Prague, Day 4

First off today, we went to the Museum of Decorative Arts, begun the same year as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The resemblance ended there. While some of the items on display dated to the late nineteenth century, there was what I assume was a direct impact of Communist years on the collection. I wonder if many of the items from the museum disappeared, never to reappear. There was a substantial collection of wedding textiles, which perhaps didn't  appeal to the Communist elite as much as silver and ceramics. Overall, it was small and disappointing.

We used the extra time to search for interesting shops. Most of the stores on the heavy tourist streets sell standard Bohemian souveniers: miniarette puppets, colored cut glass, poor quality lampwork glass, T-shirts and tsochkes. We did finally find a few more modern glass shops, including a Kosta Boda shop with beautiful Bertil Valien boats and heads. A little out of my price range for a take home treasure, not to mention that it's Scanidnavian rather than Czech. Eventually we did  find Artel, which carries Bohemian (the Czech glass region) glass made in the traditional manner with a colored layer over clear crystal, but engraved with modern designs rather than traditional. I was captivated by the black work with cut birds and branches. Surprise! So a small bowl is coming home with me. I  wish I could afford the large bowls with that motif. Just beautiful! However, they packaged it up so carefully and beautifully to travel that you'll have to wait to see the details.

In the afternoon, we took a rest to allow for staying up later. We purchased tickets to see a marionette performance of Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni, which was premiered by the great composer himself in Prague at the Estates Theater. The puppet version was very tongue-in-cheek, with a Mozart conductor who got progressively more tipsy as the opera progressed. The puppeteers were part of the show as well. It was fun, although rather bawdy in places. The tiny theater was packed with Japanese tourists. In fact, all of Prague is teeming with tourists, and May is not yet the busiest season. We've heard lots of Americans, French, German, British, Australians, and of course Japanese, everywhere.

After the puppet show, we took the opportunity to photograph the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle illuminated at night. We walked back to Old Town Square for more photos and hot chocolate, and the streets and Metro back to the hotel were quite filled with tourists. So much for our adapting to an earlier schedule. It's very easy to stay up late since the body's time is seven hours earlier.

One of the interesting differences between Prague and anywhere else we've ever traveled is the subway escalators (and we've done a lot of them in different cities). These are FAST and extremely steep and lonnnnng. Not for those with fear of heights. We've watched with great interest as people load baby strollers and luggage onto them. The first few days, it was all we could do to load and unload ourselves safely, but after a few days we may be able to manage getting our luggage to the international train station on Friday.