Let me guess. You are a socially conscious person that with a profound desire to learn history and about other cultures. Rain doesn't scare you and neither does exercise. Experiences aren't just about making memories but learning new things. If I just described you and you are traveling to Prague you need to sign up for the Velvet Revolution Walking Tour right now. The Tour is ran by a non-profit based in Czech Republic that advocates for and memorializes political prisoners. The tour guide I had, Dan, is a student at Charles University that studies history with a concentration in late antiquity especially the early Roman Catholic Church. Dan is incredibly knowledgeable. Of the half-dozen tours I completed in Prague Dan was absolutely the most knowledgeable, professional, and customer service oriented. The Tour follows the same walk that Charles University Students took on the Velvet Revolution protests. As you follow their path you learn about Prague and Czech history with an emphasis on the Velvet Revolution. From the beginning I knew I was on a tour like no other. Right before the tour began unexpected rain began pouring on the city of PRague. Perched under a tree I kept safe but the entire group knew that those of us without adequate gear were in trouble. Dan had a plan. Only a couple minutes into the tour Dan stopped at a shop and bought all of us without rain gear an umbrella. I was very impressed. He assured us that, though we wouldn’t follow the exact same path as the student because of the rain we would follow along close by. Clearly a Prague navigational expert Dan wizzed us from covering to covering citing facts and information all along the way. Eventually Dan looked at us and said, “guys we are about to go off script a bit to avoid the rain but you will get your money’s worth. If you don’t feel you have please let me know and I will make sure you are refunded.” No one asked for a refund. As the rain grew harder Dan guided us into an elaborate Catholic Church. A stop totally off script. He paid for our admission and gave us a tour. You could tell his professional learning had taken over. Dan walked us through the church and answered our many questions. After a few minutes and just in time the rain stopped. Dan assured us we were blessed by the Virgin Mary. Dan then took us through the Vysehrad Cemetery beside the church where many Czech greats and heroes are buried. He showed us the grave of Karel Macha, a 19th century Czech Poet which the students marched to and then took us out of the cemetery to St. Wenceslas Square where the students completed the march and began their protest. He told us more about the protests, showed and explained the memorial, and then we went on our way. The Velvet Revolution Tour was a truly impressive historical and political tour Of the Czech Republic that was an ideal example of experiential education. I highly recommend this tour to anyone with an interest in politics and history.
0 Comments
Have you ever dreamed about flying through the clouds at mach 3? Have you wondered what it feels like to pull negative Gs? Do you find your pocket filled with only lint? The Prague Aviation Museum is the place for you! Filled with aircraft flown by the Czech Air Force from the birth of aviation to the collapse of communism and totally free of charge the Prague Aviation Museum is an excellent adventure for people willing to leave the beaten path. The Prague Aviation Museum is approximately 30 minutes from Prague 1 and can be difficult for the novice traveller to locate and find. The most direct route it is to take B yellow line metro and get off at Ceskomoravska. From there you hop on bus line 375. There is about 8 stops until you get off at Letecke muzeum. The bus will NOT stop on its own and you must push the stop button if you want to get off in front of the museum. You will know as soon as you are there as you see hangar after hangar of old aircraft. Walk through the main gate and walk into the building to the left which is the information center. You may find that the person at the desk does not speak english. No matter, my experience was that he was nice enough to find me someone who did and who gave me a map. If you have no such luck there is a large map that details the hangars just above the information center. The museum is divided into a number of hangars each organized by time period. I immediately moved to the right and enjoyed the World War I and II hangars. Both hangars were manned by local Czech experts that were happy to answer all of my questions in good english. One even told me that a new exhibit on simulators had recently opened that was not included on the map. Note as you go in the hangars there is a sign listing a number of rules and potential consequences. I noticed a notable ban on photography though the hand full of people (myself included) in the museum took plenty of pictures and no one seemed to mind. The World War II hangar was particularly interesting as it documented the history of the Czech Air Force from conception to exile in World War II. I don’t want to give away too much but know that Czech pilots continued to fly and fight Nazi Germany long after Czechoslovakia was annexed. Make sure you take a look at the messerschmitt 262 (right) in the front right of the hangar. This is one of the first jet fighters invented by Nazi Germany and this particular jet continued service in the Czech Air Force after World War II. Just above the information center and to the left is an enormous hangar with mostly Soviet Aircraft. All of the Aircraft are signed with basic information in both english and czech. I found this hangar a bit overwhelming. The star of the show was the space orbiter near the exit. Try not to miss it! Once you leave the large hangar to the left is four rows of soviet era Czech Aircraft and especially helicopters. If you’ve ever watched an 80s war movie you will particularly enjoy the hind helicopters (right) on display. Once you’ve visited the hinds you are pretty much done! Take a glance in the gift shop. There is some pretty exciting Czech aviation items you can purchase that you will not find anywhere else. Both of the people working in the shop spoke excellent english. Beside the gift shop is a small concession stand where you can refuel and recharge with a nice pilsner. For the grand price of zero crowns this museum is truly underrated. Relive a childhood dream or inspire new ones in your children by visiting the Prague Aviation Museum and taking a walk through Czech aviation history. I have always been a fan of things that go bump in the night. I watched my first horror movie when I was eight years old with my brother by my side the entire time. I was so scared that night, I slept with my parents. As I have gotten older, I still enjoy being scared, and Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I feel that we can learn a lot about each other through what frightens us. This is why, before