Gardens and Power
I’ve decided to walk up the back way to Hradcany Castle, the
path that Arthur and I were driven up the first time we were here. It’s a longer walk, but minus all the steps,
and it goes through a green belt that is especially lush. Before you approach the Castle area you go
through a neighborhood of fine homes,
and then through the royal gardens. They are especially fine as well, along with
both an old and new orangery, and other out buildings that suit the royal
gardens well. What is remarkable, and
this point will be made at several points during the day, is that several royal
and democratic leaders made certain that these places of retreat and
refreshment should be open to all the people.
So amid the pomp of royal ostentation there is a sense of largesse.
I go to the Cathedral and the ticketing is a bureaucratic
nightmare. A woman tells us to leave the
queue that we are, and that there are four other ticket and information kiosks
through the gate. When we leave we discover
that they are all closed. Back we
go. It’s interesting, most people don’t
get tickets for the cathedral, but instead stick to the rear of the church,
because its free. They miss the scope of
the place (Wenceslaus, John Nepomuk, etc.) in favor of basking in the 19th
century narthex and fore-nave.
I think for most people visits to such buildings are to be
blown away by size and pretense, and not to find the little gifts and details
that lie in wait. For me it was the
portative organ in the chancel, the graves of Nepomuk and Wenceslaus, the
actual lighting of the church, the gates to a chapel right near the entrance,
and odd little modern pieces of art, stuck here and there. The small vignettes at the Golden Gate and
its door handles are beyond words. There
is power here – the power of the architect and sculptor.
I visit the exhibit on the history of the castle, and the
curators have arranged for the viewer to get an uncanny sense of what it meant
to live in those times. I am especially
intrigued with clothing and other personal articles. I am utterly engrossed by a video on the
history of Bohemia. But now I am hungry
and bump into a lovely restaurant in the royal enclosure in a lovely
garden. I am struck by a stylized
balustrade that encircles the dining area.
I remember a lovely café in the Sternbersky Palace, but when
I get there I see that it has been dumbed down – so I decide not to have a
dessert there. I walk through the
exhibition and find several favorite things, all commenting on the power of the
place. The sculptures engage the viewer
and talk not only about the power of life, but the power of being human as
well.
When I’m done I go back to the café, but notice a sign that
says “Garden” so I walk through a door into a hidden garden. As I walk through enjoying the sheer green of
the place and the sculptures a woman having a wine and cigarette greets
me.
She is an art historian and we talk for two hours about
politics, art, religion (see is flabbergasted when I admit to her I am a
priest), taste, and tourism. She lives
both in Prague and Canada, and as a Czech Jewess offers a different perspective
on both past and current politics. Later
she suggests that I check out the Baroque exhibition at the second museum in
“The Triangle” as the Prague National Museum is now called.
I do go over, and am blown away not so much by the paintings
and sculpture (Baroque, for me, is really more about architecture than anything
else), but by the collection of arms up in the attic. It is both a wonderful and unsettling display,
and a witty comment on my previous conversation with my woman friend.
It is raining, so I buy a cheap umbrella and work my way
home. Later I go back to Obečni dum and
have dinner at their French restaurant.
It’s an interesting menu:
Steak tartar with Parmesan and crème fraiche
Smoked Salmon with sour cream and cream cheese (should have
been goat) mousse with orange gel, unsweetened lemon curd, orange/ginger zest,
toasts, and salad.
Cream of Pea soup with fresh peas, some crispy vegetable,
small croutons, and scallop prepared with paprika.
Sous vide veal tenderloin with morels.
Strawberry mouse with gel, ice cream, macaroon.
As the Germans say, “Ich
bin sat!”
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