Golem's Stomping Ground

So much cool stuff in Prague so far! There's a big, cool, famous clock tower right by our hotel. A dude plays trumpet calls every hour from the top. Pretty sweet.

The square is set up for World Cup partying. We're definitely checking it out tomorrow. There are beer tents and a stage. There will be live music (a Czech pop band) and DJs and a big screen to watch the game on. We got our Netherlands orange with us. So stoked!

So today we did the Jewish Quarter. We started with the Pinkas Synagogue, a memorial which lists the names of 80,000 Jewish Holocaust victims from Bohemia and Moravia on its walls.

From the synagogue, we went to the Old Jewish Cemetery. I have always been fascinated by cemeteries, and this one was especially interesting. For about 350 years, the Old Jewish Cemetery was the only place in Prague where Jews could bury their dead, so there are a massive number of graves, and they're all piled on top of each other. I've never seen anything like it. The oldest tombstone in the cemetery is from 1439.

We also saw the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe.

We stopped for drinks at Café Franz Kafka. Mom got turkish coffee and a fanta. I got Franz Kafka tea, which was black tea, orange juice, vodka, and lemon juice.

Then we did some shopping. Mom got a painting she really liked, and I found the perfect gift for my dad. :-) There were also golem souvenirs everywhere. Pretty cool. When we got back towards our hotel, we looked at some wooden toys in an awesome toy shop too. There are awesome wooden toys here.

Then we found an awesome Dalí gallery.

Then nap time.

In the evening we saw Don Giovanni... with marionettes. It was very magical and fun. Apparently Don Giovanni was premiered in Prague--very close to the theater we were in.

After the opera, we had dinner. More Czech food. More wonderfulness. Mom got Czech potato pancakes and cucumber salad stuff that I helped her with. It was very yummy. Then she had chicken schnitzel with pickles and I had roasted duck with bread, potato dumplings, and sauerkraut. Apparently I love sauerkraut!

Now it is bed time! Tomorrow we are planning to see the big castle. Facebook photos will occur shortly.