Prague: Part II

I stepped out of my hostel this morning in a bleak drizzle of rain much to my surprise. Several minutes wandering down the streets also brought to my attention that I need to reproof my rain jacket, but it let up to a gray but dry day soon enough. After watching the first chiming of the astrological clock in the Old Town Square, I spent the morning exploring the seven different sites of the Jewish Museum, including the oldest still functioning synagogue in the world. Unfortunately photo were not allowed of anything up the cemetery. It was extremely interesting, and oddly coincided with me just finishing a book on WWII, The Good German, and also with my current studies on Judaism in my seminar on Monotheistic religions in Montpellier. The rest of the day I checked out a few things, but mostly just puttered around window shopping and reading.

An building in the Old Jewish Quarter. Ironically after centuries of grime and bad reputation, the neighborhood has had the ultimate comeback as one of the nicest areas of Prague. Dior anyone?
The Old Jewish Cemetery. They ran out of room centuries ago so they just started adding a layer of soil and then kept digging graves. This is one of the oldest Jewish Cemeteries in the Czech Republic.
This was lunch today, I treated myself to a traditional Czech meal after four hours at the various parts of the Jewish Museum this morning. This happens to be Moravian Sparrow, which as you might have guessed is not really Sparrow, but pork cooked in garlic, onion, and beer. It's traditionally served with cabbage, red and white, and with dumplings, I got both potato and plain ol' bread ones.
Lunch was followed by a little waffle cookie filled with caramel. I've actually had these in the States, a little company makes them in Livingstone, Mt. I love them, and I suggest crumbed over ice cream, but these were made with either buckwheat or rye flour for an extra interesting taste. And seriously, nothing beats hot off the griddle!
After lunch I caught the tram down the riverside to the outskirts of town where I climbed up to the ruins of Vysehrad, which is believed to be the original settlement from around the 10th century B.C. Now mostly the fortifications remain and they're surround a lovely park these days. This is a door to the immense church of St. Peter and St. Paul which still stands there next to a beautiful old cemetery. It's the oldest in Prague.