Touring the Jewish Quarter

As Chuck donned his freshly handwashed undershirt, he commented, "This feels like something washed in the country formerly called Czechoslavakia." --meaning rough and stiff. In the US we take a lot for granted: washers, driers, lots of hot water, lots of space. Travel gives one perspective. We took the tram/metro to the Jewish Quarter where 120,000 Jews lived in 1939. Just 10,000 survived the Holocaust to see the liberation in 1945. Today approximately 2,000 Jews remain in Prague. The ticket allowed us access to three synagogues, the ceremonial hall,and the Old Jewish cemetery. In the cemetery all the stones were at precarious angles because there were several layers (down through the years) of burials under the stones. There were displays of family heirlooms and treasurers, burial garb, and explanations of rituals and religion. The walls of the ceremonial hall were covered with the names of those who were never seen again. They were listed by families with dates of birth and last date seen. It was quite haunting. We spent about three hours there. We called Gloria and told her where we were. Somehow we got our signals crossed and spent an hour and a half trying to find each other. Wish we had pedometers on. Ate lunch at a pub . Shopped for souvenirs.