It’s my last day in Prague.
So many stories to tell and write about… apart from an amazing Barbie exhibit on the toy museum at the Hradscane Castle , I think I have almost covered them all!

The last place I would talk about is this one called the monastery of Loreta. It consists of a large pilgrimage area containing beautiful chapels and chambers, It is also the most well kept site in all of Prague for security, pictures, visitors and so on.

I wish I could have covered with my camera the world famous and secretly hidden ” Diamond Monstrance ”made in Vienna in 1696 by architect Fischer of Erlach. Fashioned from densely gilded silver, it is graced with 6,222 diamonds.

Unfortunately not even with a special permit from the president himself..

The Prague Loreto, as we know it today, is a fully-fledged pilgrimage site whose construction was initiated in 1626 by Kateřina Benigna of Lobkowicz. The complex, today decorated with impressive statues and fountains. was gradually expanded to include cloisters, a tower, a chapel and the Church of the Birth of Our Lord. Its most important architects were Giovanni Batista Orsi and Christoph Dienzenhofer. The pilgrimage site is famous for its carillon consisting of 30 large and small bells, which was constructed in the Netherlands in the late 1600s.

On the stroke of every hour, an ancient Marian song, entitled “We Greet You a Thousand Times rings out from the carillon”. The pilgrimage site is very popular as is corroborated by a wealth of votive donations which now form the remarkable Loreto Treasure, consisting of a collection of valuable liturgical items and many splendid other artifacts originated from the 16th and 18th centuries now used only for very special occasions (e.g. In 1999, at the 400 years celebration of the arrival of the Capuchins in Bohemia.)

While you walk under the irritated eyes of a very fat and strong Czech body guard dressed in a black coat a sound from and organ plays different Bachian symphonies coming from the main chapel , the one of our Lady of Sorrows (St Wilgefortis)
The most important piece contained here is the Gothic Pieta, dating from the 15th century and donated to Loreto by V. Rincolini in 1687. As legend has it, the Pieta miraculously survieved a fire set by the Calvinists and therefore was thought to have miraculous powers. The Chapel is also dedicated to St. Wilgefortis, a martyr highly respected mostly in the northern countries.

It’s magic, and it’s also very cold in the air.

Among others, Chapel of St Anne built in 1687 with the support of public collections and the support of Katerina of Lobkowicz, who donated the relief of Christ Child. Chapel of St Francis Seraphinus design of the famous K. Dientzenhofer (1655-1722) and contains besides a beautiful Baroque altar an impressing painting of the Stigmata of St. Francis Seraphinus by P. Brandl. Chapel of the Holy Family Except from the 17th century Baroque architecture, you will find here a Rococo altar of Saint Felix of Cantalicia, decorated with sculptures by Richard Prachner (1705-1782).

Finally, Santa Casa a copy of the Santa Casa in Loreto, Italy, the house where Virgin Mary was told the she will give birth to Jesus, the Son of God.

According to the legend of Santa Casa, the place in Nazareth where the Archangel Gabriel announced Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ, the Son of God would be born from her blessed womb. In the very same house the Holy Family stayed after their return from Egypt and Mary lived there years to come.
In 1291 a Christian family named Angeli had the Holy House moved piece by piece from Nazareth to Dalmatia and later in 1295 to the Italian town of Loreto. From the name of the Italian family “Angeli” people developed in time the legend that the Holy House had been brought to Loreto by angels themselves. The story has become popular in all Christian world and many other copies of Santa Casa have been built all over the world.

The Loreto in Prague is the biggest and most famous copy of Santa Casa in the Czech Republic and attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists every year.
Joelle’s Picks:

The Monastery of Loreta
Loretánské náměstí 7
118 00 Praha 1
tel.: +420/220 516 740
fax : +420/220 516 740
e-mail: loreta@kapucini.cz
www.loreta.cz

While in Prague my mother called me on my cell from Brussels “You still didn’t go to the Mucha museum?”-” No mum, not yet!” I replied in a defensive voice without really knowing what I had done wrong… “Mum… there is so much to do in this city!…”

“Whatever you are doing today stop!” she says, “This is really important, go to the museum and then call me when you are done!” I really don’t get it, what is there with this artist Mucha? I have seen his stuff in every commercial magazine ad, cafe, restaurant…what is the big deal?…

Ok, she must know, let’s go. I had in mind today to visit the Katedrala Sv Vita , San Vitus Cathedral located in the Prazsky Hrad ,the Prague Palace, it doesn’t matter I will go in the afternoon. The Mucha museum situated in Panska street, is in a small palace called Kauniki Palac. Built in 1998, this museum is dedicated to perhaps the most famous of all Czech visual artists, Alphons Mucha.( 1860-1939). Known for commercial work such as mass-produced decorative panels and posters for Sarah Bernhardt theatre performances.

