Madrid you say. Well yes! Jan and I decided to head out of Prague yesterday and here I am, now in Madrid - thank you cheap flight on Whizz Air. But before Madrid (and the trouble) first my last couple of days in Prague.
I spent last Saturday visiting the famous town of Kunta Hora, just outside Prague - most famous for the bone church. Not surprising given my morbid fascination. Over 40,000 people have been buried and turned into art at this church. (Ya know . . . the Black Plague and all.) It was surprisingly unsmelly and not too gruesome really. As you can see from the pictures below, it wasn´t like there was ded body parts hanging off the bones. That would have been gross!
On Sunday, I took another day trip to another famous town, Terezin. Truley, not the happiest day of my trip, but some things are good for the soul. Terezin was a concentration camp during WWII which is famous for the children´s art work that came out of the camps and for tricking the Red Cross into believing that Hitler was treating the Jews kindly. It was a tough day filled with tears, but I am glad I went.
Ahh . . . and now Madrid. So after spending Monday mostly traveling, I arrived at the hostel last night to find my wallet stolen. I had just used it at the Metro Stop to buy a bottle of water and when I went for my wallet minutes later at the hostel - it was gone: $400 in US, 2 credit cards, 1 ATM card, drivers license, and my Kaiser card. Bummer! Not only was my wallet stolen but another American, Lindsay, who I had been heading to the same hostel with was stolen too. And what´s worse, I know right when it happened. (A group of men crowded into the Metro with us, I mean beyond full, squished on all sides, and then they all got off at the next stop. I wonder how many wallets they got in total!) Although spending today at the police station wasn´t much fun, the real hassle has been trying to get more money. Turns out you can´t wire yourself more money, even if you know your bank account info. Also turns out you need a non-closed CC account to be able to get a cash advance. Ahh . . . the challenges in life. :)
Just money . . . right? And they didn´t get my passport, which is probably what matters most. Anyways, other than the police station this morning I had a lovely day at the Prada Museum enjoying works by Goya and Velaquez and Rembrandt, just to name a few. Tonight was an intimate flamenco show with just one dancer and guitarist crowded together into a small room with a few others there to enjoy the dancing. It was fabulous. Afterwards it was an enjoyable evening night drinking mojitos and tapas at one of the many outdoor dining areas that are everywhere in Madrid.
Bone Chandelier
Bone Art
I´m not actually touching the skull - it just looks like it. But Jan on the other hand . . .
The cemetary outside Terezin
Where many a person was shot . . .
The outside of the women´s barracks.
Other than art, Terezin was known for it´s underground magazine that boys contributed to. Here is a poem that survived, written by a young Jewish teenager.
Pavlina´s birthday party. I made her an American style birthday cake - yum! This was one of my last night´s in Prague and my new friends.
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