After 10 days of traveling you hardly want to do anything. Seriously. Recovery days are by far the best thing God ever created for Franciscan students. At the same time you are always wanting to travel. Make the most of your time while you are in Europe. So this weekend I went to Prague. But I only went for a day with the school. And it was such a great little trip.
We woke up at 4:30 in the morning on Saturday March 17th. It was a hard thing to do after going to bed late because of a movie date with Katie and Jen. We slept for about 3 ½ maybe 4 hours before having to get up. We left at 5 AM and got to Prague around 10 in the morning. It was difficult to sleep on the bus. It was suuuper cold and uncomfortable. We stopped at Mc.Donalds for a while at some point too.
We were given a map and a time and place to meet to leave and let go into the city of Prague. Our first item we wanted to see was the clock. There is this special astronomical clock in Prague. Prague Orloj is also how it’s called. It was first installed in 1410, making it the third astronomical clock in the world, and the oldest one still working. It has three main parts; the astronomical dial, a clockwork hourly show with moving sculptures, and a calendar dial representing the months. It took us a while, but we finally wandered into the city square. It was St. Patrick’s day and the Irish pubs were already crawling with excited tourists. Bands played in the square and children danced to the music while teenagers layed around and smoked. It was pretty relaxed. We stood around listening to the music and taking in the sun. We took pictures of the clock and the massive dogs we saw along the way. We got huge bags of candy and set off to find the Charles Bridge. It was the most important connection between the Prague Castle to the Old Town.
It was a pretty cool bridge. Tons of sculptures lining the walkway and a lot of little vendors mixed with music groups entertaining and tempting us to buy little trinkets. On the other side of the bridge we knew we had to see the infant of Prague. But first thing was first, lunch.
We found a little café and Mark and I bought huge burgers with french fries. I ate it all. I was so hungry. We sat in the café watching customers come and go and talking to each other about what else we wanted to do before our time was up. Eventually we meandered out into the street in search of the church.
It was pretty easy to find and was really beautiful both on the outside and inside. As you walk in, you might expect the infant to be front and center, but that’s not the case. The precious infant is on the side. Just a little thing, adorned in beautiful clothes and shielded by a glass case. One arm raised in blessing. If you don’t know anything about the infant of Prague, here’s a bit of history:
“The Infant Jesus of Prague originally came from Spain. The legend tells that the Infant Jesus appeared miraculously to a certain monk, who modelled the statue based on the appearance of the apparition. According to another legend the statue belonged to St. Teresa of Avila, the founder of the Discalced Carmelites, who was aflame with a great love for the Child Jesus. She is said to have given the statue to a friend of hers, whose daughter was setting out to travel to Prague.
When the Duchess Maria Manrique de Lara came to Bohemia to marry a Bohemian nobleman in 1556, she received the statue from her mother as a wedding gift. When her daughter Polyxena of Lobkowicz was widowed, she gave the precious statue to the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites attached to the church of Our Lady of Victory in 1628.
The Carmelites placed the statue in the novitiate chapel, so that the young monks could learn from the virtues of the Child Jesus. At that time the Thirty Years’ War was raging through Europe and even the Infant Jesus was not spared when the Saxon army occupied Prague in 1631. It was only after his return to Prague in 1637 that Father Cyril of the Mother of God, originally from Luxemburg, discovered the statue, abandoned in a corner. To his sorrow, however, he found that the Infant Jesus had had both hands broken off. At this moment it seemed to him that the Infant Jesus was saying to him:
Have mercy on me and I will have mercy on you.
Give me hands and I will give you peace.
The more you honour me, the more I will bless you.
Eventually Father Cyril had new hands made for the Infant Jesus. The gold coin invested in this was returned many times over, as the Child Jesus began to bless the monastery, the local people, and the whole of Prague. Miraculous healings were attributed to him, as was the protection of Prague when it was laid siege to by the Swedes in 1639. In 1651 the statue was carried as a pilgrim round all the churches in Prague and in 1655 it was solemnly crowned by the Bishop of Prague. This event is still remembered today on the anniversary feast-day, falling on the first Sunday in May.”
After we saw the beautiful infant of Prague we decided to go to the Lennon wall. Which turned out to be this huge graffitied wall. And I, of course, was in love. Graffiti is probably one of my favorite things ever. I don’t know why, but I find it absolutely beautiful. There were so many messages about love and peace, so many quotes and sketches. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. We wandered along and found a bridge full of locks. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite things about Europe and traveling. Stumbling upon a bridge covered in locks. I probably look ridiculous taking so many pictures, but hey, I like it.
We walked back toward the bridges and found a little spot under a tree to hang out before we headed back over to the busy side of town. We talked and made fun of each other and told stories and played stupid games. And finally it was time to head back over. Once back on the busy side of town we walked around the block a few times, saw some big monuments lit by flood lights and took some night pictures.
We said goodbye to Mark as he was staying the night, but we were going back with the school. We walked to a little shop, slightly embarrassed by the fact that we hadn’t drank at all on St. Patrick’s day… But we couldn’t find what we were looking for and figured we were too poor anyway. Heading back to the bus we climbed on and talked to our peers about what we did. We all basically did the same things. I was a little bummed that we didn’t get to go to an Irish pub, but they were jam packed. It was impossible.
On the drive back we stopped again at Mc. Donalds and then headed back to the Kartause. We got back around one in the morning. We had almost been awake for a full 24 hours. I stayed up until 3:30 just so I could say I was up for 24 hours. The next day was Sunday and it was such a chill day. Just hanging out and relaxing. And waiting for others to come back from their weekends. It was a chill weekend. And it was really cool to get another country in. Even if it was only for one day.
The next weekend was the weekend before 10 day and so many people decided to stay back. Mark and I went to Spain to visit my friend studying there. It was just the two of us traveling and it was such a great trip. Super chill. I’m excited to blog about that one.
But for now, I hope you enjoyed my little tiny day trip to Prague. I know I did.
playwrightfate 