Day #9: Friday, February 22, 2019 (Prague)

Woke up this morning to a great excitement to go the the Czech Republic, even though it was quite early. The anticipation grew when we were landing since I have been looking forward to visiting the entire trip. I am 25% Czech and I know little to nothing about my Czech family or the culture here. I also have been told many amazing things to expect in Prague and it’s overwhelming beauty.

Once lunch ended, we met Mr. Crane, who is one fascinating man. He told us about his international school, his MANY travels around the world, and his fluency in various languages. The most memorable part of this tour of Prague were the synagogues. My personal favorites was the Spanish synagogue and the Pinkas Synagogue. The Spanish synagogue was stunning on the interior with its intricate details covering the walls and ceilings. The Pinkas Synagogue was breathtaking with all of the names hand written along the wall of the members of the Arian and Czech population who died in the war. I wanted to find my family name, which was given to me by my grandmother preceding this trip, but the names were too small and too high up so it was hard to read them.


After the tour, we went to this castle which left me in awe. The museum was by a long time aristocratic Czech family which showed the culture of Czech through their eyes. I enjoyed the stories of the family members, especially the portrait of the 4 year old who ended up marrying her uncle/first cousin (however that works) and died when she was 22 after giving birth to her 4th child. I was also shocked to see original compositions of famous composers. From the large, aesthetically pleasing rooms to the gorgeous view from the balconies, it was very interesting to see the history of this one family.

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To comment on the city of Prague itself is very easily summed up to be beautiful. The architecture on the buildings show the timeline of this historic city, although at times it could be misleading given the modern constructions being designed to fit the rest. The structure of the downtown area, with its twisted and confusing roads, reminds me a lot of the windy streets of Boston. Prague is definitely somewhere I would want to come back to, given my personal connection to the Czech and the incredible beauty this city holds.
- Erin :)