coming to Prague, I booked a ghost tour of Old Town. After enjoying some drinks at a local jazz club, a quartet of us, found who we were meeting, Tomas, a 23 year-old Czech native who has lived in Prague for all except 2 years of his life. He reminded me of my brother when we were younger. A group of 20 of us started following him around the town. We were very lucky because a jazz festival was going on in the Old Town Square, so as he started, light jazz notes accompanied his story. The music didn't really fit the type of tour I was on, but this seems to be part of what I love about the city, juxtapositions everywhere around you and it is embraced with loving arms. We made it to our first stop, and Tomas started by telling us a story about the Death House #5. Tomas is a very fun story teller, but when the story is done, he is ready to move on. Another thing that I have come to expect in the city. No one waits for interruptions or explanations, when the story is done, we simply move on. This is very different that I am used to from going on tours in the States, but I enjoy it. It adds a sense of ease and play to the tour. As we continue along the tour, we come to many different places, no one place is particularly scary. Instead, we learn a lot about legends of Prague, especially from the Middle Ages. Tomas gives us different explanations for what has happened in the story and lets us pick what we believe to be true. As we stopped across the street from a Franz Kafka statue Tomas decided to give us some insider tips on being a better tourist in Prague. In the background loomed the top of a cathedral (one that Tomas swears Cinderella's castle was designed after), he tells us what tredelnik translates to (silly) and said that it is not in fact a Czech tradition, but came along when all of the tourists started coming. He gave us information on Franz Kafka as well. I really enjoyed the tour because it wasn't scary and I definitely didn't have trouble sleeping, like I did back when I was eight years old, but I instead learned a lot about Czech culture. Czech's are a very proud people who continue to be strong and courageous, even though the country and people have been through incredibly tough times. The Czech people also have a great sense of humor, but not in a mean way. I would really recommend this tour to everyone, it really is a great way to see some landmarks and learn a little history when you first arrive in the city. -Brandon Bogumil-
I walked up to the guy who seemed to be standing there waiting for someone. I was hoping he was Dan, the tour guide I was meeting. The tour had been set up through airbnb experiences. Dan is part of an NGO called politicalprisoners.eu that conducts various tours in Prague to help raise awareness about how people were treated under communism. Luckily, it was Dan, and we started the tour. -Brandon Bogumil-
The little girl tripped, fell, and skinned her knee all while her father serenely sat at the table sipping his real coffee. He read the paper, and without averting his attention asked the girl if she were okay. The little girl stood up, a mix of blood and dirt on her knee, but no dripping blood, and she walked over to her father and asked him to kiss it to make it better. He smiled, put his paper down, bent over and kissed her knee as she lifted it up toward him. The girl turned and skipped away to continue playing. A loud noise rang out through the skies. A bang, like a muffler, and the birds in the trees were startled and flew away in a flock. by Kelsie Adloo Rolling hills strewn with picturesque cabins plucked out of a storybook come to an abrupt end as we turn toward Terezin. Suddenly our usually noisy bus filled with verbose teachers drunk on the relaxation of summer is quiet. Outside of the concentration camp where tens of thousands of prisoners died is a vast memorial for the lives lost. On one end of the field stands a cross with a crown of thorns. On the other, the Star of David. These two symbols watch over the hundreds of tombstones that lie between them. After exiting the bus in a parking lot lined with souvenir shops and food stands, our group heads to the cemetery. Once I step on the field, I immediately feel commercialism and flimsiness of the parking lot fade away. I am now on hallowed grounds. A small red rose bush separates the tombstones, each delicately adorned with pebbles from visitors, the rememberers. Our guide, Rosa, meets us near the entrance of Terezin and begins to provide context for the space. Constructed under the rule of Austrian emperor Joseph II in the late 18th century, Terezin was initially meant to be a fort system for the monarchy. When Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, however, the Gestapo created a prison and work camp in the small fortress. Rosa leads us through the administrative buildings of the camp, but my eyes and mind are focused on the painted phrase over the camp’s main doorway. Under a soft blue sky and ominous barbed wire are the words “ARBEIT MACHT FREI,” work makes you free. My students and I have discussed this specific example of propaganda in my classroom, but seeing the manipulation in person makes everything feel much more real. We wander from room to room, witnessing the barracks where prisoners were packed twelve to a slate. It seems like we are in a trance, taking in Rosa’s words and the cries of the swallows swooping overhead. “It’s almost as if they’re trying to tell us what happened here,” Michael says when a flock flies closer. Rosa guides us to a tunnel in the fortress that was used by the Nazi guards. The tunnel is 500 meters long and completely dark except for a few slit-like windows and barred openings for cannons. Any emotional guard I have up is completely demolished when my claustrophobia kicks in. Janet and Jasmine talk me through my nerves. I imagine the pain and suffering of this place. The tunnel opens on a field for target practice; the standing grounds eerily resembling three crosses. Just beyond sit the pristine houses where the Nazi officers lived with their families, ignoring the tragedies they caused in the backyard. A striking feature is the large swimming pool where one can imagine Nazi youth playing while thousands of children perished on the other side of the fortress. We close our visit with a viewing of a propaganda video that the Nazis use to assuage criticism of their use of concentration camps. The film is extended with the reality of Terezin and includes hauntingly beautiful artwork and the echo of how many lost their lives. Visiting Terezin is an incredibly humbling experience. The site leaves me feeling human, vulnerable and exposed. I feel both the terrifying power of human cruelty as well as the hopeful resiliency of the human spirit. I am thankful for the guidance of Rosa and the commitment to remember. *Title inspired by I Never Saw Another Butterfly, a collection of art and poetry by children who lived in camp Terezin.
