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A Prague autumn

By Anita Mathias

Thanks, Roy Mathias, for helping me write up, and choose photographs for this record of our brief 5 days in Prague!
And now, over to Roy:

What is the best time to visit Prague?   I have no idea, but we had a wonderful five days in late October autumn.  The city, being so old, is very compact;  walking is easy and interesting.

  The Church of Adam and Eve

The Church of Adam and Eve in Stare Mesto (the old town)

  The two towers of this church are called Adam and Eve. The yellow buildings in front of the church actually touch the church, and so one can only enter the church through a small side door. Our hotel was only two blocks from the church so we frequently saw it.  From the back it looks almost like Hogwarts:

Silhouette of the the towers of the Church of Adam and Eve.

InterestingWalking

Marionettes are one of Prague’s souvenirs, and Irene ended up taking home a Pinocchio.

Demonstrating how “easy” it is to make Pinocchio walk.
Everywhere you look there is something of interest:
An attractive manhole cover.
A wall plaque.
Best friends

Prague Town Hall

Prague has enjoyed many artistic styles.  The most recent is Art Nouveau.  Here is the town  hall–which included a cafe.  The guidebook told us to stop for a coffee and pastry, and not to miss the toilets!

Prague town hall
Prague Town Hall cafe — well worth a look

 Alphonse Mucha

There is museum dedicated to Alphonse Mucha (24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), a leading artist in his day.  No photography allowed, so here are some pictures from the web.  Much of his work was work was in the form of advertising posters; like this for Job cigarettes.

Mucha poster for Job cigarettes (note the lady’s hair swirls like the cigarette smoke.)

His images are still a source of inspiration:

2010 Austrian stamp featuring Mucha’s painting of Sarah Bernhardt
A Mucha-inspired tattoo

When the German invaded Czechoslovakia during the spring of 1939, Mucha was among the first to be arrested by the Gestapo. During his interrogation, he became ill with pneumonia, and died soon after he was released.

 Prague Astronomical Tower

This clock tower, with the world’s oldest working astronomical clock (1410) is across the square from the Church of Adam and Eve.  Every hour a crowd gathers, the clock strikes, figures move, and real live uniformed humans at the top deliver a trumpet call.

Prague lock tower by night

Two figures looking out o the little windows above the two dials of the clock.  Below one sees the massed tourists.

Closer view
The very top of the tower.  The trumpeteers appear in the turrets.

 The Jewish Quarter in Prague

There are two outstanding attractions in the Jewish quarter.  The  Holocaust memorial and attached  Jewish Cemetery and the fantastically ornate Spanish synagogue.

As always, the Jewish quarter was very crowded.  Here we see graves one on top of another, up to 12 layers deep.  The setting is a shady walled enclosure.

Prague’s Old Jewish Cemetery

The Spanish Synagogue is in the Moorish Revival style, and hence the name.  The intriguing, though bland exterior

in no way prepares you for the interior, completely covered in rich gold, green, red, blue and black decoration.

Spanish Synagogue – view of upper gallery and ceiling from lower level
Spansish Synagogue — front where Torah Scrolls are kept–there is no “altar”.

Spanish Synagogue — looking straight yup at a skylight.  The suspended lights form one of many stars of David.
detail showing unusual pattersn.

Just outside the Spanish Synagogue is a statue of Franz Kafka

 The Cathedral of St Vitus — Prague

The cathedral and castle are on the opposite side of the Charles river from the center of town and the areas above.   Here are a few pictures taken on the way

Gateway protecting the Charles Bridge — for centuries bridge across the Charles River.

Here are two view of St. Vitus from the Charles Bridge.

One of the many statues on the bridge.

The cathedral is still quite a walk from here — we took a taxi, and were greeted by a buskers

An areal view from a distance
The South entrance to the Cathedral is called the Golden Gate

and the whole of the South side

The West entrance is like many other cathedrals:

The central panes of the Much window

the lower part of the same window

An unusual stained glass window.  It’s not the result of a shaky hand–it is really like this.  I do not recall the story behind it unfortunately.

There were numerous details like this:

The nave

A view of the multitude of spires on the cathedral

The cathedral is inside the grounds of Prague Castle.  Here is a a garret window in a near by building

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Wandering Between Two Worlds: Essays on Faith and Art

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Recent Posts

  •  On Not Wasting a Desert Experience
  • A Mind of Life and Peace in the Middle of a Global Pandemic
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  • “An Autobiography in Five Chapters” and Avoiding Habitual Holes  
  • Shining Faith in Action: Dirk Willems on the Ice
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Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
Barak Obama

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Tiny Habits
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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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