Praha - Days 3 & 4

Day 3
Last breakfast this morning for Alan and Ellen as they fly back to WA at lunchtime today. Farewell to you both and thank you for coming with us - it was lovely xx
Jane and I decided on a shopping, exploring day. We wandered of in search of the department store area we found yesterday. We were quite surprised by the labour intensive construction we saw on the way.

Repairing plaster

 I guess the Czech Republic, after communism,  has really only been in existence for just over 30 years and they have achieved so much in that time including restoring and preserving so many ancient buildings.
It was a lot less crowded today so we were able to wander around the streets fairly freely. We have some really tasteful gifts for the family back home - lucky them!!
Dinner was at another Czech restaurant close to the hotel and quite delicious. Jane had a traditional Czech pork dish and I had some pate followed by corn on the cob and vegetable stacks. I had a pint of Pilsner Urquelle and Jane had a 375ml bottle of still water. The bill came and I offered to pay for my beer before splitting the bill when we discovered that her bottle of water was almost twice the price of my beer. Can't think of a better case for drinking beer over water!!
Day 4
Last day in Prague and we woke to 2 degrees and a heavy mist over the city. Maybe winter is coming at last. We have been so lucky with the weather.

Some of the names

We decided to visit the Jewish Centre and museum. I found it very poignant and quite emotional. There has been Jewish settlement in Prague for over 1000 years. In the second World War the Jews were taken from Prague to Terezin, a concentration camp in another part of the Czech Republic. (Pat and I visited this camp on a tour a few years back) From here they were often sent on to the extermination camps of Dachau, etc. At the Jewish Centre they have rooms where all the walls are covered in names of those who were exterminated in the camps. Hundreds of thousands of names.
There was a strong sense of sorrow in this place. The centre also contains some pictures drawn by the children who were interned in Terezin during the war. They portrayed life there, dreams, life outside and often hope.

Small section of cemetery

The centre is surrounded by a cemetery which is hundreds of years old. The people have been buried in layers dating back centuries. There were many ancient tombstones with small rocks placed upon them. We guessed it was as depicted in the movie Schindler's List, where the descendants placed stones.
Last bit of shopping and back to the hotel to pack. We are both looking forward to going home.

Thank you all for reading my blog - maybe it brought back memories for those of you who have been to all, or some, of these places. Perhaps it will encourage those of you who haven't to venture forth and explore. I will end with a short movie of the beautiful Christmas tree in the Old Town Square, Prague.