Josefov and Stare Mesto

John Lennon Wall
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We left the hotel under gray skies and the threat of rain. We headed over to Kampa island towards the Lennon Wall. The graffitti covered wall is the symbol of hope continuing from the Communist days. Imagine and all you need is love was painted on the wall in the 80's. The government painted over it only to be promptly painted again. You can still see remanants of the Lennon portrait and the word imagine peaking out.

We then headed over to the Josefov district to view the Spanish Synagogue and the Old/New Synagogue. Only the Spanish Synagogue is still in use today for the 1500 Jews living in the 1.25 million population in the city. The Old Synagogue walls are painted stark white with the names of 80,000 Jews names, cities and birthdates standing as a reminder. The walls were used as precedent for the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.

Old/New Cemetery
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The cemetery was peaceful and reverent. A path winds through black moss covered headstones pushing out of the ground at all angles. There are 1200 people buried here. As they buried people the ground was built up and the hedstones were moved to the new surface creating the maze of stones.

We then wound our way through the streets to the Old town Square and the Astrological Clock. The clock tells the time, the sunset, the phases of the moon, the zodiac, and the seasons. The most astounding is that the clock was designed in 1490 and is still accurate. We continued on to Wenceslas Square, the main city boulevard, on our way to buy tickets for the train to Krakow. Wenceslas Square is more a boulevard than a square. This street is the nerve center of the modern city and Czech life.

Astrological Clock
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We bought our tickets and headed back towards the Vltava River and the Dancing House. It was getting dark and cold so we decided to stop and explore the local grocery and get dinner. We got our bread, cheese and fruit and headed to the hotel to rest for the next day.