As a student in the time of physical history textbooks full of black-and-white photography, I often felt removed from what we were discussing in class. "Social Studies" was not a favorite subject in school and I did not come to appreciate history until I hit my 30s. Hollywood attempts to tell the stories of the Holocaust often succeed in producing moving images that evoke strong emotions. However, I find (in my 40s) that I most begin to reconcile my feelings about how we as humans have treated each other when I walk in the shadows of people who were once black-and-white. Fortunately, the arts make that possible. Art students continued to create while imprisoned in the ghetto. "The four and a half thousand children’s drawings from Terezín that [Friedl] Dicker-Brandeis collected after the classes and kept in two suitcases, which she hid in one of the ghetto’s children’s dormitories before her transport to Auschwitz, has been part of the Jewish Museum in Prague’s collection since the end of the war." (Children's Drawings From the Terezín Ghetto). After sitting through a screening of the Nazi propaganda film, I was overwhelmed and not interested in seeing any more evidence but my gaze happened upon this portrait of Ema Blažková and I could not look away. I read the first few paragraphs of her biography and could not finish. I was so emotional from the thought of young art students studying their craft being arrested, interrogated, and forced to be cleaning workers that I was not able to read to the end. For this reflection, I searched for her on the internet, not remembering her name and not having not taken note of it at the time. Miraculously, of all the names on the first page of the database, I happened to click on hers (subconscious recall?) which led to an artifact which led to a Google search of her name which led to an image that looked somewhat familiar, which led to the biography that filled my eyes. And from this sepia photo, I learn that she lived past Terezín and continued to create art until her death in 2003. The color image is soothing to me, as evidence that Ema had a future beyond the ghetto. As our group toured the small fortress at Terezín Ghetto, I purposely snapped photos in both black-and-white with a sister photo in color. I wanted to explore the difference in how I perceived the images. Would my mind feel detached from the horror if I later reviewed my Instagram post without the color of the life? Perhaps that is why I feel compelled to visit historical sites...to see the remnants of the past in living color. I find that I need the stories of humanity in a space in order to create associations that attempt to make sense of what we did and how we did it. There really in no making sense of what the SS inflicted upon human beings at Terezín. But it is important to walk the walk and see it for what it was. Reality for tens of thousands. They lived it in color. They deserve to be remembered in color. Ema's work in the database (Note - the Museum is creating an updated database of prisoners so this link has a shelf life). http://www.terezin.org/the-history-of-terezin/
A much older priest celebrated mass. He remained seated throughout much of the mass. Another priest even came to administer the Eucharist to the congregation. Ultimately, it was a beautiful mass that took place in a gorgeous church. I recommend visiting it if you have a chance! -Kelly Womack Outside of the small town of Hrensko, Czech Republic and within the Czech Switzerland National Park is the rock arch bridge Pravčická Brána. On Saturday, July 14th, we took a hike up to view this natural wonder. The bus dropped us on the side of the road outside of Hrensko. At first our group began to become fearful we would have another hike similar to our first Kafkaesque one. The trail was about 2.5 km which is about a mile and a half through the woods. It was a rather steep incline and we weren't quite sure where we were heading. The natural views of trees around us were rather calming, though. We continued hiking uphill while breathing heavily. At one point in our trek, we saw staked rocks. People place them as a way of making a memory of being there. Even with it not being a natural occurrence, it was still a sight to behold. As we approached the summit, we began to see the "Falcon's Nest" Chateau. The Falcon's Nest is a chateau built in 1881 by Prince Edmund Clary-Aldringen, who owned the region, to accommodate his important guests. The chateau was built within a year and held a restaurant which is still open today. We paid a fee to get into the parts with some of the most advantageous view points but it was worth the 75 Kč. The views from under the arch and on the ledge above the Falcon's nest were completely breathtaking (from what breath we still had left after hiking up the mountain). The ledges to see some of the views though were smaller than expected. It was difficult to fit more than 6 people on one of the ledges at a time and the other was a narrow walkway really only meant for one person at a time to walk down. Nonetheless, it was well worth the hike up the mountain and the steep stairs near the top. |