Mucha exercised his greatest influence through his Encyclopaedia for Craftsmen (1902) a catalogue of Art Nouveau decorative elements , forms and designs whose precise drawings and sketches in small shelves are absolutely superb. The great thing about the museum is that apart displaying drawings, lithographs, posters, pictures of his stage, costume, jewelry and furniture, carpets designs, decorations, charcoal sketches, personal memorabilia and a Parisian notebooks, there is a one hour video about his life.

With the video you clearly understand his versatile creative talent but mostly his life in the fashionable world of fin-de-siècle Paris when he suddenly realized that even with all the available comfort it was not enough and felt the responsibility to make the difference for his at the time struggling country. He was a communicator, and the tool his art. On his return to Czechoslovakia in ( 1910-1939). Mucha created the Slavonic Epic, a series of gigantic narrative oil paintings, which are now residing in Moravisky Krumlov castle, south-west of Brno.

In 911 he completes the murals for the Prague Town Hall (Obecní dům), the last major interior decoration in the Art Nouveau style in Prague Soon after that the independent state of Czechoslovakia is created. Mucha designs postage stamps and bank notes. The complete cycle of the “Slav Epic” is officially presented to the Czech people and the City of Prague. In 1931 he is commissioned to design a stained glass window for the St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague.

Rushing (in Prague you only walk) and entering the grandest Hradcanske namesti gates of the Palace, where at every hour a guard is changed ,on the way to the cathedral, it takes more than half an hour of a non very welcoming and arresting negotiation of what are the sites I would like to see and therefore pay for, plus the photographic permit, a map of the castle in Czech, the cold and a long line passing through a first , a second and a third opulent courtyard, the oldest dominated by looming towers,pinnacles,spires and buttresses I finally arrive at the entrance door of the San Vitus cathedral who personally reminds me of larger Notre- Dame in Paris.

Build for 1000 years and completed in 1929, no doubt this awe-inspired building is the spiritual center of Bohemia. The cathedral Gothic structure owes its creation to Charles IV ’s lifelong love affair with Prague. The 19-th century nationalists completed the work according to the original plan in a Neo- Gothic manner. My camera lens scans every corner of the enormous interior nave and the shutter speed quickly calculates the enormous amount of vary-hued light from the gallery of the 21 stained-glass windows created at the beginning of the 20th century. And here she is, the third window on the left in the Archibishop’s Chapel…the most famous of all, it is created by Alfons Mucha. It’s vibrantly impressive, timeless.

In Prague, as in Paris , women ,artists and men struggled to be immortalized by Mucha in forms goddesses, seasons, flowers , muses, saints and universal heroes; All these throughout his immense art, devotion and sensibility.

Staring while a little dizzy at the intensity of colors of the magnificent glass I ask myself what is more is to be worshiped than the divine within his gifted talent? Without really waiting for an answer, I remember having to call my mother…she surely has that one for me.

Joelle’s picks

The Museum:

Mucha Museum
Kaunický palác
Panská 7
110 00 Prague 1
The Mucha Museum Opening Hours:
daily 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tel./Fax: +420 224 216 415 – shop

The Cathedral:

Prague Castle Hadranske namesti

tel 224 371111/ open 9 to 5 daily/ admission50-350 Kc

Thankfully there’s more to Prague than Paritzska street, the city equivalent to Bond street or Rue Faubourgh Saint-Honore .It Is on the surrounding streets of Dlouha, Dusni,and Kolkvove,where rents are more affordable, that the real heart Czech creativity beats.

One of the great thing about this city is the local interest for stylistic periods of the 20^th century, particularly Cubism and Art Deco. There are many art galleries and antiques stores that reflect the true interest of the locals among others, Gallery Kubista founded in 2002 to explore the origins of classical Czech art, architecture and design. How much more Prague can you get than a shop devoted to Cubism?

Here, more than anywhere else you can still find that 1930 original armchair with its original Zebra upholstery seen and only sourced by trendy architects for hype Hotel Boutiques around the world. Cubist porcelain, lovingly wrought recreations and art books from the museum shop of the National Gallery’s excellent museum of cubism at the house of the Black Madonna. where it is located.

Another cool shop is Modernista. The pieces are Cubist, Art Deco, functionalist and other-ists,all sleek and modern. It also showcases restored desk chairs and armoires from the early to mid-century, as well as reproductions from Czech architects and designer. I am compelled to take with me a mirror to New York.

