Prague - in photos

Today's blog is mostly visual, since it is about what is arguably the most beautiful city in the world.  We are camped on the river near the Prague Zoo, and a quick tram ride took us downtown this morning.  Another tram carried us up the hill to the castle and cathedral, built in the 1300s.  

 There, we happened upon an amazing event - the reburial of a Czech Catholic cardinal who died 50 years ago but had been buried at the Vatican, where he died in exile. Today's procession included clergy, bishops, cardinals and religious organizations from around the world. 

 From a French report of his body's return to the city yesterday afternoon:  
Bells rang across the Czech capital Prague on Friday marking the arrival of the remains of a Catholic cardinal, persecuted by both the Nazis and the Communists, for reburial at home after he died in exile at the Vatican decades ago.  Josef Beran, who survived two Nazi camps during World War II and 15 years of internment by the communist regime, is widely respected by Czechs, despite the high proportion of atheists and agnostics in the EU country of 10.6 million people. Beran died in exile in Rome in 1969, five years after he travelled to the Vatican to be named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. The communist regime in then Czechoslovakia never allowed him to return.  Full story here
Afterwards, we walked back down to the city center, took a river boat ride, and then walked through the old Jewish quarter, which was largely destroyed at the beginning of the 20th Century, even before the city's Jewish residents were annihilated during World War II. Finally, we arrived in the Old Town Square, where more church spires pierced the sky. 

 There are many beautiful cities in the world, including ours, and we have hardly seen them all, but Prague is certainly special. The graceful bridges spanning the lovely Vltava River, the painted building facades, the architectural whimsies in drain pipes and window frames, and the hundreds of spires reaching skyward lift the spirits in a very physical way.  The city's amazing architectural wonders have stood through despotic regimes, flowering democracies, war and peace, for hundreds of years.  Let us hope they will stand for many more. 

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