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Tuesday, May 13, time has further deteriorated since yesterday. But it will not prevent us from continuing our tour of the city. We begin by taking the tram towards Namesti Republiky where we did shopping yesterday. Today, towards Josefov (the neighborhood (and former ghetto) Jewish) through the streets. Shortly after, we add a new church in our list: Svatý Haštal.

Looking at the bottom of the Haštalská street, I notice the beautiful decorated door.

The street ends in a small square surrounded by buildings well decorated, fully painted facade (among others):

While going on a carriage instead, we pass a house that offers tours of Prague undergrounds exposing flasks witch (bottles of different liquids with other stuff in it, it's pretty weird). We wanted to visit the underground, but it was not open yet and we have forgotten to do this board... pressed for the next time!

The small alley Kozi shows us the path to follow. Subsequently, it is there!

We turned on U Milosrdných street passing the bar named ''the drunken monkey'' and Kostel sv Simona Judy (Church of St. Simon and Jude). Originally, there was a hospital (founded in 1354). The chapel was attached there. In 1620 the chapel was enlarged to the point of competing with the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague (located in the Prague Castle). Elel was then gradually modernized. Today it houses, which plays mainly his chamber music (mainly in Baroque style) Prague Symphony Orchestra.

Then turn left on the street to Dušní Spanish Synagogue (Synagoga Španělská) which has beautiful architecture.
Built in 1868 on the site of the old synagogue in Prague (the oldest: Stara škola, which was destroyed in 1867), she became the eleventh century, the center of the Jewish community of the Eastern Rite (the old-new synagogue was, in turn, the community of western rite, each community holding strictly separated from each other).
The architecture of the Spanish Synagogue is Moorish and we must Vojtěch Ignatz Ullmann. It is structured in a square dominated by a large dome over the central space. On the front we can see represented the Tables of the Law (the Ten Commandments) with the 10 commandments (as a reminder, here they are: 1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 2) You do not wilt idol or representation. 3) Thou shalt not use the name of the LORD thy God in vain. 4) Think observe the Sabbath. 5) Honor your father and your mother. 6) You shall not commit murder. 7) Do not commit adultery. 8) Thou shalt not steal. 9) Thou shalt not bear false witness. 10) Thou shalt not covet. ). The composer of the Czech national anthem, František Škroup was organist from 1836 to 1845 in this synagogue.

Turn right along a church which I forgot the name. Leaving without knowing at the time a statue of Franz Kafka on the Golem legend between the church and the Spanish Synagogue.

We then take a left onto Elišky Krásnohorské to the square of the Hotel Continental on Bílkova. In the corner, a little disturbing sculptures monitor the street with a grumpy air.

Crossing place of the hotel to the Čechův bridge. We pass the Právnická fakulta (facultée right), a massive and austere building, mixing school and monastery :

Built between 1905 and 1908 in the Art Nouveau style, Čechův bridge is the shortest bridge in Prague on the Vltava (170m long and 16m wide). It owes its name to the Czech writer Svatopluk Čech (1846 - 1908) and is decorated with statues of sailors geniuses for protecting the bridge.

We then return to the Fakulta and take the 17 to the Břehová listopadu street. Return to the Jewish Quarter. Architecture always busy decorating (I must admit that it changes our gray facades, dull and empty). There's even a brewery that seems held by French or at least French origin (and who can be very funny ...) but not ... this is a Belgian restaurant!

Ha, here U Street stareho hřbitova with the Jewish Museum in Prague, our main business of the day. Except ... we have to buy tickets here, but the tour starts on the other side of the block ... Definitely, we have done the twists and turns this morning (look at google map the path... more tortuous it would have been difficult !).

Tickets purchased, we go around the block and go to the Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga). Completed in 1270, this is the oldest synagogue still in use in Europe. It is also the first religious building of Gothic architecture in Prague. It would house, according to legend, the body of the Golem of Rabbi Jehuda Loew ben Bezalel be based in the attic of the synagogue.

