Oct 20th-23rd Prague, Czech Republic

Prague was a fabulous trip.  The SA group with the assistance of a tour guide was shown around the Old City, the Jewish Quarter, and the Prague Palace.  An on-looker could have easily thought our group had never been anywhere colder than Hawaii.  We looked like penguins, huddled together for warmth.  I don't know what the temperature was, but the mornings were particularly cold.

 

This is a government building.  Frankly I think it's a bit intimidating since it can be seen from all the way down the street.

Walking along the expensive shopping street, we decided to cut through a covered alleyway.  It had a pretty glass ceiling.

Welcoming us to Oldtown Prague was a gorgeous clock tower.

In the background is a church, but I call it the Maleficent Towers.  We happened to come during the "Käse und Speise Fest".  Basically it was a festival for cheese, gourmet cakes, and delicious main meals.  On the last day in Prague, this square was packed with people.  I couldn't walk two feet without running into someone holding potato wedges.

Here is another church.

This is the famous Charles Bridge.  It's the prettiest pedestrian bridge.

Across the river is the Palace and cathedral.  The tallest building is the cathedral.

The John Lennon Wall was super cool!  It was riddled with quotes from the Beatles and miscellaneous love and peace gestures.   

Nearby was the lock bridge.  It's a very small bridge, but its real importance lies with the symbolism of the locks.  Two lovers will inscribe their names onto a lock, fasten it on the cast iron grate of the bridge, and throw the key into the river.    

Walking up to the Palace was pretty.

The acoustics under the fountain sing… supposedly.  It was a stretch to call it singing.  However, I like listening to water anyway.

Here is the Palace cathedral.   

The gargoyle makes me laugh.

Oct 13th Stift Klosterneuburg

The Stift Klosterneuburg is a progressive architectural goldmine.  Its history cycles through on and off periods of construction.  Therefore the architecture reflects the different time periods.  There were entire sections built in Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and Classical style.  It was fascinating to see the stark differences within one monastery.  I am glad the builders kept adding to whatever was previously constructed instead of tearing them down.  Or even matching the old out-of-style architecture.  I feel like the Stift Klosterneuburg is one great structure of remembrance.  Not only does the viewer remember the different architectural movements, he also remembers the people who created that history.

 

Notice the section in the background is medieval whereas the closer section looks classical

Small Romanesque windows

Larger Gothic windows

Medieval outside of the church

Baroque inside of the same church

The interior of the Stift was mostly Baroque

However some of the hallways were Classical

Classical section although the dome is Baroque

Here is a symbolic Tree of Life that looks like a Jewish candelabra but with staggered-level arms.  It was my 2nd favorite medieval piece.

My true favorite was the Verduner Alter.  It is compiled of hand-made colored metal pieces.  The top row represents scenes from the Old Testament.  The middle row represents scenes from the Life of Christ.  And the bottom row, the New Testament.  Hence it shows how all the Bible stories compliment each other.  Furthermore the viewer can see the artist's style change.  The entire piece was a ten year endeavor.  So reasonably, the beginning tiles look slightly different than the latter tiles.

Oct 12th Karlskirche

Touring Karlskirche (St. Karls Church) was a unique experience.  First of all, I never realized that the Catholic church canonizes individuals who live in such a way that he or she is thought to have a guaranteed ticket into Heaven.  That way, the church supplies many righteous exemplars.  I knew Catholics prayed to God via the Saints, but I didn't previously know how people became Saints.  Karls VI gave food and water to the sick victims of the early 1700's plague.  This was huge!  Nobody else dared go near the diseased victims.  Nor were they allowed to go to public fountains or anything similar.  Such conditions caused them to suffer from dehydration in addition to suffering the plague.  Karls' charity was greatly commemorated.  And miraculously the plague lifted!  Therefore he was canonized, and the church was built in gratitude. 

The architecture is a hybrid of Baroque and Antique.  At first glance I thought it was ugly.  I didn't understand the purpose for the clashing styles.  But consider this.  A visitor passes through a Greek temple-like entrance into the heavenly-decorated Baroque church.  It is symbolic of moving from the Pagan world into the Christian world.  Now I don't think it's ugly.  I love the clever symbolism!

Here two things stand out: (1st) the golden triangle which represents God as the source of light, and (2nd) St. Karls who is being brought into Heaven.

My favorite part of the tour was seeing the ceiling frescos up close.  Restorations were complete, but luckily for us the scaffolding was still up.  We literally climbed into the dome.  It was overwhelming to see these giant painting so close.  They were slightly stretched to compensate for the dome.  Certain highlighted colors such as the gold tint weren't applied as heavily as one might think from the ground view.  Remember everything except the glass window is painted.

 Up in the dome, looking down.