•December 3, 2006•
The rains that have been pounding western Europe are now moving east so our drive through the countryside will have to wait for better weather. We have been spending a lot of time in the Stare Mesto these past few days. It's being turned into a replica of a medieval village in preparation for the holidays. There are food stalls selling sausages and mulled wine, shops selling traditional crafts and sweets, and a large stage in the middle of the square for musical performances. It's like the tower of Babel here. People come from everywhere to spend Christmas in Prague. Judging by the chill in the air we should have a white Christmas. My poor arthritic knees are feeling the wear and tear of walking everywhere and soon we will have to break out the thermal underwear.
Art is everywhere in Prague, right down to the iron gates and fences. The city is full of examples of Jugendstil, Cubist and Futurist architecture. Today we visited the Cubist Museum. Artists like Kubista, who changed his surname to reflect his art, Gocar and Gutfreund made a strong impression on me. The museum has a wonderful collection of furniture, paintings, sculpture, ceramics and graphics on three floors. Czech cubism is so dark and muscular, not fanciful like so much French cubism. We had lunch in the museum restaurant with its evocative black and white decor. Lousy food but great ambiance.
Around the corner from the museum is the Dorotheum auction house annex. We bought some etchings by Czech artist Emil Orlik and a lovely drawing by T. Frantisek Simon of a Dutch woman by the sea. There is so much affordable, beautiful art to buy here. I feel like a kid in a candy shop. Soon I will venture out and do some drawing of my own around town.
Down a side street we came upon the Estates Theater where Mozart conducted Don Giovanni. There is a fabulous sculpture in front, a cloaked figure with no body inside. We watched an ice skating rink being erected across the way. The juxtaposition of the old and new looks so strange.
•December 5, 2006•
All over town tonight you see groups of three dressed up like bearded St. Nicholas in a long white robe, an angel and a devil parading the streets. Parents are out with their little children and when one of these trios approaches they ask if the child has been good or bad all year. If the child has been good the angel gives him/her a treat if the child has been bad the devil will take them. Of course no child will admit to being bad. Seems a little like Halloween with treats and frights.
Last night we attended a vocal concert given by the students of Charles University where Eva teaches. The students ranged in age from 15 to 18 and were quite good. The concert took place at the top of a 17th century tower which used to be the entrance to old Prague. We climbed the creaky wooden stairway and sat with about thirty parents and teachers. It was strange to imagine that hundreds of years ago guards stood watch in the very room where we sat. I think more than anything I will miss the ever present reminders of Prague's rich history.
I'm getting wanderlust and want to be out in the fresh air of the countryside. The air in Prague is pretty bad because of all the diesel fuel. Eva says there is something called the Prague cough. You don't see smog like you do in L.A. Here it's low lying bad air. You see black grime on the first floor of buildings and dust accumulates in the apartment. I'm not sure one is related to the other but everyday I sweep piles of dust. It must come in on our clothes and shoes because it's too chilly to open the windows. Mystery dust.