Josefov, the Jewish quarter of Prague has existed since the tenth century and were at the peak (late sixteenth century, the same period that the story of the Golem) 18,000 Jews. In 1850, the district takes its name from Josefov in honor of the Emperor Joseph II emancipated the Jews through the Edict of Toleration of 1781. During World War II, the Nazis wanted to make an exotic Josefov unmusée race off. Therefore, they brought a large amount of loot they had plundered the Jews from all over Europe in order to expose them.
We begin our tour of the Jewish Museum in Prague by the Pinkas synagogue. Photos is prohibited in most places of the museum, I'll have photos of the cemetery. And I regret that in a sense because the Pinkas synagogue is absolutely harrowing. The synagogue is empty, but the white walls are covered with the names and dates of birth and death of the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia victims of Nazi atrocities 77'297 (mainly in the following concentrations camps : Terezin, Majdanek, Lublin, Christianstadt, Warszawa, Nisco, Izbica, Riga, Flossenbürg, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Hamburg, Óswicim, Treblinka, Zamość, Kaufering, Maly Trostinec, Chelmno, Schwarzheie, Minsk, Sachsenhausen, Mauthausen, Sztutowo).
As if that was not enough we had shaken the floor of the synagogue houses a collection of children's drawings deported to the camps and their few belongings owned (bag, doll, etc ...). One desdessins (a child round under the sun in the grass with a tree beside chopped by shots like pencil to draw a line on the joy of freedom that no longer exist) Ruth Heinová (19/02/1934 - 10/23/1944) marked me in particular, I was stuck in front of this child's drawing for almost a quarter of an hour. The girl who was barely 10 years old then died in the extermination camp of Terezin. There beaucoupd'autres drawings equally disturbing (but this one has stirred my guts like that rarely happens).

Leaving (much like zombies, are not out of here in the same condition in which it was when it is entered), we continue with the Jewish cemetery. This time, I have the right to take pictures. I faispartager you all that the explanations:
Founded in the midst of the fifteenth century, the first grave in the cemetery is that of the poet and scholar Avigdor Kara died in 1439. Used until 1787, it now has 12,000 graves. The number of people buried étantbien heard well above that number. The cemetery can be enlarged surface, the bodies were buried on top of each other.
The cemetery contains the graves of some famous characters: Rabbi Jehuda Loew ben Bezalel (the story of the Golem) :

And that of Mordechai Maisel (1528 - 1601): philanthropist and leader of the Jewish community of Prague. It is responsible for the construction of the Maisel Synagogue and Jewish Town Hall in Prague.

The old cemetery seems small but because of the twists and turns that n is among the many tombs, we stay long. The place calls for calm, meditation and contemplation.

After the Jewish cemetery, we get into what looks like a tiny castle, which is actually the ceremonial hall. Built in 1912 in a Neo-Romanesque style as a ceremonial hall and morgue, the first floor houses the last part of the exhibition ''Jewish traditions and customs'' devoted to disease and medicine in the ghetto, to Jewish cemetery and activities related to this area.

Our last part of the visit is for Klaus Synagogue. Dated 1694 and remodeled in 1884, the main part of the exhibition on Jewish traditions and customs are held here on 2 floors. Jewish life is described with everyday objects, kitchen, office, etc... as well as explanations and articles for various Jewish celebrations (Bar Mitzvah, circumcision, marriage, divorce, family, and everything that makes up life).

After these visits, we go into a crystal which is just opposite the museum. About ''made in Prague'' souvenirs, Bohemian crystal holds a very important place. Handmade by an artisan corner, Bohemian crystal and gold glasses are beautiful. A lot in particular has caught my eye, but I'm afraid the price and airfare. After turning a glass, are reassured me on one thing: the price. Where a service like 6 glasses cost a small fortune in France, here in Prague glasses have cost me 2'125 CZK (instead of 2'400CZK), ie 85 €.
Already existed in the eleventh century glass, but in the eighteenth century Bohemia is illustrated in the area of ​​the crystal due to the exceptional quality of the crystal and its artisans. Bohemian crystal glass is lead oxide (24%), world renowned for its quality (and long recognized as the best, until being dethroned by the English crystal (Flint)).
It is important to know that a crystal glass (glass containing between 10 and 40% lead oxide) may release lead in spirits, wine and acidic drinks and making the consumer an intoxicated person to lead. Suddenly, a crystal bottle of Armagnac from the 50's is beautiful, but totally toxic! It seems that leave an acidic drink (lemon juice) for some time (one day? A week? Plus?) Would remove the major ''volatile'' part of lead and would reduce considerably the risk thereafter for daily use. Some people say maybe it's not huge or not very serious. Think again, it appears that four months in a crystal decanter, red wine takes 5,000 µg/L of lead. No wonder the disease called ''drop'' to be as prevalent in the upper classes of society, as it then usually consumed brandy or whiskey in glasses and crystal decanters, ditto for wine. Crystal is beautiful, but be careful anyway.

