good view of the Charles Bridge without all the crowds, and towards Mala Strana (Little Quarter, near my flat). The tour continued to the castle, but since my family is probably going there today we said thanks and left the tour. But, before we left, our guide gave us a free CD that normally we have to pay for, and said feel free to come back to finish the tour another day...she was really great.
I showed my parents my flat, and the nice little Italian coffee store next door, and then went back to their hotel to take a nap in a nice comfy bed. Later that night, we went to dinner at Kampa Park, one of Prague's fancier and more famous restaurants and definitely one of those places you let your parents take you.
Daniel and I at Kampa Park; the other end of the table with Dad, Mom, Sara, and Grandpa at Kampa Park
The view out of the window at Kampa Park; so gorgeous!
Quite simply, the meal, the atmosphere, the company...was also fantastic. The restaurant is located in a part of Mala Strana called Kampa, right next to the Charles Bridge. Literally, it looked like we were floating on the water. I, of course, had to get the most expensive thing on the menu, which was a half portion of about 5 different things to try, in different courses. It was delicious, and I am so glad to have had this experience with my family. Mom was also thrilled, because something she planned worked out so well.
We pretty much all hit a food coma after that, and had no desire to go out and do anything else. Because we wanted to get an early start the next morning, we stopped at my flat, I got some clothes and a toothbrush, and I ended up sleeping at their hotel for the night. It was nice hanging out with my family.
Sunday was definitely a day worth blogging about, because we had a private tour of the nearby former concentration camp, Terezin. Located in the northern part of the Czech Republic, between Prague and the German border, Terezin (or Teresienstadt in German) held 50,000-60,000 Jews at a time from Bohemia/Czech lands, Germany, and some surrounding areas. Eventually, most of these Jews were deported to Auschwitz or other death camps and killed.
The camp was pretty big, as it was a village before the Nazis came and kicked out all the people that lived there to make room for the Jews. We saw the barracks where the men stayed, the women's barracks, the children's areas, and more. We saw where the Danish and German Jews and richer Jews bribed there way to stay, and where the Nazi headquarters were. We visited museums detailing the history of the area. Some of these museums showcased art that Jewish artists illegally created showing how life truly was in the camp, while at the same time they were made to create art for Nazi propaganda showing how great the camps were. There were rooms about Jewish composers and writers from Terezin, almost all of whom perished in the Holocaust.
What makes this camp unique is that it was the camp the Nazis used as a "show camp" for the Red Cross. Now, anyone who knows Holocaust history will understand that the Red Cross was at least somewhat complicit in this whole scene, as they overlooked many of the obvious things wrong with the camps and human rights violations. But, Terezin was prepared as a model camp for international aid workers to check.
From left to right: Vida, our guide, in a hidden synagogue in Terezin; the main cemetery that was actual a mass grave; the remnants of the railway to Auschwitz
We learned how they picked a bunch of good looking children out of the group, separated them a month before the Red Cross came, and fed them really well so they looked healthy. They also taught them a play, so that an appearance of culture in the camp was created. There was a created orchestra, theater tents built where Nazi army barracks stood, and many other such facades. In the cemetery, they tried to create a sense of order with the crematorium, storing of the ashes, and burial ground. It was all so surreal. We also saw the boarding area where the Jews and some Christians said their final farewell as they got on trains to Auschwitz primarily. There were several deportations just before the Red Cross came to make it seem like the camp was not so overcrowded. It was all a farce, but the world wanted to believe everything was okay, so they did.
(Update: It's now 11:45 pm...obviously didn't finish before class started)
The bleakest part of Terezin was definitely the political prison. It resembled much of what you see in pictures and books about a "typical" concentration camp, complete with the sign "Arbeit Mach Frei," which translates from German to English as "Work Makes You Free." The famous one of these hanging above Auschwitz was recently stolen, and then found. The political prison was awful.
