PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC 2018 - 6 - WALKING ALONG VLTAVA IS A TREASURE

Being able to walk is such a gift. With that gift, I have been able to walk to and from the apartment and the convention center, where the 22^nd world child maltreatment conference was held on September 2-5^th.

XXIInd World Child Abuse Conference was held in Prague, in 2018

Once I figure out where the conference is held, every morning, I will find my way to the riverfront from my apartment, and savor the beauty of the Vltava until I have to start climbing up the hill to Vsherad via some couple of hundreds of steps. These morning walks along the river will become the cherry on top of the cake! Such a lovely way of starting the day each morning, reminding me of the walks along the river in Paris some years back. Vsherad is on top of a cliff along the east bank of the river with full command of Vltava. It is embedded in a big expanse of green space, which in and of itself is a great treasure. The close to ½ mile long promenade on top of this cliff provides the most beautiful vistas of Vltava as it heads south. 
 

One of the many breathtaking views of Vltava I tried to document  

On day one of the conference and my fifth day in town, my goal is to walk to the convention center, not knowing that I marked the Convention Center Hotel instead of the Center itself on my city maps app. On my way to what I think will be the Center, I bump into a beautiful church, which happens to be holding its Sunday morning mass. I enter. As everybody is enjoying their religious devotion, I savor the beautiful hymns and meditate alongside my temporary neighbors...

Sunday mass in a new town neighborhood in Prague

I am surprised that the more I walk, the more I feel like I am diving into the depths of residential neighborhoods. When I get to the marked location and see nothing that resembles a convention center, I have to ask two young people chatting in front of a middle class apartment building. It turns out there is a hotel around the corner but the actual Center happens to be 2 miles away from where I am! They feel sorry for me, not knowing that I am fully enjoying myself. With this mistake, I was able to see what kind of neighborhoods current middle class Prague residents inhabit. As one of my friends used to say, one gets to see many unintended wonders when lost. Although all I see is standard apartment buildings on streets meandering up and down the hills of south Prague, I am content. My young friends are kind enough to find the actual Convention Center onto my city maps app, I am all set and start my extra two-mile hike toward the Center.

One of the residential streets of a middle class Prague neighborhoods

I walk through a vast green area that takes me to the Vsherad metro station, which happens to be adjacent to the Convention Center, beyond which toward the river is the infamous Vsherad. It turns out the Sunday workshops are to be held some place else across the river! That is fine, this now gives me the opportunity to find my way through Vsherad to the riverfront. That is when I first walk on the Promenade and devour the beautiful vistas of Vltava from on top of a cliff this close to the water.
 

When I first see this view, my breath is taken away, not knowing the best is yet to come...

 

The more I walk up on the promenade toward the east, the more breathtaking the views of the river become. Thus, my on-foot commute route to and from the convention center is set. I will discover, the waterfront is a different story at early hours of the day. Curious crowds non-existent, water is calm and at peace with no vessels piercing its glimmering surface. The bridges enjoy their elegant reflection on the water just as I do. On a gloomy day Vltava is beautiful in one way, on a sunny day in another. Had I been born here, it would have been difficult to leave it, if at all. I wonder if that is the reason why Istanbulites can never leave Istanbul despite its hustle bustle. 

At the very top of the Vsherad promenade, this is how Vltava stretches to the south 

One must give credit to the communist regime of this country that they didn’t destroy the cultural heritage and texture of Prague as their peers did in Bucharest for instance. What a treasure this city has encompassing at least a millennium. I just can't get enough of the beauty in this magical city to such an extent, on the last day of the conference, I skip couple of hours of the sessions and explore a different path down to the river. I discover that every so often there are staircases with a few hundreds of steps leading from the top of the cliff down to the waterfront. This not only keeps people fit, I must say, but also allows them quickly get to the water without having to travel along the roads. Despite all the beer consumption, I haven’t seen any significant obesity in Prague within its population that was out and about.  

Infamous Vsherad

 

When I reach the waterfront, I find a path to a restraining wall by a river inlet. There is nobody around me, what peace...  Watching the clouds’ reflection on the water, while the little breeze not only caresses my arms and face but also the surface of the water… That little caress causing vague ripples on the surface of the water making the clouds dance… A few ducks and swans finding their way to the peaceful inlet… This memory will stay with me for a long time... When it is time to go back to the conference, I notice the antique store with all kinds of Czech porcelain in its display window. I find a gift for my Greek colleague, my daughter, and finally myself for my international mini-treasures wall. Unfortunately, my cash is 10 korunas short. The lady is somewhat upset, I offer her to fill in the gap with dollars, she refuses. I apologize profusely. Her face softens, I make a namaste sign and thank her in Czech, she smiles and tells me something, which probably means “no problem”, that is what her face tells me. I am grateful, she is at peace.

It is so easy to find a peaceful spot along Vltava.. 

The conference gala dinner is held in Menace restaurant on the east bank of Vltava. It is a lovely place and our Czech colleagues invited good musicians to display their best to their visitors. The soprano sings the infamous arias from Dvorjack and other Czech composers. The folk band plays and sings the best of Czech folk and classical pieces that boil the blood in all of us interested in music and dance and are able to let go. At some point, I could see, Turks, Indians, Pakistanis, Czechs, Americans, Spanish and who knows what other nationalities all dancing to Czech music in their own way…

Early morning calm and peace on Vltava

That is how we are interconnected if we could focus on our shared commonalities rather than our differences... I can’t help but think, this is what humanity should live like. Together, interconnected, respecting, embracing and feeling for one another. As I was taking my last walk along the river, I was paying attention to how we all have commonalities. We are all impressed with the beauty the castle emanates under the pale light reflected upon its walls. We all love the reflection of lights on the still surface of Vltava. We are all so alike, why is all this fight, all this othering, all this avoidance or ignorance. Why can’t we connect? I know we are gradually but surely, the peoples of the world are connecting more and more, and it is all beacuase of globalization, as a side effect...

At dusk, the castle and Vltava

Castle under the bridge!

Band on Charles River on my last day in Prague

 

East side of river fired up by setting sun