Prague
From Berlin, we headed West towards the jewel of Central Europe, Prague. Once the capital of a much larger country that was split after the fall of the Soviet Union, Prague is now one of Europe’s top destinations for tourism. While here we stayed in an apartment with an extremely kind local who offered us coffee and cake one night after exploring the city. Staying with her is one of the experiences that makes using sites like Airbnb not only cheaper, but often a more rewarding experience than staying in a conventional hotel or hostel.
On our first full day in Prague we were able to visit the St. Nicholas Church, Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the St. Charles Bridge, enjoy a great meal at Ristorante Carmel, and see the Church of Our Lady Victorious which houses the Infant Jesus of Prague. The latter of these attractions may be well known to Oklahomans who have been to or traveled down the highway near Prague, Oklahoma, where we have our very own replica Infant Jesus of Prague. Ultimately, there’s nothing really special to me about the Infant Jesus itself, who is just a very white ceramic doll that gets dressed up in various outfits that have significance to the people here.
Our next day began with a trip to MeetBurger, where I continued a theme on this trip of trying new varieties of animal meat I haven’t had before. On this occasion, I had my first taste of rabbit, which seems to be relatively common here. It’s much lighter in color than most red meats when cooked, and has a pretty juicy, though light flavor. Overall, the rabbit burger was pretty excellent and I would recommend. Our next stops after my first taste of the furry friends we usually endlessly fawn over included the Old Town Hall with the top attraction in Prague, the Astronomical Clock. After this we strolled by the Municipal House and a statue of one of Prague’s favorite sons, Franz Kafka. From there we circled around and found ourselves inside the Church of Our Lady Tyn and Wenceslas Square. Here is where we had another great treat, though formerly much less furry, in the form of a trdelnik pastry. This circular, Churro-like cinnamon treat is pulled apart in a spiral fashion as you eat it and lined with chocolate, if you so choose. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. Prague definitely lives up to the hype. With its relatively cheap prices and gorgeous architecture, it’s a pretty popular destination...even in the cold of November.
Auschwitz-Birkenau
Unfortunately Prague suffers in my memory somewhat by what we followed it with. While I can objectively say it was a great destination, this period of the trip in hindsight is mostly filled with what we experienced in Poland. We traveled next to Krakow where it is even cheaper and the sights are supposed to be spectacular. But unfortunately for Poland, our time only allowed for us to see one of its more depressing but educational attractions, the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
There’s not a lot that can be put into words about how horrible this place really is. Currents of all artistic and philosophical movements in Europe and the greater world after World War II shifted towards questioning all reason, reality, and religiosity after the heinous evil that took place in places such as Auschwitz were on full display for the world following the war. I can only speak on one particularly moving experience I had where, as I concluded my walk through the Auschwitz I gas chamber, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread as I watched a guided tour be led through the entrance. The horrible history and serene present seemed to converge in an instant.
In the United States we are mostly insulated through time and space from confronting the hard realities of genocide (even of our own Natives). The sheer immensity of the Birkenau camp and the barbarism on display throughout both is incomprehensible until it is truly experienced. Traveling to a place where this terror took place in its most rational and bureaucratic form is thus essential for everyone, not only to realize what man is capable of in his most “enlightened” places, but to realize that same atrocity is possible in places seemingly far removed - and indeed, may be a historical fact already in some other form. From this point on I’ll take advice from Theodor Adorno and end the text of this post, because to write anymore might be “barbaric.”