Up the forest path, by the castle wall................

Up the forest path beside the ruined castle wall towards the twin dark towers.

How did your day start?  I went on the walk recommended by the landlady.  Down to the river, across the river by the railway bridge and up the steps to Vyserhad, the other, ruined, castle.  The graveyard and forest here was one of the magical areas in Prague she told me.  It certainly was beautiful, peaceful and a little special.  The views were lovely and the atmosphere special.

Then I followed directions to the botanical gardens (nice but still botanical gardens) and on to a special old church with new towers.  Found a 14th century monastery with faded and chipped frescoes on the walls.  Only three other people there, very quiet at Vyserhad too.  Magic!

From there, through the New Town (14th century) to the Old Town, where I managed to catch the 1.00pm chiming of the 600 year old astronomical clock.  First the death figure rings a bell, then the figures representing greed, vanity and something else dastardly start shaking their heads.  Then little doors open and the twelve apostles make an appearance, two by two.  Finally a trunpeter from the top of the tower blows his trumpet and the gathered crowds applaud and cheer.  Magic!

Found my way then to the Jewish quarter and bought a ticket to the museum which consists of several sites.  I started at the Pinkas Synagogue.  Here the names, dates and home locations of the known Bohemian and Moravian Jews who perished in the Shoah are recorded.  They are written on the walls of the synagogue, it looks like wallpaper, it is quite moving.  This is all that is left of well over 70,000 people.

Up the stairs is the childrens' art work from Terezin.  Here in this ghetto/camp outside Prague, the Jewish people tried as hard as they could to make their childrens' lives as healthy as they could, with education and games and theatre.  A lady artist taught them art and managed to hide and save over 4,000 of their pictures.  She did not manage to hide or save herself.  Some of the pictures are on display.  Some are dark and depressing, some depict good and evil, some are of the camp.  Many are hopeful and bright, picturing things from the past or hoped for in the future.  I remember one of the group of pictures about what the children remember of the good days.  It was a picture of a woman and a girl, the girl is pushing a toy pram - written on the picture is the word 'Mama'.  It is signed Eva Fry, in a child's writing.  Of the over 8,000 children who passed through Terezin, only 242 survived.