Art Deco is to Dress-up fun! Vintage clothing and lots of jewellry, as well as interestingly varied mix of furniture, household items including Art Deco clocks ,lamps and random goodies.This dandy store sells the trappings of Prague’s golden age and is filled with colored perfume bottles and clothing from the 1920s and 1930s. Prices are good, I found a mimosa flower golden brooch with minute pearls. .

With my 1930 vintage brooch elegantly pinned on the left side of my dark green cashmere twin set I realize I seriously deserve the rare chance to experience cubist architecture up close with the afternoon tea at the Grand Cafe Orient back at Stare Mesto. Back at the Black Madonna Building I am making my way up past the fabulous geometric balustrade on the teardrop stairwell to the Grand Cafe.

The building is by famous Czech architect by Gocar, its furniture too even if rather sparse it is beautiful.” Please sir- I ask, while my friend smiles at me amused,” I would like that table there on the narrow terrace.” The menu tells me about the story of the building and the selection of cute sandwiches. A small cake, English Breakfast tea and Gocar facade write in fron of me is my pick today. Is it really cold outside?Who cares…What a delight!

Joelle’s Picks:

The Art Gallery:

Kubista Gallery
Ovocný trh 19, 110 00 Praha 1, Tel./fax +420224236378
e-mail kubista@kubista.cz
Opening Hours
Tue-Su 10-18

The Stores:

Modernista
Celetná 12
Praha 1 – Staré MÄ›sto
daily 11 am – 7 pm
tel: 224 241 300
fax: 224 241 299/ e-mail: modernista@modernista.cz

Art Deco Galerie

Michalská 21
Tel: 224-223-076/Open Monday to Friday from 2 to 7pm.

Founded in 1140 by Prince Vladislav II, the giant white Strahov Monastery looks down from its Petrin Hill vantage point over the busiest areas of Mala Strana.

This tranquil setting was established for the Premonstratensians, followers of the teachings of St Augustine. Destroyed by fire in 1258, it was rebuilt in Gothic style, with later Baroque additions.

Today, the monastery is of great importance in the history of the Czech Republic. In 1989 its archives housed over 6 million items. The Strahov library contains over 900 thousand volumes and 300 thousand works of expressive art. Over the centuries, the monks have assembled one of the world’s best collections of philosophical and theological texts, including illuminated (decorated with colored designs) manuscripts and first editions.The oldest manuscript is a summary of the Gospels which dates back to the tenth century.The collection is extremely valuable not only in monetary figures but in historical significance as well.

The ceiling of the 1679 Theological Hall is a stunning example of baroque opulence, with intricate leaf blanketing the walls and framing the 18th-century ceiling frescoes. The rich wood-accented Philosophical Library’s 14m-high (46-ft.) ceiling is decorated with a 1794 fresco entitled “The Struggle of Mankind to Know Real Wisdom”, by A. F. Maulpertsch, a Viennese master of Rococo. The fresco symbolizes the human search for truth through religious wisdom. The painting includes a picture of French encyclopedists hovering above an abyss between spiders and toads, terrified by the power of religious wisdom over science. However a strange irony exists here, in the same hall as the fresco, the monks placed the encyclopedia in a place of honor as its first literary work.

Intricate woodwork frames the immense collection of books. Ancient printing presses downstairs are also worth visiting, as are several altars and the remains of St. Norbert, a 10th-century, German-born saint who founded the Premonstratensian order. His bones were brought here in 1627, when he became one of Bohemia’s 10 patron saints.

Paths leading through the monastery grounds take you to a breathtaking overlook of the city.The collection includes works of world famous printers such as Aldus Pius Manutius of Venice, Frobenius of Basle, Plantin from Antwerp, and the famous publisher Elsevier. Also included are typographs dating back to the eighteenth century from the renowned Italian, Bodoni.

The Strahov Monastery is a fine example of the important role religion has played on the lives of central Europeans for centuries. It is a wonderful example of the architecture of the Gothic and Renaissance periods, and will always stand as a monument to the past.

Joelle’s Picks:

Strahov Monastery and Library (Strahovský kláster): Daily 9am-noon and 1-5pm
Strahovské nádvorí 1,Hradcany , Admission 80Kc ($3.35) adults, 50Kc ($2) student
Tel: 220-517-278

The St Agnes’s convent, tucked in a corner of Staré Mesto and hard to find, is the first Gothic building complex of churches in Prague.

