The Invisible People of Prague:Full Version

A couple of days ago I posted a small stone (see link on the the sidebar for an explanation) called "The Invisible People of Prague".

I had actually written a longer "proper" poem with the same title and same theme before I decided to see if I could boil down the sentiment into something really short and pithy. Here, for anyone interested, is that poem.

The Invisible People of Prague

On the narrow cobbled streets
That thread between the
Baroquely beautiful towers
Of the city,
As smoothly as silk
Through a needle's eye,
They have become invisible.
Eyes fixed on elaborate cornices,
On the detail and the decoration,
On the elegant façades
Of a bygone century;
Eyes raised in praise
Of art and artifice,
Do not see them.
They kneel in the snow,
Silent and unmoving,
Foreheads pressed to the cold stone,
Empty caps upturned before them.
They are as still and grim
As the gargoyles that look down
In mocking mimicry.
They are as grey and snow covered 
As the streets themselves.
And they are invisible.

Another year gone

So, that's another year over and done with. 

This year, for personal reasons, I didn't want to stay at home over the Christmas break so I booked a couple of trips. For the Christmas weekend I decided to go to Prague and for the New Year celebrations to go to an organised few days in Bristol and Bath.

Let's talk about Prague.

For a few days I was on edge about the weather. With airport closures and all the snow and ice I wasn't certain up until the last minute whether I would get away OK or not. In the event I managed without problems. That's more than can be said for most of the people on the flight given that just on that one plane Terminal 5 at Heathrow managed to lose seventy people's bags. By sheer good fortune I had taken a look at the length of the queue for baggage drop and decided that my bag was small enough to go as hand luggage. Ten of the group I was travelling with weren't so lucky.

The flight was uneventful and arriving in Prague in snow and ice and -18 degrees we found that, unlike the UK, such conditions hardly impeded our progress to the hotel at all.

The hotel was pleasant and comfortable and, next morning, turned out to be les than five minutes on foot away from the Old Square.

I'd like to say here and now that Prague is without question one of the loveliest cities I have ever seen. The Old Square is magnificent and even the more modern an open Wenceslas Square has really rather beautiful buildings in it. Just wandering around aimlessly produces another delight every few yards.

The brevity of the weekend trip meant that, in practical terms, the offered excursions were mostly out, being, as they mostly were, round trips of up to ten hours. It didn't matter. Prague itself kept me fully occupied. I visited Prague Castle and climbed the bell tower for some great views of the city. I pottered around the charming Christmas Market. I ate in nice restaurants and drank in nice bars. I visited the Kafka Museum and a Salvador Dali exhibition. Actually the museum selection to be found in Prague borders on a surreal paranoia that wouldn't be out of place for either of those two geniuses. There are two separate museums of torture, a museum of communism, a Copernicus museum, a beer museum and an absinthe among others. I had time for none of those though. Nor did I have either the time or the inclination for the Sex Machines Museum that is in one of the streets off the old square.

What I did visit, though I hadn't been intending to, was one of the many black light theatres. For those that don't know what these are, let me describe them. The stage is dressed all in matt black. Performers, rendered invisible by their matt black clothing move various things about the stage while other performers whom you can see act out a performance that is by turns ballet, circus, acrobatics and drama. All this is accompanied by a musical soundtrack and lit in UV light. It is quite compellingly hypnotic and I'd recommend it.

As I say though I hadn't been intending to visit at all. My plans had called for a spot of dinner and a Jazz club but strolling down one of the streets I came across this.

With my peculiar obsession with Wonderland it required no thought at all to call off the visit to the Jazz and go to "Aspects of Alice" instead. It was very good indeed. If you check out YouTube for "Aspects of Alice Black Light" you will be able to see quite a few clips of the show. They don't do it justice though.

On the morning of the last day I even managed to find a bookshop with a Czech edition of Alice In Wonderland illustrated by Dusan Kallay. I was a very happy visitor indeed.

So, in short, Prague was terrific. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a weekend away. In fact I'd like to go back for a week. Maybe two.

Obviously pictures will start appearing shortly over on my other blog but here is a selection to be going on with.