In April, 1999, we visited the centuries-old city of Prague which was once the capital of Bohemia and now of the Czech Republic.

The most famous view of Prague is with the Charles Bridge, which crosses the Vltava River, and "Hradcany" or Prague Castle district high on the hill.

The Czech Republic is surrounded by: Germany, Poland, Slovak Republic, and Austria.

Bohemia, where Prague is located, was founded in 300 B.C. by the Celtic people. In 870 A.D., it became a part of the Holy Roman Empire and construction of the Prague Castle (Hradcany) was begun. Stare Mesto (Old Town) was founded in 1234 and in 1526 the Habsburgs gained control of Bohemia which was followed by religious wars and the Thirty Year War.

It wasn't until after World War I and the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that the Czech and Slovak lands were combined and proclaimed the sovereign Republic of Czechoslovakia, under the leadership of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk who was elected its first president.

The independence of 1918 was shortlived as first the Nazis and then the Communists took over the country. In 1989, in what is called the "Velvet (bloodless) Revolution," Czechoslavkia was again free. Soon, however, the country was split into the Czech Republic to the west and Slovak Republic to the east in what became known as "The Velvet Divorce". Since 1989, both countries have worked very hard to erase the years of oppression and neglect. "Golden" Prague, "the City of a Hundred Spires", is the capital of the Czech Republic, which is surrounded by: Germany, Poland, Slovak Republic, and Austria.

I had always wanted to go to the the centuries-old city of Prague because both sets of my grandparents emigrated from what was then Bohemia in the late 1800s. In the spring of (1999) we found quite a reasonable air fare to Prague and so we decided to go for our fortieth wedding anniversary.

A person visiting Prague must remember that the majority of buildings, statuary and artwork date back to between 1300 and 1600 and some even before that. It is absolutely amazing to realize that these treasures still exist intact. Prague was under foreign rule for most of its history and although the city miraculously escaped the bombing that wiped out many European cities, it was under the Nazi regime of Germany and then behind the Russian Communist Iron Curtain for 50 years when virtually nothing was done to preserve the city. With a current population of 2,210,000, Prague is doing very well in their ten+ years of freedom to recover from those years of neglect, but there is still much left to be done.

"KARLOV MOST" OR THE CHARLES BRIDGE The pedestrian bridge that spans the Vltava River (memorialized by composer Bedrich Smetana's "Moldau"), connects the Old Town (Stare Mesto) and the Lesser Quarter (Mala Strana) of Prague. It is called the Charles Bridge and construction began in the year 1357. This was during the reign of Charles IV, during whose reign Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. During this "Golden Age" the city flourished culturally to become the beautiful city that we see today.

The bridge, measuring 570 yards long and 33 feet wide, contains an "avenue of statues". These thirty statues were completed by the finest sculptors of the Baroque era, although the bridge itself is Gothic. It is amazing how much violence is depicted in these statues and the statuary and artwork in the churches as well.

Everyone who visits Prague experiences the Karl Bridge and it offers different experiences depending on the time of day. Tourists and locals alike gather on and walk the bridge enjoying the river, statues and magnificent views of the Castle Complex high above the Lesser Quarter. Vendors and artists stationed along the bridge offer their wares to the admiring public. The tourists are indeed a melting pot of many nationalities and one doesn't know one nationality from another. During the day, many locals on the bridge are the artists and vendors who sell their crafts to the tourists. At night, the bridge becomes the vantage point toward both sides of the bridge, which are lit up like fairylands out of the Fourteenth Century. It's as though you've gone back to another time.

A thin arm of the Vltava flows between ancient buildings built along its bank, providing the area known as the "Little Venice of Prague" which is seen from the bridge.