After the shop, we'll sit on a bench outside the Spanish Synagogue to eat. On the menu this afternoon bread with cumin and Laughing Cow cheese, all washed down with plain water. During the meal, I think a little of what we saw this morning: the Pinkas synagogue with the names of the dead, children's drawings, the Jewish cemetery. And I think back to what some say, ''the extermination of Jews by the Nazis never existed''. The Holocaust denial... how can we say that it has never existed and that it is just a myth? All these names, these drawings, these everyday objects, either here or in the museum of the resistance and deportation in Brive-la-Gaillarde or in many other places. You have to be a bad absolute faith, full blindness and more boundless stupidity not to see, understand or want to be uncomfortable in any such testimony.

After lunch, we headed to the Vltava again from behind the Rudolfinum while the weather is cloudy. We see in front offices of the Czech Republic (České Republiky Úřad Vlady) and the Mánesův most (bridge for those who did not understand because most = bridge).

So we went to our destination in the afternoon (Kafka and Kampa museums) we quickly took in the rain, slow at first but will quickly turn into rain.

Given the time, we decided to cut our day and go home. We hardly advanced as we are in front of the Rudolfinum.
The Rudolfinum is a concert hall of 1,148 seats (mainly those of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Česká filharmonie)) and an exhibition hall. Opened in early 1885 and built in a neo-Renaissance style, it was donated to the city of Prague by the Czech Savings Bank (Česká spořitelna).
In the small garden in front of the Rudolfinum are two statues: the first is the composer Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904) and author, among other things, Slavonic Dances and the New World Symphony. The second statue is that of the painter Josef Manes, author of the dial of the Prague Astronomical Clock. He painted mainly landscapes, portraits and historical paintings.

The storm is upon us, we are soaked as soups and decide to take the metro to go a little faster (and at least have tried once) We take this opportunity to take our tickets public transport for all the rest of our trip. Each metro station has its own colors, but the decor remains the same. This is still in all the original case.

After exiting the subway at the stop Muzeum - A, rain is always present. I quickly take a picture of Czech National Museum (Narodni Muzeum) founded in 1818 which is closed until June 2015 due to renovations.

A little off and still in the rain (it shows I think ...) is the new National Museum building (Nová budova Národního Muzea) until the latter was renovated.

We seek a tram stop (we did not have the habit of town) to go. But nothing on the horizon, we decided to try our luck at the bottom of this great avenue on which we find ourselves and that is nothing less than the Wenceslas Square (Václavské náměstí). In the rain, cobblestones are slippery (I must say that all of Prague is paved, no asphalt, just blocks (often disjointed way)) and we go down quietly up the street Jindřišská (Henry Street... what a different writting !) on which we find a dealer alcohols some intriguing ... (having not yet used to see spirits available in Prague anyway).

Shortly before the tram on a small square náměstí Senovážné we found a fountain with four statues of blind fauns playing musical instruments (violin, French horn, flute, and a kind of small guitar).

Finally back to the hostel, completely soaked, we put warm in bed to eat after a good shower. And we decided to test what we brought back from the liquor store. This is a beer (normal, we are in Prague) but it has particular it is a cannabis beer. You should know that Prague alcohols flavored or made ​​based cannabis are commonplace and therefore did nothing wrong. It was for testing and we did not really liked it, the taste is rather bitter.

The day ends quietly but with some people doing the race (and lots of noise) in the corridors of the hostel. But it will be well rested for tomorrow we have much to do and much to walk too!

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