A Busy End to 2011 Part IV: Christmakkuh in Prague

Back in: Prague, Czech Republic

Old Town Square

 Prague was completely transformed into a kind of magical Christmas wonderland this winter. While fluffy white snow would have made it even more stunning, I'm sure, I can't complain about the warm weather. It has been a bit chilly, but for the most part it has been unseasonably mild, which means I get to enjoy walking around outdoors even in the winter.

New Town Square

On the 24th one of my closest friends from college came from Israel to visit me for the holidays. It turns out that Israel is much closer than I thought, and a cheap round trip flight, which has me pondering a possible trip later this year if time and money allow. 

Christmakkuh Dinner

Here in the Czech Republic the 24th is the day when everyone celebrates, and the dinner has a few staple foods, including fried carp and potato salad. If my older brother had been here, I'm sure the carp would have been on the table. I, on the other hand, had no idea how I would go about buying and cooking carp, so I stuck to the potato salad. My friend and I also cooked up a tasty mushroom-parmesean risotto, green beans, a salad, and a fruit salad. Other friends brought tzatziki, pork, and more. The dinner was delicious, and the company was great. We even played Apples to Apples, which is a holiday tradition in my house in Wisconsin, and I found out later that my family had been playing at the same time as my friends and I were on the other side of the world - coincidence? ;)

Our "Hannukiah"

Since three of the guests were Jewish, we also made a...unique...Hannukiah to light in honor of Hannukah. In true Christmas spirit I also decorated a cute miniature Christmas tree. For our Christmakkuh celebration we were joined by several other friends, resulting in a very international group, with four countries represented around the table, and all of us celebrating far from home. While I missed being home with family for the holiday, I was happy to be surrounded by such a great group of people here in Prague. 

My neighborhood,
seen from Vysehrad

With DK here, I finally went to Vysehrad. The castle is less famous than Prague castle, but is beautiful and is a mere ten minute walk from my house. It is up on a hill, with a lovely view of parts of Prague I hadn't seen before, as well as a view of my neighborhood - since it is actually kind of in my neighborhood...

Staropramen Brewery

DK and I also enjoyed a tour of Staropramen Brewery, though we laughed so hard at the ridiculousness of the audio-visual guide in one room that I tripped and over a box of hops, spilling them all over. It only made us laugh harder. The tour was more expensive than Pilsner Urquell but less cool. Still, the hop fall was pretty memorable.

Vaclav Havel Memorial

We also were lucky to enjoy the post-Christmas Christmas Markets. I had been afraid that DK would miss them, but they were still around after the holiday, so we enjoyed eating holiday foods, drinking mulled wine, listening to street musicians, and looking at the kitschy trinkets for sale. In addition, we stopped by the memorial to Vaclav Havel at Vaclavske Namesti.

Charles Bridge, Castle in Background

Later, we headed up to Prague Castle, which I've been to before, but at a new time of day, so of course I took loads of pictures that are nearly identical to other pictures I've taken. Every time I go, I can't get over how beautiful it is...

Jewish Cemetery

But we also went to new places, like the Jewish Quarter, which includes one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. It also has a museum dedicated to the Czech victims of the Holocaust, with pictures from children in the Terezin Concentration Camp, many of whom went on to die in the gas chambers at Auschwitz - where I'll be heading this weekend, actually. One of the synagogues also lists the names of the approximately 80,000 Czech Jews who died in the Holocaust. I can't really describe the feeling of being in that room.

Narodni Divadlo

On the evening of the 28th we were able to get standing tickets for just 30ck each (about $1.50) to see the Nutcracker Ballet in the beautiful National Theatre (Narodni Divadlo). The performance was interesting, because it combined the story of A Christmas Carol with The Nutcracker, all set to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet.

Inside Narodni Divadlo

Instead of starting with the Christmas Party and Clara, it began in the town square with Scrooge ruining the day for the villagers. He breaks Clara's Nutcracker, and that night he dreams that the Devil comes with Zombies to his room. But then, an Angel arrives, and she shows him the way to good. The Devil and Angel are important figures in the Czech holiday season, as on December 5th, St. Mikulaus Day, the Devil and Angel join St. Mikulaus in visiting children to give them presents (the Angel) or to throw them in a sack and take them to hell (the Devil). You can read more about it here. So the first act had the Devil and Zombies instead of the Army of Mice, and the second act had the Angel showing Scrooge the magical land with the same characters from the Nutcracker. In the end, Scrooge learns his lesson and brings Christmas back to the village, and fixes the broken Nutcracker. I was happy to go and see the ballet, which was a Christmas tradition in my family for many years, but to also have a new Czech twist that made it a different experience.

View of Prague from Vitkov Hill

On the last day of DK's visit we headed to Vitkov Hill, where there is a national monument and a national history museum, which includes the mausoleum of former Communist President Gottwald. It's a pretty intense place, very dark and imposing, as one might expect.

National Monument on Vitkov Hill

The history museum had a special exhibit about the influence of Communism on Museums (a very meta exhibit). In addition, it had a general timeline of Czechoslovak and Czech history since 1918. The location was in Prague 8, a neighborhood I hadn't been to before, and the hill provided a stunning view of Prague at sunset. I was glad we discovered the museum, since it's a bit off the beaten path and no one had mentioned it to me before. I would recommend it to history buffs who have the time to make it part of their visit to the city.

All in all, it was wonderful to have DK visiting for the holidays. I was so happy to actually have the time to enjoy Christmas this year, since I worked teaching English on the last two Christmases in Korea. This year I was more homesick, with the time to really appreciate the holiday season approaching, but I was also thrilled to be surrounded by people who made me feel at home in Prague nonetheless. Thank you to DA, DK, MP, ME, RG, RB, and LP for making it a memorable and fun holiday.

At the John Lennon Peace Wall