There are two large towers on the Lesser Quarter side and one massive tower, which is said to be the finest Gothic tower in Central Europe, on the Old Town side. When we got to Mala Strana, we climbed to the top (about 217 steps) of the tower gate for a great view of the surrounding wonders of the city When we came down from the tower, we bought tickets to a Saturday afternoon classical concert to be held at the Lichtenstein Palace and then stopped at a small cafe across the Mostecka Ulice for apple strudel and hot chocolate.

"MALA STRANA" OR THE LESSER QUARTER This district of Prague was founded in 1257. It contains the Castle Complex high upon a hill overlooking all of Prague. There are many beautiful gardens and churches in this quarter as well as splendid mansions, which were built by the Habsburgs and Catholic nobility. Many of these mansions are now foreign embassies. The steep road leading up to the Castle Complex is called Nerudova Street. Coronation processions of the Kings of Bohemia crossed the Charles Bridge, past the city square or "namesti" and then proceeded up Nerudova Street to the Castle Complex.

ST. NICHOLAS CHURCH Up the street from the Charles Bridge Tower was the bell tower of St. Mikulas or St. Nicholas Church which we climbed (157 steps) for another view. The church itself was magnificent with its gold and paintings and pink marble - but disappointing in that most of the gold and marble were fake as was admitted in writings throughout the church. Again, a tremendous amount of violence was depicted since it was mostly from the Gothic Era.

INFANT OF PRAGUE The Church of Pani Marie e Victorious, is the home of the "Praske Jesolatko" or Infant of Prague, about which I was told as a child. The Infant is said to grant prayers of worshippers and people come from far and wide to worship there.

VRTBOVSKA ZAHRADA (GARDENS) After exiting the church, we proceeded to find the Vrtbovska Zahrada (Gardens) tucked between and behind buildings and embassies. The gardens were under renovation but we climbed up onto a hillside for quite a view of the city.

Later we came upon Kampa Park which is alongside the Vltava River. It's a nice peaceful place to have a picnic.

We found the restaurant U Schnellu where we had pork, dumplings and sauerkraut. The "zeli" or saurerkraut was great but there wasn't much taste to the pork and dumplings. A yummy apple strudel or "jabelkovi zavin" was for dessert.

WALDSTEIN GARDENS After lunch we found our way to the Waldstein Gardens. These gardens were a lovely haven with statuary, gardens, an aviary with peacocks and an outdoor amphatheater with beautiful paintings on the walls and ceiling. This is another concert venue.

In visiting the W/C (lavatory) at the park, I came across my first W/C attendant who was a handicapped gentleman. He and I were conversing in Czech, which I learned as a child growing up in Chicago and, to my joy, when he found out I was an American, he was amazed at my proper pronunciation .

It is customary in most countries in Europe to offer the attendant a few coins. I offered him an American quarter because I was out of Czech coins and he seemed thrilled about the quarter - saying he would keep it and hang it around his neck.

I really had fun speaking Czech again after all these years. Surprisingly, I seem to have actually fooled some Czechs into thinking that I was Czech, too. I can't believe how many words came back to me.

"HRADCANY" SQUARE AND PRAGUE CASTLE We then retraced some of our steps and found Malostranska Namesti and started our climb up Nerudova Street - and I do mean "climbed up". We passed the home where Mozart stayed on the opening night of Don Giovanni which premiered in Prague. At the top of Neruda Street is Hradcany or the Prague Castle complex. (There is an excellent little restaurant in this square where we again had a meal of pork, dumplings and sauerkraut on Sunday.)

Hradcany Square, at the head of Nerudova Street, is where the street scenes of the film "Amadeus" were filmed. Upon turning into the square, you suddenly realize that you are now approaching the gates and guard posts to the massive Prague Castle, which was founded in the ninth century. Also in Hradcany Square we found a museum devoted to Jan Masaryk, the son of the Father of Czech Independence, Tomas Masaryk. We didn't "do" this museum because it was very warm inside and we were wearing very warm clothing. The building may have been where Jan jumped or was pushed out of a window to his death when the Russians took over his country.

