Counting down the days
Friday May 9
We’ve only got a few more days to enjoy this beautiful city, but there were still a few things we hadn't done, and a few others we wanted to do again.
This morning I started to do a little bit of cleaning and packing while Jack went to the grocery store. After lunch we took one last touristy adventure to the National Library of the Czech Republic, which is housed in a complex of buildings known as the Klementinum.
The two most famous attractions of the Klementinum is the incredibly beautiful Baroque library and its history as an observatory where at one time Tycho Brahe worked. We were able to go to (almost) the top of the observatory tower, from which we got a spectacular view of the city.
Later that afternoon we met up with Jeremy Druker, the director of the Transitions organization which sponsored Jack here in Prague, for one last pint and to say our goodbyes. We met at a nice little pub right on the edge of Old Town, which drew its drafts from tanks instead of kegs.
For dinner, we stopped by our favorite little pizza joint one last time; always good pizza and good cheap beer.
Saturday May 10
This morning we spent an hour re-visiting the Military History Institute in Prague, an incredibly well curated Army museum tracing Czechia’s military history from the 18th century to present day. The fact that this is the third time we’ve been there tells you how good it is.
This time we especially focused on a relatively new display which dove deeply into the final days of WWII, describing troop movements and battles not only in Prague but throughout the country. The exhibit included a re-created barricade scene. The sheer number of 1945-era uniforms, weaponry, soldiers’ personal items, combat equipment and more that were on display just boggles the mind.
I also took the opportunity to walk once again through the museum’s re-created WWI trenches. Film footage and life-size models of soldiers standing at the trench walls and cowering in the corner are intensified by the sounds of exploding bombs and gunfire and actual smoke. It was all incredibly well done.
I also found this really interesting: Yesterday I told you all about a living history event which had a lot of military machinery on display. Among them was a German assault gun called a Hetzer. One of the interpretive panels pictured that very same Hetzer driving through the Prague Castle courtyard on May 27, 1945.
After lunch we decided to take advantage of the beautiful, warm, sunny weather and head down to the river for a walk and a river-side pint at what has become one of our favorite beer gardens.
Tonight, we walked up to the top of “our” park to watch the sunset.
