Marvels of a city, which made it through the wars

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 

#Littlefootprints are back home for a while

Interrupting my "reports" on further travels, here are some tales about my impressions of Prague. I can't believe I've never been to that beautiful city before, so close yet always so distant...

It's needless to waist words to tell about the astrological clock, the sculptures, and the architectural marvels of that city, which wasn't really encroached by any of the wars. Words won't also do to describe the plafonds in the philosophical and theological chambers of the Strahov Monastery's library. You'll just want to keep your head up to take in the elevations - but please be careful; you don't want to strain your neck or trip on the cobblestone (ladies, leave your high heels home, they won't make it;)

To me though, that trip was mainly about Alfons Mucha.

For those who have never heard of him, he was a Czech artist, who gained his fame in Paris by designing play posters for the French actress Sarah Bernhardt.

He was lucky enough to become a living legend, asked to design the intricate interiors of the Obecni Dum (Municipal House),  stained-glass window of the Cathedral of the Prazsky Hrad (Prague Castle), and paper money and stamps for Czechoslovakia. 

This close friend of Paul Gaugin, spend the twilight of his life on creating the series of twenty oil paintings on the history of Slavs - the Slav Epic (each of them is enormous!). Although this series is a separate, temporary exhibition at the National 

Gallery, the Alfons Mucha museum has a fair collection of pictures from his workshop; it is very absorbing to watch the preparations, which involved live models!

He was one of the first people to be interrogated by Gestapo in 1939, and dies a couple months later, to become part of another Prague's main site point; he lied at the Vysehrad - historical High Castle.

 

Phew! That was a lot of information, and unfortunately neither what I wrote, nor the attached pictures can give what I saw - you'll just have to visit and not miss out on the Czech beers!

Ps. I recommend #SirToby's hostel - although they could work on the shower water flow, their personnel is nice and helpful, their rooms are very pretty with adorable renewed furniture (take a look at that wooden, turquoise seat), and you can fix yourself a yummy breakfast in the morning

I will be back soon with more posts to get you prepared for a trip to India!