It was built in 13th century by Agnes, sister of King Wenceslas, and now houses a magnificent collection highlighting Bohemian and Central European Medieval art from 1200 to 1550. Prague, after all was the forefront of European artistic development during the reign of Charles IV ( 1346-78) and one of the greats of the end of the 14th century was the master of Trebon.

I am not allowed in with my backpack, it’s a Louis Vuitton but they don’t care, they are very protective over these breathtaking collection of Medieval masterpieces never seen anywhere else in the world. You can see the Master altarpiece featuring the ” Resurrection of Christ “, and his “Madonna of Roudnice. The Master Vyšší Brod altar, Master Theodoric, works of the Master of the Winkler Epitaph, A. Altdorfer, L. Cranach the Elder and many others all examples of the “beautiful style “that prevailed until the outbreak of the Hussite wars.

The sober and elegant set design of the exhibition is a contemporary masterpiece itself . It’s a combination of glass, suggestive halogen illumination invoking a theatrical sensation of drama, background wall finish in grey Anthracite and green Aquamarine variations of Venetian stuccos enhancing even more the impressive wood sculptures, altars and valuable paintings on wood .

Not to be missed, it’s a must!

Joelle’s Picks:

St. Agnes Convent (Kláster sv. Anezky Ceské) . U milosrdných 17 , Hradcany,Tues-Sun 10am-6pm , Tel : 224-810-628

The best shop for Medieval Art and Renaissance:

Les Enluminures , Le Louvre des Antiquaires

2,place du Palais- Rolyal

75001 Paris

tel: 33 01 42 60 15 58

Fax: 33 01 40 15 00 25

“Prague. Religions get lost as people do.” — “The Trial,” Franz Kafka

Tonight, I bought tickets for a concert in the Old Prague Spanelska Synagoga, the Spanish Synagogue. ‘Jewels of the World and Czech Classics’: Mahler, Bloch, Ravel, Ben-Haim , Bernstein and Bruch — all Jewish composers.To stay in the mood, I decided to spend my day in Josefov, the Jewish quarter in Old Prague.

While the city holds an allure to worldwide literati and coffee connoisseurs, I particularly chose to have my breakfast coffee at the charming and atmospheric Frantz Kafka cafe. Prague café culture was a pivotal element in his life and an inspiration to his writing;

It was in the Prague café culture that Kafka experienced something of a religious awakening to his Jewish heritage. (Marilyn Bender describes the personable and café-hopping Kafka in Franz Kafka’s Prague: A Literary Walking Tour.) The characters in his novels and short stories are often coffee drinkers. So what were Kafka’s coffee preferences? While I look at all his portraits in the wall I wonder if he ‘d take it with cream and/or sugar? Unfortunately, the answer to this question remains elusive.The main street of Josefov is Parziska, an elegant avenue of designer’s shops, flashy restaurants, expensive cocktail bars which leads from the Old Town square down to the river.Russian tourists, wearing some type of unidentifiable furs, stroll around Cartier display windows and chic Italian Cremerie.

This is all however, in sharp contrast to the rest of what once was Prague’s Jewish quarter.The spiritual heart of Josefov, Staronova Synagoga the Old-New synagogue, stands on a wedge of land between Maiselova and Parizska. Built around 1270, it’s the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe. The legend has it that the foundation stones were flown over by angels from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem on the (al-tenay in Hebrew) that they should be returned on Judgment Day, hence the name Alt-Neu in German or Old-New in English.

After having standing in a long line in the cold weather, I present my ticket (in Prague, except for breathing, you must buy tickets for everything you do, for photographic permits and even to shop!) and I finally get into the small stone entrance hall with Hebrew writing encrypted in the wall.

While I try to figure out their meaning, (straining my poor memory of elementary Hebrew studies in Milan) an old lady explains out loud with a strange Yiddish accent, that the ticket I bought is not valid for THIS synagogue but for all the other ones belonging to the what is called the Jewish Museum whose original aim since 1906 was to preserve valuable artifacts from the Prague synagogues that had been demolished during the reconstruction of the Jewish Town at the beginning of the 20th century.(With a total of 4 synagogues, Maisel synagogue, Klausen synagogue, Pinkas Synagogue where I am going tonight, the Spanelska synagogue, the former Ceremonial Hall, and the Old Jewish Cemetery,) she sends me quickly back to the ticket window.

Back in the synagogue’s lower vestibule, this time holding tight the right ticket in my hand, the old lady accepts the ticket but says “No Photos!”. I explain irritated that I have a permit to do so, without answering me, she turns away to intercept a South American young man who also bought the “wrong” ticket.