The huge Castle complex includes the government buildings called "Prasky Hrad" and encompasses the following buildings: two art galleries, convents, palaces, a basilica, St. Vitus's Cathedral and the Golden Lane.

ST. VITUS CATHEDRAL Tip: Don't arrive past early afternoon or you won't have enough time to see everything!

The awesome sight of St. Vitus Cathedral with its rose window and Gothic spires and ornamentation is found inside the third gate of the Prague Castle walls. The church's round chapel was dedicated in 925. Charles IV began construction of the Gothic cathedral in 1344 and it measures 407 ft. in length, 197 ft. in breadth, with a height of 108 ft. in the nave. Inside are 28 piers and 21 chapels.The Cathedral was finally completed in 1929. It takes hours to view all of the history and beauty contained in this Cathedral.

Not having been watching our time, sadly we were told that we could not buy tickets to the various sites in the complex because it was five o'clock and they were closing. We were, however, able to walk around most of the cathedral before it closed and then walked through the entire complex within the castle's walls without entering the other buildings.

The rear of St. Vitus Cathedral is adorned with spires, gargoyles and flying buttresses.

As we proceeded through the complex we passed the Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica and Convent and the Lobkowitz Palace.

At the end of the castle complex is a tiny street named, "Zlata Ulice" or Golden Lane where alchemists attempted to "make" gold in ancient times. Now each tiny shop offers tourists handmade Czech native craft souvenirs such as hand-painted Easter eggs, gingerbread ornaments, etc. The Czech author, Franz Kafka, is said to have lived and worked on this street at #22 from 1912 to 1914.

Upon exiting, we climbed down the broad Old Castle Steps which took us past various vendors including a tiny stall selling "parky" or hot dogs which are made uniquely in Prague. They spear the buns so as to create a cavity for the meat. They insert your choice of catsup or mustard and then the hot dog. What do you know, you don't get mustard or catsup all over you. We ought to make them this way in the states. And the price: 37 cents.

Streets and walkways throughout the complex as well as throughout Mala Strana and Stare Mesto are all cobblestoned.

Beautiful gardens surround the Castle on both sides.

STARE MESTO OR OLD TOWN The majority of Old Town or "Stare Mesto" is made up of very narrow cobblestone streets, where the little cars go zipping around. As I said above, the majority of the sidewalks are also cobblestone. Suddenly you come out onto the huge (11,000 sq. yd) Staromestske namesti or Old Town Square. It has been the marketplace of Prague since the 11th century. You'll find the huge memorial to Jan Hus, the Bohemian religious crusader (who was burned at the stake), the Tyn Church, another St. Nicholas church and the Astronomical Clock.

Booths with native crafts and souvenirs are abundant and if you'd like to take a ride in a horse-drawn carriage this is the place to come. As he was waiting for a fare, one of the horses was so tired that he fell asleep and fell to his knees while we were there. His untimely collapse certainly drew everyone's attention.

This is also the location of our favorite restaurant (Staromestska Restaurant), where you can watch the tourists gather in front of the clock to see it "perform" from its outside seating area. A serving of Czech apricot dumplings served with butter, whipped cream and poppy seeds with hot chocolate is just the thing for a chilly day. You could precede that with a generous serving of Goulash but that was really way too much.

We missed finding a specialty called an "oplatka" or wafer. A Czech acquaintance introduced us to them just recently. They are very thin wafers about 8 inches in diameter and have various designs on them from being poured into molds. They come in different flavors and seem to taste "cool" when you bite into them. They are quite tasty.

THE ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK The Astronomical Clock on the south side of the Town Hall Tower was installed in 1410 but rebuilt in 1490. It is indeed a masterpiece, as it not only tells time but also has a calendar.

Legend has it that the clockmaker was blinded to prevent him from constructing a similar clock elsewhere. Before his death he climbed the tower and stopped the clock. It remained silent until it was restored to working order between 1552 and 1572. It has moving statues of Christ and the Apostles that perform on the hour.

