Holiday in Prague

It is October 28th and the Czechs are enjoying a National Holiday commemorating the nation’s creation on this day in 1918. What a day to be in Prague! Rejoicing throngs crowd Wenceslas square. The band is playing; flags waving; people dancing for joy…

Whoa – Hold your horses. There’s something wrong with this picture.
Today is actually the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia – a country that fell apart more than 22 years ago when the Czechs had a bust up with their neighbours the Slavs. These people aren’t celebrating unity: it’s just another student protest rally. Never mind; most Czechs are just enjoying a day off and doing the town. Sightseers pack the 14th century Charles Bridge as buskers and portraitists use the occasion to make a koruna or two…

This guy played beautiful classical music on his crystal wine glasses…

And these musicians beat out some traditional Dixieland jazz…

Behind them the enormous Prague castle complex sprawls over the hilltop. The castle, a city within the city, grew for more than a thousand years as palaces, churches and military buildings were added by subsequent kings and archbishops. This is St. Vitus cathedral built in the 1400s.

However most of the elaborate stained glass windows are actually art deco dating from the 1920s…

The cathedral is the resting place of most of the kings and bishops of Bohemia. This is the elaborately decorated tomb of Good King Wenceslas from the early 1500s…

An interesting castle oddity is this row of Lilliputian houses that were built into the walls by soldiers in the 15th century…

For good reason Prague is the 6th most visited city in Europe. This city has everything; history, architecture, music, culture, shopping, eating and beer – gallons of beer. The place is awash in beer and at about three dollars a litre the Czechs have reason to make merry on their non-existent National Day.
While it may seem somewhat bizarre to celebrate belonging to a country that no longer exists we are reminded that us Canadians still celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria on May 24th – and she fell off her throne more than a hundred years ago. Hey – a day off is a day off whatever the reason.