In the center of the main hall of the Old-New Synagogue is the Bimah, which is like an elaborate wrought iron cage. Above the Bimah hangs a remnant of a red flag with the Star of David, the Jewish symbol. In 1357, Charles IV, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire at the time, allowed the Jews of Prague to have their own city flag. This is the synagogue which Franz Kafka, the famous writer, attended when he lived in Prague; his Bar Mitzvah was held in the Old-New Synagogue.

On the west wall of the main hall, there is a glass case shaped like the two stone tablets on which Moses chiseled the ten commandants. The case is filled with tiny light bulbs which light up on the anniversary of someone’s death if the relatives have paid for this feature. One of the lights is for Franz Kafka.I look at the the seating arrangement along the walls, the synagogue has retained the original seats. I recall images of my own father, sons, grandfather, and great grandfather who I never met, all sitting one next to each other, singing the Maariv (evening daily prayer) like this place was just one more synagogue in the neighborhood in Aleppo, Beirut, Sao Paulo, New York.

I felt there was no difference being a Sefaradi or a Jew from Prague. With this thought, I rushed out and headed to the Pinkas Synagoga at the end of Maiselova street. After all, the ticket bought yesterday will allow me free access today.Pinkas synagogue was the private house of the Horowitz family 1492. At that time it was a small building at the edge of the Old Jewish Cemetery, forming part of the house : U Erbu“. In 1519 the house of prayer was inherited by the ambitious Aron Meshullam Zalman Horowitz, one of the leading figures of Prague.

Here, the line to get in is also very long, and the cold is still making its unwelcome presence know. Last year at this time, I was in Rio De Janeiro enjoying the burning sun on Ipanema beach. A red-cheeked man with a white mustache and a checkered wool hat, older than the lady in the Old-New synagogue, is telling me in English (esembling more of Czechoslovakian) that the ticket I bought is not valid. “Why sir? It’s the Jewish Museum ticket!”The reason is that the ticket expired five minutes ago and I must buy a new one.

With the new valid ticket in my hand, I cross the late Gothic style building complemented by rich stone-cut decoration on the Holy Arch and Bimah, adorned themselves with traceries and withered pinnacles. The most sophisticated feature of decoration in terms of style is the front portal, which is rendered in the usually pure forms of the early Renaissance. A forged Rococo grille decorates the Bimah , its side section features motif of the Star of David with a medieval Jewish hat-the symbol of the Jewish community in Prague.

Among the members of the Horowitz family there were a number of rabbis and scholars who devoted themselves to the studies of Jewish mysticism.-the Kabbala. These include Shabetai Sheftel ben Akiva Horowitz and Isaiah ben Abraham ha-Levi Horowitz.After several floods in 1758 and 1771, the vestibule, Arch and Binah got damaged and remodeled in the Baroque style in 1820.

Other major reconstructions took place in 1954-59 where the synagogue turned into a memorial to the nearly 78,000 victims of the Nazi Genocide of the Jewish population of Bohemia and Moravia. Their names are arranged in alphabetical order on the basis of communities and families and inscribed on walls of the vestibule, the main naive, women’s nave and gallery.I realize looking at these white walls filled with firm and well designed orange, red and black letters, that the victims lost the anonymous impersonality of numbers and regained their human quality .

On my way the old Jewish cemetery is placidly waiting to be visited, as a daughter of a Cohen (Great Priest) we don’t have the habit to go. I just content myself with taking a few pictures from far. My camera and I (with a permit in my pocket), witness with respect and distance, how the memorial synagogue and the neighborhood of the Jewish cemetery symbolize the unity between of those who lost their lives victimized and their mystical ancestors.Dinner tonight is at the hotel room. It’s Shabbat.

I ordered the King Solomon’s Shabbat Meal Box with a bottle of Kosher Baron Aaron Gunsberger 1999 wine, it will be delivered shortly before sunset at the time of the candle lighting which should be at 3.55 pm. It’s my day of rest. I need to reflect on my new year in Prague.

Malher’s sublime movements reign supreme among a piano, a flute, a baritone and a violoncello. Arabesques of Stucco, gilt and polychrome motifs are the main feature of the Moorish style employed in the second half of the 19 century of this synagogue. My eyes gaze through the Ark the east section of the synagogue building, while a piano and a violin echo highlights of Ravel’ Rapsodie Espagnole , I notice myself resting under the Alhambra canopies in Andalusia this summer.What a day…

What a Shabbat, What an evening….the gentleman was right tonight. Music is a universal language, religions too. The city of Prague, Gustav Mahler and obviously Kafka know better that anyone else that it’s a metamorphosis’s desperate ode to life and innocence.

