November 22nd, 2013

And so begins my second to last weekend in Prague.  Where am I going to be the next two weekends you may ask?  Well, you will just have to wait and see my dear (seemingly nonexistent) followers.  Throughout the semester I have been making a list of all the things I want to do and as of this morning this is what it looked like

-Black Light Theatre
-Train Beer Place
-Paid Tour of Prague Castle
-Petrin Tower
-Tour of Controversy
-TV Tower
-Astronomical Clock
-Metronome
-Karlstejn Castle
-Radio Free Europe (National Museum)
-Jewish Quarter
-National Library
-Strahova Monestary
-Museum Kampa
-Vysehrad Cemetery
-Istanbul!!!
-Go back to Petrin
-Jazz club with dancing
-Hear Mozart music at his theatre
-Municipal House
-National Theatre
-Marionette Theatre
-Strahova Library
-Zoo
-Ice caves

As you can see I still have quite a lot to do and only this weekend and my very last weekend I'm here to finish off all of these things so I set off this weekend to complete as many of them as possible. The first stop on my list of things to do was Museum Kampa, a modern art museum in one of my favorite parts of town right along the river.  The building was damaged by the floods this past spring so the lower floors were all closed off but the inside of the building was so much bigger than we expected and had the good kind of modern art (in my opinion).  Although my favorite part of the museum was of course, the area where you could not take pictures, here is a link to some of his works.  Do enjoy.

http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/frantisek-kupka

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Outdoor Exhibition)

(Jan Kubickek Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(View of Prague from Museum)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Frantisek Kupka)

(Frantisek Kupka)

(Frantisek Kupka)

(Frantisek Kupka)

(Frantisek Kupka)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

(Central Europe Exhibit)

Now, our next stop was going to be the National Museum.  Sadly the main building has been under construction since we got here, so the museum has been split up into different buildings all around town and we decided to go to the main building.  We show up there only to find out this building is also being temporarily shut down for the installation of a new exhibition so we were out of luck until December.  We decided to go have lunch and find something else to do.  We headed off to a little restaurant near my apartment where we got a wonderful lunch special of soup, bread and spaghetti/gnocchi for under $5.  Yay Prague living.  After lunch we decided to head up to the newly opened Christmas market that was just up the street and then to another museum.  The market was adorable and full of handmade christmas things and good food.  Although it was cute, it just didn't feel like it is really Christmas time with no snow. We stayed for awhile and listened to some carolers then headed to the museum.  The museum was a art nouveau artist who I loved.  Sadly, it was another place where no pictures were allowed but I will offer up another link so you can enjoy as well.  It was a successful day of crossing one thing off my list and then I went home to do homework, a far less exciting ending to a good day.

http://www.alfonsmucha.org/

(Christmas Market)

(Christmas Market)

(Small child with a trdelnik the size of her head)

November 17th, 2013

Our last stop in Poland was a salt mine which turned out to be much more interesting than it sounds.  It was oddly homey in the mines because people did spend a lot of time down there.  It is on the UNESCO world heritages sites and was one of the first places they admitted.  Everything in the caves is made of salt which is something when you look at all the pictures.  When I say everything I mean the statues, chandeliers, everything.  The two best parts had to be the Cathedral that is made from salt and the underground lake.  The lake is so filled with salt that it is more dense than the Dead Sea.  It was a solid way to end the trip to Poland and then the eight hour bus ride back was a little rough, but we made it back.  Yay for being home in Prague.

"The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 metres (1,073 ft) and is over 287 kilometres (178 mi) long. The rock salt is naturally gray in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. During World War II, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad-hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine's passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. More recent sculptures have been fashioned by contemporary artists. The Wieliczka mine is often referred to as "the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland." In 1978 it was placed on the original UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites. Even the crystals of the chandeliers are made from rock salt that has been dissolved and reconstituted to achieve a clear, glass-like appearance. It also houses a private rehabilitation and wellness complex. Also the Wieliczka was one of World 12 Tourism rankings. There is a legend about Princess Kinga, associated with the Wieliczka mine. The Hungarian noblewoman was about to be married to Bolesław V the Chaste, the Prince of Kraków. As part of her dowry, she asked her father for a lump of salt, since salt was prizeworthy in Poland. Her father King Béla took her to a salt mine in Máramaros. She threw her engagement ring from Bolesław in one of the shafts before leaving for Poland. On arriving in Kraków, she asked the miners to dig a deep pit until they come upon a rock. The people found a lump of salt in there and when they split it in two, discovered the princess's ring. Kinga had thus become the patron saint of salt miners in and around the Polish capital."

(The 54 floor walk down)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine Statue)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine Statues)

(Salt Mine Salt)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine Statues)

(Salt Mine Salt)

(Salt Mine Salt)

(Salt Mine Statue)

(Salt Chandeliers)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(World's Largest Underground Cathedral)

(Underground Lake)

(Underground Lake)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine)

(Salt Mine with a Ballroom Dance Competition Inside)