We put the miles on our walking shoes today. Our first jaunt this morning was a walk to King Wenceslas Square. Mary was our guide on this trip. She wanted to walk through this “nice park” area.
If Prague has a crime-district-ghetto, this was it….. and we found it. Nonetheless…. eventually….. we found Good King Wenceslas. Or rather, a very, very large statue of him. Smack dab in the middle of Wenceslas Square. The Legend has it that he rode into the hills which are east of the city, and vowed to return when Prague found its very worst trouble.
Three times in history, the people of Prague have called on the King for intervention. In WWI, WWII, and the major Communist Oppression in 1968. The King did not ride down on any of these occasions. So the people of Prague are still figuring that the worst is yet to come. Great to see the sunny side of life, eh.
Which brings me to this. We saw a park bench in the square. There was a quote on the bench, which I hope I will stand by all the days of my life.
“I would rather be an Optimist, and be wrong, than be a Pessimist, and be right.”
And there you have it.
This day was so jam packed I could be up all night writing. My brother and sister-in-law were meeting us here on Wednesday. They missed their connector in NYC. Rerouted to Paris. Lost luggage. They just got in a few hours ago. Still…. no luggage.
Earlier in the day, we walked across St. Charles Bridge which is lined with statues of the Patron Saints of Prague. It was built in the 1500s. It is profoundly solid in so many ways. Those saints don’t march in …. like in New Orleans. Instead,… they stand creepily staring at you… as you march across.
I met a pregnant dachshund and also two friendly white doves. Among many other creatures…. both great and small. On that big St. Charles Bridge.
On the other side of the river is a cathedral, or very large Catholic Church called Our Lady of Victory.
The Infant of Prague is housed here. I cannot even tell you how this impacted me. We grew up with a facsimile of this statue on our Dining Room Buffet. I can not remember a time when it wasn’t there growing up. That Infant. And today, I saw the real thing. It was pretty solid too.
So much today.
The experiences are so rich. And full.
And when I see the world as I have today, and yesterday… it gives me great cause to be in awe of our human existence.
Each moment we are here is our most important moment. It is truly the only one we have, the one RIGHT now. And it makes it really good when that moment is filled with a Big Old Garbage Burger, from a Czech Cafe named Joy Burger.
Oh the joy.
Ode to joy.
Ode to it all.