Joelle’s Picks:

The Cafe:

Café Franz Kafka , Široká 12/64, Praha 1, Metro: Staroměstská/Tram 17, 18, Open 10am-10pm daily

.The Restaurant:

King Solomon restaurant by Aron Gunsberger – Rated by sqare meal top 10 ethnic restaurants 1999,2000,2001, Glatt Kosher, Le Mehadrin Certified, Di Ro Pe Grand Award Wine Expert Award. Siroka 8Prague 1 Tel + 420 224 818 725, Fax + 420 274 864 664 e-mail solomon@kosher.czThe Jewish Museum: For tickets :U Star Skoy 1, Prague. Tel 1 221 711 511

“This movie could have been shot in only three cities, Vienna, Budapest or Prague because only these three cities have the 18th century architecture. Prague was ideal, Prague was absolutely ideal because thanks to communist inefficiency the 18th century was untouched.” — Milos Forman, The Making of ‘Amadeus’ 2002

In 1984, at the time he shot the movie on the life of Wolfang Amadeus Mozart Oscar nominated director Milos Forman hadn’t probably met yet Barbora Skorpilova co-founder of Mimolimit studio, architect Boris Sipek, and Graphic designer Ales Najbr of Studio Najbrt. All represent today the Czech architectural and design Avant-Garde.

Prague born Skorlpilova designs furniture, a range of ‘ Flying Candles’, glassware and jewellery. Many hotels , shops and restaurants in Prague have her signature ,one of them is the recently opened Hotel Perla.

It’s chic, hype, affordable. The basic inspiration for the interior design concept logically is the pearl – rare and mysterious, with a velvety shine. The mystery surrounding the creation of the pearl evokes distant places, ocean depths, exotic continents. Asian motifs and patterns play a strong role in the concept.

The reception, designed in a contemporary style by Ales Najbr, of Studio Najbrt, is covered in delicate calligraphy. The columns in the restaurant resemble Asian paper parasols, and the chairs are inspired by the early 17th century Chinese originals. I feel I am at the Strand Hotel in Myanmar, with a pop-ulent modern touch. ( See pictures above and in gallery).

Walking back this sunny afternoon on the riverside, at the corner of Resslova , I notice the world famous Tancicidum, or Dancing Building. I quickly grab my camera, every angle is a new life on its own, a new dimension of movement. Completed in 1996, it is a collaboration between Czech architect Vlado Milunic, and the American architect Frank Gehry.

Also known as ‘ Fred and Ginger’ he’s the rigid vertical half, she’s the swaying glass partner-the project. The Dancing Building is a piece of controversial Prague architecture that the locals still aren’t sure about. The La Perle de Prague, housed on the top floor, is one of Prague’s top restaurants – and one of its most expensive. Locals and expats alike go La Perle de Prague to propose, to celebrate, or to show off.

Modernista ’s gallery in the heart of Prague’s Old Town you will find a wide selection of items such as furniture, lightning, ceramics and toys from the first half of the 20th century as well as contemporary glass and jewelry. It is probably one of Prague’s best design stores and it is often featured in Czech and international design magazines, that’s with a reason. Modernista is the foremost dealer in 20th century Czech avant-garde design-classics and also acts as design consultant for hotels and restaurants. It has specialized in originals and reproductions of furniture and decorative arts in styles such as Bauhaus, Art Deco and Czech Cubism (the golden age of Czech design) as well as contemporary work by leading Czech designers.

Arzenal has a very creative concept. It combines a top class design salon with a Thai restaurant. Located in the center of Prague, on the historical crossroads of Jewish, Old and New Towns, it is a junction of cultures, where East and West, architecture and design, fashion and styles meet.
Arzenal was conceived and designed by the renowned architect and artist Borek Sípek, who has been commissioned to create such highly prestigious buildings as the Kyoto Opera in Japan or the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s shop in Paris. Arzenal design salon allows every guest to appreciate a full scope of Borek Sípek’s genius – architecture, glass and furniture design – while putting its functionality to test sampling Thai gourmet food. All objects in Arzenal, from the chairs to the silverware, are Sípek’s creations.

It’s been a long day. We only had a sandwich secretely picked at fixed this morning at the hotel breakfast room. We are hungry, very hungry, Friends of mine from New York suggested if I was to keep the feel of design in Prague, I’d have to dine at prestigious Maitre d’ Libor Pavlicek V Zatisi (translation Still Life) Restaurant. A table for two at eight o clock was reserved without a single thought.