TYN CHURCH We proceeded to Tyn Church. To get there, we walked around the entire block only to find out that we could have entered from the point where we started because you enter through another building. Sadly, however, we found that the church was closed for renovation.

WENCESLAS SQUARE We continued on our way to find the main thoroughfare of Stare Mesto; Vaclavske namesti or Wenceslas Square, the center of modern Prague or Nove Mesto (New Town). And, yes, St. Wenceslas is the same King Wenceslas that's in the Christmas carol.

A few words of explanation: I researched our trip in four old tour books - not the thing to do, because when we arrived, many of the stores I was looking forward to visiting were no longer there. American fast foods chains have moved in catering to the hordes of young people who frequent this area.

As one sees upon driving into the city, many of the walls of beautiful Prague have been "graffittied" which is very sad. As one young local pointed out, "but most of the historic buildings have been spared." Ah, but it's not going to take long before what wasn't ruined by the World Wars might just be ruined by graffitti.

MUSIC IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC Music is indeed alive and well in Prague. On any given day you can take your pick of any number of concerts that are being performed all over the city in the many beautiful performance halls. Walk off the Charles Bridge and you'll probably see a young man dressed to resemble Mozart handing out flyers announcing that day's concerts. The concert halls are located in churches, gardens, conservatories, museums, national theaters, academies of music, opera houses, and palaces; and one is more beautiful than the next.

We purchased tickets for a 5PM Saturday concert at Lichtenstein Palace. The concert was delightful as the small wind ensemble made up of a flute, bassoon, oboe and three clarinets played the music of Mozart, Fibich, Smetana, Nedbal and Dvorak. The hall was as lovely as I had imagined it would be.

The SMETANA MUSEUM which was once the Waterworks Building is located at the edge of the Vltava River and was just a couple of blocks from our apartment.. Smetana, the composer of the "Bartered Bride" and "Ma Vlast" (My Country), which includes the tone poem Moldau (German for Vltava). Someday I'd really like to know why Vltava was changed to the German word Moldau in his music. The museum is well done and all of the writeups are understandably in Czech. The guide, with whom I was conversing in Czech, finally realized that I was an American and handed me the English tour book which explained the items on exhibition. (I may speak Czech but can barely read the language.)

BERTRAMKA - MOZART We bought one-day transportation tickets at a tobacco shop. These tickets allow a person to travel either bus, tram or metro subway all around town for 24 hours. All one needs to remember is that you MUST validate the ticket on the first transporation you take.

It was rather raw and overcast this morning as we traveled across town to Bertramka, where Mozart lived while visiting Prague. He loved Prague, or Praha, and felt that Prague "understood" him. The piano and harpsichord he used as well as a lock of his reddish-blond hair were displayed as well as programs and music, etc. This is where he composed the overture to the opera Don Giovanni. This is also the site of Chamber Music Concerts in either the building or in the beautifully peaceful garden area. The gift shop actually had a modern sculpture of a cat that had once lived in the house that was called "Wolfe". We ate "toasties" which are little sandwiches, strudel and drank hot chocolate in a lovely setting at Cafe Bertramka.

VILLA AMERICA - DVORAK After lunch we took a tram to Nove Mesto or New Town where we found Villa America, the summer home of Czech composer, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904). Dvorak composed such pieces as the New World Symphony and the Slovanic Dances. Dvorak was my mother's maiden name but my grandfather (1878-1965) was no relation to the composer. Villa America is also a concert venue and possibly the repository of Dvorak's music.

ART OF BOHEMIA Many of the craft items that came from Czechoslovakia after WWII had this type of artwork. It could be found on wooden plates and boxes. It was so vivid and vibrant that I wanted you readers to see it, so I drew and painted this example. Today, their crafts include handpainted eggs. And, of course, as always, there is the beautiful Bohemian crystal cut glass and Czech garnet jewelry.