The entrance to one courtyard in the political prison, and a typical cell with the wooden "beds"
The cells were completely bare except for some wooden beds. The solitary cells had nothing. The prison courtyards were so eerie, as there were often hangings and shootings there. There was a shaving room in pristine condition that the Nazis built for the Red Cross, but never installed running water in. The Red Cross never checked to see if they actually worked, so after they left the doors were closed and the room was never used, thus the perfect shape it is in today.
We entered a shower chamber, which Vida (our guide) explained was actually a shower chamber and not gas chamber, even though the Nazis originally planned to convert it. She told us a story that Spielberg used in Shindler's List, and other filmmakers have used as well. One time, about 100 Jews were brought to the camp, but there was no room for them. So, while they waited for other prisoners to be transported to a death camp, the Nazis put them in the showers. One of the Jews had heard horror stories about the gas chambers, and started screaming that "this was the end" and "flee for your lives" and "say good-bye." All the other Jews started to get so nervous, and make a commotion. Then, all of a sudden, water started flowing from the showers, and the roller coaster of emotions was so extreme for these prisoners.
We also saw the cell where the Serbian guy who assassinated Archduke Ferdinand and started WWI was held. This part of the camp was awful, but apparently Terezin overall will seem like paradise compared to Auschwitz. Food was still scarce, with people getting about 1200 calories a day. People who worked more got more, and children got more.
Daniel in Grandpa in a room created for the Red Cross with shaving areas.
On the left, the cell that held the Archduke's assassin.
The town was kind of bizarre. Because the Germans evicted all the people that lived there before, then killed all the people who populated the town, it is still mostly a ghost town today. About 2000 people live there, and slowly some of the people whose families lived there before are returning. But really, who would want to live in Terezin today? One person decided to turn a house where Nazis stayed into a hotel and restaurant, thinking that people traveling from Prague to Germany would have to stop in Terezin on the way (before there was a highway) and might want to get a bite to eat. But, the hotel is always empty, and the highway was built, so his plan failed.
There were a few restaurants, a sporting goods shop, a pet food shop, and a lot of museum areas. Seriously, that was it. Granted, it wasn't tourist season, but it was still extremely quiet in the city. I am also really happy we had a guided tour.
On the way home to Prague, Vida really opened up to us, which was nice. She was a member of the small Prague Jewish community. Her father was a Holocaust survivor, having passed through Terezin, Auschwitz, and Buchenwald, among others. Her husband was not Jewish, because back when she was looking for a husband it wasn't really okay to advertise you were Jewish. She has two sons around my age as well, one studying in Germany and one in Prague.
The best part was that she gave me a bunch of phone numbers of people I can call to connect with the Jewish community in Prague, including her number, someone from the Jewish community, and a guy who leads a youth group-type thing. She really wants me to meet her son when he comes back for spring break, as he is right around my age. This was really cool to connect with a Czech Jewish person like this.
That night, we went to U Provaznice, "By the Ropemakers Wife," to get some real Czech food. Great Success! Plenty of meat and dumplings and Pilsner to go around.
Dad and Mom in action at U Provaznice.
She also gave my family a tour of the Jewish Quarter while I was in class today. After class, I met them back at the hotel, and we walked to Cafe Lourve, a Prague mainstay for many years. We had a great dinner, tried some restaurant specialties (Mom tried Becherovka - Czech liquor; Daniel sort of tried it, but not really), and then I headed back for the night to relax. It was a pretty full day with class, gym, family, not much sleep the night before, etc.
So far it has been great being with everyone in Europe, and I think they are all (including Daniel) enjoying it as well. Dad's had his Czech food, so he is happy. Tomorrow we are going to shop some more, see some interesting sights a little farther out, and just hang out. My next post will most likely feature PARIS so stay tuned!
Andrew, I just got caught up on your blog....very interesting reading. I didn't know you were such a writer! I am so glad your family decided to make the trip. How very cool! Say hello to everyone. Love, Mrs. Newsham
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