As soon as we arrived dressed up in fresh clothes after a warm bubble bath and sauna, we could immediately perceive that you can try at this restaurant, an interesting combination of Czech and international delicacies. In addition, the two differing styles give the interior an intimate and elegant feel. The many prestigious international awards are testament to the fact that V Zatisi is a real rarity among Prague’s restaurants. Chosen as Central Eastern Europe’s “Restaurant of the year” by Egon Ronay’s Seagram guide and “The best restaurant in Prague” by Gourmet 2001, this popular restaurant is a favorite with the local, diplomatic and business community.

Dinner was delicious! We savored a Zweigelt and a Sauvignon Blanc from Moravia, and as a sweet treat we asked for the Sonberk’s Palava delicious with a salty cheese.The defining point of the interior apart from the hanging wall’ Flying Candles’ designed by Skorpliova, is the black wall, which is covered with horizontal laid books, with their pages, showing rather than their spines.

Prague…Everyday and night, with your contrasts and controversial style, you surprise me more and more…What’s next?

Joelle’s Picks:

The Hotel: Perla Hotel
1, Perlova – 11000 Prague- Czech Republic : For Reservation contact number Splendida Luxury and Character Hotels from the US 1 607 3300093

The Restaurants:

V Zatisi , Betlemske namesti,Liliova 1,

Tel :+420 222 221 155
Fax: +420 222 220 629
Email: vzatisi@zatisigroup.cz

La Perle de Prague, Dancing House – Tančící dům
Rašínovo nábřeží 80
120 00 Praha 2 Open daily:
12.00 – 14.00 (kitchen)
19.00 – 22.30 (kitchen)
except Sundays and Mondays mornigns
Tel: + 420 221 984 160
Fax: + 420 221 984 179
E-mail: info@laperle.cz
Contact persons:
Ing. Terezie Richterová (agent)
Franck Fonteyne (managing director) tereza@laperle.cz
franck@laperle.cz

The Design Studios : Qubus / Mimolimit / Studio Najbrt

The Store: Modernista
Celetná 12
Praha 1 – Staré MÄ›sto
daily 11 am – 7 pm
tel: 224 241 300
fax: 224 241 299/ e-mail: modernista@modernista.cz

Arzenal Prague
Valentiska 11
110 00 Prague 1
Tel.: +420 224 814 099
Fax: +420 224 810 722
Open daily: 10:00 – 24:00/galerie@arzenal.cz/ For reservations at the restaurant : restaurace@arzenal.cz

The Website : Czech Design

The Guides: Wallpaper city guide Prague – Phaidon / Time Out Prague 2006

I was offered as a surprise for my birthday to spend the New Year of 2008 in Prague.

With all the traveling I have done , it would be my first time in the Czech Republic. I knew it would be a different experience from anything else but had no idea about the emotional impact the city would cause on me.

I arrive on a cold morning leave my luggage in the pretty garden room at the Mandarin Oriental a carefully restored 14 th century monastery at the Baroque district of Mala Strana or Little Quarter , for centuries known as the home of artists, poets, boozers, dramaturges, novelists and photographers. It is Situated at the foothill of the Prague Castle and opposite to the Vltava river and Stare Mesto or Old Town.

My almost vintage Louis Vuitton backpack is so heavy filled with all sorts of Italian, Brazilian American guides on the city; Looks like everyone that has come to this old city has a different advise to give you. I read everything in the plane, got only a few days and really don’t know where to start from… Maybe breakfast. We were advised to go to Curkavalimonada a cute place nearby with lime washed interiors where you can eat delicious hot honey and butter croissants and a wide choice of pastries under 17 century beams.

Warmed up by the early breakfast we decide to go for a walk crossing the Bohemian Mala Strana, into the most popular Karluv or Charles Bridge where blind folk singers and a man plays Beethoven concertos on finger bowls , you can get your portrait painted in a few minutes to pair it the one sketched by the New York Central Park Koreans last year, you can take advantage to take great photos of the Castle and finally move to the Old Town and finally the Josefov or Jewish Quarters.

The city architecture is fully built since Middle Ages, a flavor of every period from Romanesque to Post-modernism, passing through Gothic, and Neo-Gothic, Renaissance, Neo-Classical, Revivalism, Art-Nouveau, Modernism, Communism and Post Communism, is proudly set out, as if at an epic building buffet, all within a half hour walk of Old Town Square.

Same happens with churches, synagogues, temples, monasteries, cathedrals, cloisters, basilicas, convents, chapels. They all are the city architectural fairytale written in cycles of repression and strife, but indeed managed to resolve most of them after a great deal of suffering and sense of loss, with happy endings. Most Czechs today, admit they believe in something-they just don’t know quite what.