NATIONAL MUSEUM We then took courage and traveled by metro back to the National Museum which is at the head of Vaclavske Namesti. St. Wenceslas' Statue is immediately in front of the National Museum.

The reason I say that we "took courage" is that the escalators which go down to the subway level operate quite swiftly and one must embark surefooted and quickly. We also learned that one must stay on the right side of the escalator because frantic passengers, at times litterly, run down the escalators and you best give them room.

Upon disembarking from our short ride, we took another escalator up to the street level. As I got off, a large man stuck his arm, palm upturned with something displayed, in front of my face and said, rather loudly, "Ticket!" I politely said, "Ne dekuji" or "no, thank you"; whereupon I got the arm in my face again with a louder "Ticket!" It's a lucky thing that I came to my senses and realized he was not trying to sell me a ticket, he wanted to SEE our transportation tickets to verify that they had been validated. Having been made to feel like a criminal, he backed off and actually mumbled an apology when he saw our validated ticket after realizing that I was not a Czech citizen. That actually should have taught me not to speak such good Czech.

The Narodni Museum or National Museum was a disappointment because we didn't get to see it - our fault!. Since it was chilly, we were very warmly dressed and, as always, Bob was carrying the backpack and I was carrying my purse and camera. We bought our tickets and were headed up the steps to what looked like a building to match the size of the Smithsonian and were looking forward to spending the afternoon taking in the whole building. As we were ascending the steps the lady who takes the tickets motioned to the far right wall saying that we had to check everything there before entering. Well, there was no way I was going to leave everything hanging on a hook. So, that was the end of the National Museum, as we reversed our steps and left, getting our money back as we departed and made our way back to the apartment.

HAVEL'S MARKET Saturday morning we walked to Havel's Market which is an outdoor market of fruit, vegetables and souvenirs. The market is located at the end of Havelska Street in the shadow of St. Gallus's Church, reconstructed in 1353 in High Gothic style.

"EIFFEL TOWER" OF PRAGUE On Sunday morning it was very cold, but we again purchased two 24-hour transportation tickets and walked across the Legli Bridge to Mala Strana where we caught the funnicular up the hill to see the "Eiffel Tower" of Prague which was built in 1891, two years after the Eiffel Tower of Paris. Just like its sister tower, the one in Prague on Petrin Hill overlooks the city and the beautiful river.

STRAHOV ABBEY Instead of taking the funnicular back down the hill, we instead decided to descend the hill by walking down the other side. Enroute on the lovely walk it was so cold that it hailed slightly as we made our way to the Strahov Abbey built in 1143. I mistakenly took a picture of the inside of the sanctuary which I was not supposed to do but I just didn't read the sign in time. The sanctuary was gated from entry by the public but one could see the beautiful murals and statuary. I understand that the Abbey Library is really something to see.

LORETO SHRINE We continued our walk down the Petrin Hill and took a picture from the Strahov Abbey gardens overlooking Mala Strana and then made our way to The Loreto Shrine which houses much of the ancient treasurers of Prague (all now protected with laser beams). Pictures were not allowed to be taken inside the Loreto. TIP: Be very careful to obey all of the rules here!

"JOSEFOV" OR JEWISH QUARTER On Sunday evening, we walked to "Josefov" or Jewish Quarter. It is a small community about five blocks square but is considered to be the oldest and most important Jewish community in the entire western world. During World War II, 90% of the Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia were killed by the Nazis. There is a "Memorial to the 77,297" names in the Pinkas Synagogue which was closed when we got there. We did get a glimpse of the Jewish Cemetery which was established in the first half of the 15th century and remained in use until 1787. It is built in up to 12 layers with approximately 20,000 graves.

We left for home the next morning. We hope to return to beautiful Prague again someday. There are many more places that we hope to one day explore in "Golden" Prague.