Cruising the River

On the last afternoon in Prague, John and I went on a wonderful boat cruise on the River. We learned a lot of interesting history about the city and saw new sights. We both really enjoyed it. We cruised around the Charles Bridge and saw the many markers of flood waters from the last 4oo hundred years. One of the record floods was within the last 5 years and buildings boarding the river were flooded up to the second story. The river is very shallow and has been ridden of its fish, previously consisting mostly of salmon, due to the many dams that have been built. Our guide told us stories of the history of the many statues that line the Charles Bridge. We learned about the monuments in the city that were built to commemorate the ending of communism, one of which is a giant metronome that signals the passage of time and change, but, ironically is stuck on one side. It looks like a giant red crane in the distance on the hill. We saw the seat of the president of the country. Although he could live in the Castle, he chose his own private house on a hill overlooking the river. (We think that is a good choice---the castle would not be a very good place to live.) We passed by the Jewish district of Prague. Sadly, 90% of the 120,000 Jews that lived in Prague perished in the war, and only a small percentage remain in Prague today. Because of all of the articles that were left behind from these people, a rich Jewish history museum resides in Prague. John and I walked through the district later during the day and saw a few of the synagogues and Jewish Halls.