Happy Liberation Day! On May 8th, 1945, the Czech Republic was liberated from German occupation. The country was actually liberated by both the U.S. and the Soviet Red Army, with the Soviets liberating from east to west.
Today, we had a cooking class where we made three traditional Czech dishes. Although Czechs have a reputation for eating a lot of meat, it was not always this way. When Czech Republic was still developing, people would only eat meat on Sundays or special occasions. We made a mushroom soup for an appetizer, and our host, Jana, said it was just how her family makes it and was quite impressed. Our chef was very passionate about cooking, and the highlight of my day was when he sampled his cooking during the lesson—he was so happy, he started dancing!
We did another walking tour today, and it covered a lot of ground. We started at Charles Bridge and then crossed into Lesser Town. We stopped at the Lennon Wall. Because of communism, music was highly censored. Oppositionists to communism were smuggling music like the Beatles and Rolling Stones into the country. The Beatles had a large fan base who resonated with John Lennon’s famous phrase, “make love, not war”. When he was assassinated, a Czech artist spray-painted a mural of him, and eventually, more people joined in to add to the mural. Phrases like “stop war” and “bring peace upon us” can be found across the wall. It was endearing to see that so many people have contributed to this wall, and it still brings in large crowds today.
Another highlight was seeing St. Vitus Cathedral. Construction began in 929 as a small Romanesque rotunda. Then the foundation stone was set in 1344 for what would become the Gothic cathedral, which was finally completed in 1929. The structure has so many fine details carved into it. Our tour group stood in front for quite a bit, admiring the craftsmanship. The church is contained within Prague Castle. Something interesting I learned is that the city mandates all the roofs in Lesser Town be the same red terra cotta color so the city looks more aesthetically pleasing.
After seeing more of Prague, I continue to be impressed by the well-maintained architecture, housing, and transportation. I’m excited to learn more about the country, its academics, and engineering practices in the coming days.
Swanson School of Engineering 