Free Time in Prague

Each afternoon in Prague, and the most of the third day, we had free time to explore the city according to our interests.

Robyn writes:

In our free time, the bibliophiles of the group split off to explore the exquisite baroque library at the Clementinum historical complex.


 Built by the Jesuit order and untouched since 1722, the library holds over 20,000 books and is ornately decorated with celestial globes. Breathtaking frescos by Josef Diebel line the ceiling and depict scenes of The Temple of Wisdom. While no photographs are allowed on the tour (and the one we tried to sneak came out blurry), a quick Google image search has allowed us to include this picture on the left.



As stunning as the library appears in photos, nothing can capture the feelings of warmth and smell of old books wafting through the room.


The guided tour also included a trip up 52-meters (that’s about 171 feet to you Americans) to the old astronomical tower. The 172 step climb to the top was rewarded by panoramic views of “the golden city of a thousand spires” below. We all took plenty of photos and were amazed at the 18th century ingenuity represented by the astronomical equipment on display.

Eduardo’s research on Franz Kafka will explain why there is a Kafka Museum in the city:  Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883 in a Jewish family that was not spiritual and not that religiously observant.  He studied German literature then law at the German University in Prague.  He aspired to be a writer, and he pursued this in his spare time.

Kafkaesque statue 

 He wrote about two dozen novels and many short stories.  His day job was at the Accident Insurance Institute, which focused on workers’ safety issues.  He became part of a circle of intellectuals and began publishing prose pieces in a German-language newspaper.  His interest in Judaism was whetted, and in 1912 he began to study Judaism and give lectures on the Yiddish language.  He never managed to make a lasting commitment to a woman, although there were several in his life.

manuscript of Kafka's
Letter to His Father
(which he never gave to father)

Lesley writes about the Kafka Museum, which six of us attended: The Museum exhibit developed Kafka’s feeling about Prague as comforting yet smothering—he even once called it the "little mother [with] sharp claws."   His surrealist works of fiction contained themes of alienation, existential anxiety, and a recurring theme of a controlling force over the protagonist (influenced by his relationship with his father).

The museum showcased relics of Kafka's life, as well as biographical and historically contextual excerpts that reveal how these events influenced his work and perspective on life. Such relics included letters written by him, photographs of himself and people he knew, his published works, influential books (such as philosopher Immanuel Kant), and official documents.  The exhibit showed a bizarre short film that was a montage of Prague during Kafka's time, showing his constantly warping perception of the city. We managed to see all the exhibits leading up to the death of Kafka, who eventually succumbed to tuberculosis in 1924 at the age of 40.


Serena writes:
On our free day activity, after breakfast Jody and I took a tram right outside of our hotel into the city center, then on one more up the hill past the Prague Castle to the Strahovsky Monastery, and we entered the Library building.  First we entered an exhibition room with cabinets.

These contain small animals, insects, shells, and random natural finds that 17th century scientists were trying to catalog.  One of the library rooms was the Theological Hall containing thousands of books on that theme, with religious paintings on the ceiling and a statue of John the Baptist.  There was also a Philosophical Hall containing many more books on subjects like history and sciences.

We walked through the monastery grounds to the Czech Republic’s replica of Paris’s Eiffel Tower, called the Petrin Tower.

It's higher than it looks.

The walk there was very beautiful.  We walked uphill along a trail with greenery surrounding us on all sides. When we reached the top, the trail flattened out but was just as green with trees on both sides. To our left, there was a great view of the city. To our right was a tall stone wall. Eventually we crossed through an opening in the wall to the other side until we reached a colorful rose garden, and eventually we reached a line to climb the tower stairs or take an elevator – of course we climbed!  We walked up the winding stairs of the tower and reached the first platform where we saw a 360 degree view of Prague. We continued upward to the highest platform – unknowingly, we had entered the wrong staircase (there were two separate stirs to go up and to go down the tower), and we kept running into people descending the narrow stairs muttering to us.

holding tight and peeking out

Reaching the top was even more breathtaking: we were able to see into the sports stadium and the far outskirts of Prague. This top smaller platform was so crowded. It was swaying slightly, either from the wind or the large crowd, but it was a bit frightening.  The view made me realize how little of the city we actually are going to see versus how much more there is to see.  It was a lot of walking but completely worth it, and I would do it all over again.