Despite the terrible weather we are enjoying Prague. It rained almost all night last night. When we woke up in the morning it was both cold and wet so we were in no hurry to get going. Finally about 9:30 we decided to head out, and just as we were about to leave François another downpour came. So we settled back down and finished our morning coffee. About 11 the rain let up, so we hustled down to the dock to take our pedestrian ferry to the right bank of the river.
The river bank had been converted into a weekend market, and despite the weather there were quite a few people there. Today because of the weather the big sellers seemed to be anything that was served hot, including sausage sandwiches and mulled wine. There was a microbrewery selling beer, and we were impressed that they were offering it in proper glass. No plastic cups in Czechia. You took the glass full of beer and consumed it while shopping in the market and when you were done, you returned the glass to the brewery tent, all very civilized.
Our primary destination for today was the Mucha Museum. Alphonse Mucha is a famous Czech artist, and one of Ton’s favorites. The last time she visited Prague she was unable to visit the museum, so she had set aside one day for the museum in our three day itinerary.
Mucha was born in Czechia in 1860. He studied art and architecture and in the 1890’s a rich patron payed for him to study in Munich and Paris. In Paris he began to make a name for himself as an Art Nouveau artist.
He became famous when he was commissioned at the last minute to provide a poster for a new play by the most famous actress in France, Sandra Bernhardt. His poster when displayed caused a sensation and she signed him to a contract to produce posters for her for six years.
He parlayed this fame into a great deal of advertising work. He also designed furniture, jewelry, and even cookie tins during this time. He made a lot of money, and eventually he decided to return to Czechia as he was very patriotic.
During the early 1900’s he visited the US for a couple of years to lobby for Czech interests, and for commercial reasons. His work was very popular in the US in the early 1900’s.
After the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. Mucha designed the currency, stamps, and the medals for the army as his contribution to the independence of the Czech and Slovak people from the Hapsburg Empire.
After independence he dedicated himself to art. He began working on his grand masterpiece called the Slav Epic, which is a series of over 20 very large paintings showing the history of the Slavic peoples. He worked on it until his death. Yesterday one of the stained glass windows at the cathedral really caught our attention. We really liked it, and thought it was one fo the most interesting stained glass windows we had seen. It turns out it was designed by Mucha.
When the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939 Mucha was arrested. He was only held for a few days, but the arrest broke him, and he died a few days later at age 78.
We really enjoyed the Mucha museum. It is not a large museum, but we spent a great deal of time there. Ton then asked me to check on a restaurant she had read about to see if it was close. It turns out it was just down the street. The restaurant is a modern take on local food. They serve Czech food in Tapas sized portions. This allowed us to sample a bunch of different Czech dishes. It was quite delicious.
To keep up with the culinary tour, Ton had picked out a coffee shop in the Municipal Symphony House. It was built in the early 1900’s, and Mucha contributed much of the art in the building. When we got there it was packed, but we got the only empty table. The room was beautiful, and the desserts were superb.
Prague has been a great experience. I see why it is one of the must see places in Europe. Normally after three days in one place we are ready to move on. In the case of Prague I think there may be more to see, and while we are moving on, I am not in a hurry to do so.
