Thursday, September 1, 2016

Eastern Europe: Orientation Day 3

 

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We toured the Jewish area of Prague this afternoon. You can’t see in the photo on the left that all walls in this Jewish Museum have writing on them. The handwritten names, shown in the middle photo ,are the names of 77,297 Czech Jews sent to the gas chambers.  It is estimated that the Czech Jews were the hardest hit by the Holocaust. Of an estimated 120,000 Jews living in this area only 10,000 survived to see Liberation. And then to exit, you had to take along walk thru the cemetery where body's are piled 8 deep.  Which reminds me  that in the past 20 years in the US the popularity of burials vs cremation has gone from 70/30 to 30/70.  Great for the environment.

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Photo on the left shows the throng of people in the Old Town Square.  It’s like this everywhere.  In the middle is a picture of open town cars which are popular with the tourists here.  The one shown is an Alfa; I’ve also seen a Jag – but most are Fords.  And on the  right is the famous Charles Bridge. Rick Steve’s says this is one of Europe’s most famous bridges.  To me it is a mass of humanity and hustling. At  least the  “artists” and buskers must  have a license and are restricted to times and locations they can operate.

Walking through town you’ll also be annoyed at the Segway's. But this won’t last long.  The city has banned them from the pedestrian areas, which means most areas. But the police cannot enforce the ban because the signs prohibiting them have not been installed yet. But it’s coming.

After two and a half days of walking the cobblestones of this hill city I’m tired and sore.  ‘Can’t wait until Sunday when we get on the bikes.  I’m not sure that walking is good for your health!

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