20-22 August--Prague

We continued today with our discussions on the Secession movement at the turn of the 19^th century. The Secession was an artistic break from the Historicist architecture period from the time of the Ringstrasse’s inception. The Parliament building (built 1874-1884), for example, is built in a classical Greek style, reminiscent of democracy’s beginnings in Greece and Rome.

Later that day we began making plans to go to Prague for the weekend. We spent several hours looking up travel information, then took a train out of Vienna at 6. Arriving at 11 with no local currency, no map, and not able to understand the language, we wandered nervously around for a while. At this time, pretty much everything was closed. Luckily, a hotel nearby sold us train tickets and gave us a map of the city and we were able to look up where we needed to go. The Czech metro system is, in my opinion, better than the Viennese one. It travels faster and has better brakes. Upon arrival at the hostel, however, we were informed that we didn’t have a reservation and that the hostel was completely booked. In response to this I showed the clerk our confirmation email, and they sent a taxi to pick us up and take us to a hostel with free space, free of charge. Another note: Czech people are a lot nicer than the Viennese, and Prague is extremely tourist friendly. Anyways, after finally arriving, it was around 1:30 or 2 in the morning, and we all instantly went to sleep.

Destination: Prague. We got up around eight today and had breakfast at the hostel (another reason Czechs are friendlier than the Viennese—they give you food). We made our way through the center of Prague, called Old Prague. We passed through many town squares and even climbed a tower to see an amazing view of Prague. We eventually passed over a bridge named after Charles the Fourth, one of the Holy Roman Emperors who was not a Habsburg, but rather reigned during the time after Rudolf of Habsburg’s reign and the next Habsburg emperor, around 150 years later. Another interesting fact is that Rudolf II, Habsburg and Holy Roman Emperor, has his name engraved on the facade of the Bohemian museum, probably as recognition to the fact that he moved the court from Vienna to Prague in 1583. In addition, Rudolf II, who it was rumored had mental problems and never married, was a great patron of the sciences. He invited Tycho Brahe to the court to be the imperial astronomer, where he worked in cooperation with Johannes Kepler. Rudolf II was not a particularly effective ruler, as he was more interested in science and alchemy than the affairs of the state. Rudolf II also commissioned the Habsburg family crown, with which no Habsburg was actually crowned.

Our final destination was Prague’s Music Museum, which showcases the development of almost every instrument. Today, however, was a special exhibit on the Beatlemania era in the Czech Republic. This museum contained several weird memorabilia from this era, including a Beatles sweatshirt, Beatles beer, and the Beatles’ weekly magazine. Thismuseum highlighted the Czech underground youth movement and seemed to want to say to foreigners that youth behind the iron curtain resisted against authority and tried to bring western music to Prague. We saw shoddily assembled guitars, made by people inspired by the music they heard and read about the underground music scene, which featured a Czech cover band that performed Beatles songs. We toured the actual museum next, which was full of weird instruments that served as transition pointsfor modern instruments. Some of them made little sense, like a violin with a bell attached to it or a baritone horn with two bells. It was interesting to see the origins of each instrument and how they developed over time.

After the museum, we caught a concert at the Museum of Bohemian history. An octet performed the overture of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro," Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," a Bach Air, a Dvorak Humoresque, and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in its entirety.

Destination: Prague, day 2. We had to be out of the hostel by 10 today, but were able to lock up our stuff and go walk about more. We walked through the city again, this time going to the Prague castle, which is more like a church in a giant courtyard surrounded by lesser buildings. The Habsburgs had moved their court to Prague two times, once under Rudolf II whose name we saw on the Bohemian museum where we saw the concert.

After the Prague castle we made our way to the Vltava river, where we got to relax on a boat ride around Prague. I enjoyed being able to relax in the sun. We saw the Prague metronome, a giant red metronome that keeps the beat of the city.