It’s one thirty, I am hungry again, I just visited the city’s Baroque Magnum Opus, the Church of San Nicholas, dominating Mala Strana, my feet hurt, my neck even more, attempting to photograph the immense dome and bell-tower, of this monument to the money and effort that the Catholic Church sank into the Counter- Reformation.

The rich facade by Christoph Diententhofer was completed around 1710 and conceals an interior and dome by his son Kilian Ignaz, dedicated to high baroque at its most flamboyantly camp-bathroom-suite pinks and greens (see it in below photo gallery) swooping golden cherubs, swirling gowns and dramatic gestures.

Commissioned by the Jesuits it took three generations of architects, several financial crises, and the demolition of much of the neighborhood between presentations of the first plans in 1653 to final completion in 1755. Inside a Trompe-l’Oeil extravaganza, created by the Austrian Johann Lukas Kraker, covers the ceilings seamlessly blending with the actual structure of the church below. The church tower also appeared to make a favorite spy roost for teams of secret police.

I convince everyone after this strenuous walk to take me to Kavarna Slavia the cafe situated at the left of the remarkable restored Art Nouveau foyer the Obecindum or Municipal House (I speak six different languages and it’s absolutely impossible to associate any to the Czech, so hard!) .Dark wood paneling and green leather banquettes sit serenely beneath the ornate ceilings and mirrors. It’s a very busy place but everyone is in a hurry, too many things to see so tables quickly become available. We decide to eat a salad at the counter of the American Bar.

It’s getting colder, many of the tourists are turning me into a zombie, we are now at the Stare Mesto, the Old Town on our way back to the hotel, it’s three o clock sharp, of Monday December 31, a tick-toking sound of a magnificent clock, called the Prague Orolj or Astronomical Clock is pulling in the crowd. Apparently since 1490 every hour on the hour wooden statuettes emerge from trap doors while, below them a lesson in Medieval morality is enacted by Greed, Vanity, Death and the Turk.

The clock shows the movement of the sun and the moon through the zodiac,as well as giving the time in three different formats ( Central European, Old Prague and Babylonian Time. While I try to read my love horoscope for 2008 through those movements I am told a particularly resilient legend concerning the fate of the clockmaker. Master Hanus, was blinded by the vainglorious burghers of the town to prevent him from repeating his horological triumph elsewhere.

This city is full of mysteries and legends, as I walk almost alone with my own thoughts, among them the one of Master Hanus, wandering what could be the next city legend about Kafka? Mozart? Mucha? I hear a whisper in my year…”Wouldn’t you like to know what is part of your surprise for this evening?”

Part of the surprise happens in two hours at the church of San Salvador. I just have time to quickly do a massage at the hotel magnificent spa and get ready for the Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons Concert Autumn, Allegro-Adagio, Winter Allegro- Non molto, W. A. Mozart Ave Verum, J.Pachebel Kanon, J.S. Bach Air, G.F. Handel Allegro, Passacaglia, Bach-Gounod Ave Maria, W. A .Mozart Church Sonates A, F Major, F. Shubert Ave Maria all performed by Chamber Ensemble Musica Pragenesis. Ah I forgot… With heated seats!

After that, dinner in one of the romantic river’s edge terraces of Nils Jebens’ chic Kampa Park with unrivaled views of the Charles bridge while sampling the appropriately fishy menu, oysters and Iranian Caviar. The delicious dining together with Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte will leave us in the hands of Prague’s world famous fireworks for us welcome the new year to come.
Master Janus forgive me but honestly this year , I will pass on the horoscope!

Joelle’s picks:

The Hotel :

Mandarin Hotel Prague: Nebovidska 459/1, 118 00 Praha 1
Czech Republic
· Email: moprg-reservations@mohg.com
Reservations
· Telephone: +420 233 088 888
· Facsimile: +420 233 088 668
· Online Reservations
· Email: moprg-reservations@mohg.com

The Cafes and Restaurants:

Curkavalimonada :Lazenska 7, tel 257 530 628

Kavarna and American bar: Plzenska Restaurace, tel 222 002 784, namesti Republiky 5, tel 222 002 763

Kampa Park : Na Kampe 8b, tel 257 532 685

The Sites:

Church of San Nicholas: Malostranske namesti Prague open p am-4 pm daily. Adm 60 kc

Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock: Staromestke namesti Prague 724 508 584 open 11am-5pm adm 50 kc

The first 3d Czech movie on master Hanus: “The Old Prague Legends” by Art and Animation Studios