Prague + Blog = Plog: Day 12 - The Jewish Cemetery

So we survived to coldest night so far….6 degrees, buuuuurrrrr. Another late start due to the weather...and the fact that we can't seem to wake up before 10 am on a good day (but we do go to bed after 2am most nights). While I had been surfing the interweb last night looking up museums and such, I came across a list of things you should do in Prague if you where to be here for only three days. Since we are obviously spending more time here than that, I thought that we should probably at least cover what was on the list. On it was the Jewish cemetery. It sounded like the perfect thing to do today as it's not very far from the apartment and wouldn't require allocating an entire day to explore it. The cemetery is located in Josev, the name given to this Jewish neighborhood (“ghetto”) in the late 1700s. Most of the neighborhood’s houses and streets were demolished in the late 19^th century, but the cemetery and its synagogues remain. Before going in the cemetery we visit The Ceremonial Hall and The Pinkas Synagogue, both of which border opposite sides of the cemetery. The Pinkas Synagogue was particularly moving. Written on the interior walls are the names of some 80,000 Jews from this region (Bohemia and Moravia) who were murdered by the Nazis. It was beautifully done, but unfortunately you are not permitted to take photographs inside the building. Outside, the head stones of the cemetery appear rather disheveled...because they are. Back in the 14^th century, Jews were forbidden to bury their dead outside of the ghetto, so they were forced to reuse space over and over again until as many as a dozen dead where buried on top of each other. Not exactly an uplifting moment or day, but as Karl paraphrased what so many others have said…”we must never forget this moment in history so that it will never be repeated.” On the way back we stopped at a posh little corner restaurant for some comfort food…hamburger and fries…and I tried the apple strudel for dessert…I am going to admit, not the best dessert so far, but it is a local dish so I HAD to try it ;).

Back at the apartment we were glad to be in out of the cold. Though once again, the major living room is very large with a high ceiling so it is less than ideal when it comes to heat. We chilled out reading, emailing, and listening to music...all by the comfort of a couple of space heaters to boost the warmth of the furnace (we also have a fireplace but it doesn’t draw very well in this very cold weather and, since we don't pay for electricity, we like the space heaters). We also get a little added benefit from using the space heaters…the heat rises upstairs making the bedrooms more comfortable.

For dinner we hit another neighborhood restaurant called The Alchymist (there are two in the area...this one has a French infleunce). A major benefit to this neighborhood is all the foreign embassies. There are several nice restaurants that cater to their diplomats. It is bit fancier than Café de Paris (our local favorite) but we both felt like dressing up after being bundled in hats, jackets and scarves for the past few days. It’s also close enough to rough it without the need for them. The food was very good (we shared a fondue meal...K also started with one of his favorites..foie gras, sorry mom) and the restauraunt had a cool, unique decor.