We went to Petřín on Sunday and as we were walking down the steps toward the Castle, we passed by a sign informing visitors that the Large Garden Tunnel (one of the underground passages beneath Petřín) was having a special open day. I thought the English translation on the sign was priceless!
135797531
Today is the 650th anniversary of Charles Bridge. The foundation stone was laid at 5:31am on July 9, 1357 with the help of king Charles IV. He consulted his astrologers and the date and time were chosen so that the odd numbers that ascend and descend on the scale of 1 – 9 would form the palindrome 135797531.
You can read more about Charles Bridge on our page on My Czech Republic.
Radio Praha has a Charles Bridge 650th Anniversary page.
Charles Bridge, July 8, 2007
A Wedding Mania
It’s a wedding mania day in the Czech Republic. Today’s lucky date of 07/07/07 is making many couples believe that this is the perfect day to enter into a marriage that’s going to be blessed, happy and will last a lifetime. Town halls, churches, castles and chateaus around the country are seeing twice as many weddings as usual and some popular wedding locations have been booked for up to a year in advance.
Just passing by Náměstí Míru, Jeff and I saw a wedding in progress at the St. Ludmila Church. I’m sure other Prague churches and town halls were busy as well. May all you newlyweds live long and happy lives together!
Last Day of School
I was out at 7:45 this morning (which is very early for me) and was rewarded by being able to experience the festive atmosphere of the day. Today was the last day of school in the Czech Republic. Little kids, older children and teenagers, alone or in groups, headed to school all dressed up. Instead of schoolbags, many of them carried flowers to give to their teachers. I remember how much I used to love the last day of school, which marked the beginning of a carefree, two-month summer break. I still get excited just imagining how it used to feel.
I was at a bank yesterday and overheard a conversation between a very bored looking teenager and his upbeat mother. The mother was making all kinds of plans for the summer and talked about all the fun stuff that her son and his brothers can look forward to – summer camp, visits with relatives, camping, traveling around the Czech Republic (“you can even bring your friend along”)… All the boy had to say was: “Stupid summer break”. I couldn’t believe my ears. What’s not to love about summer break??