Towers and Communists

Petrin tower
In the hall of mirrors

our favorite mirror

bridges over the river

metronome on top of monument base

Our next stop was a tram up the hill of Petřínske Sady (Petřín Park). At the top of the hill are several rose gardens, and Petřínská rozhledna, a small version of the Eiffel Tower. It is only 90 meters tall, but sitting on top of the hill as it does, it has fantastic views over the city. It is set in a forest of deciduous trees. With the wind ruffling the canopy it was very lovely. Bear climbed all 299 steps to the upper observation deck – SewDiva and Bug rode the elevator. Next to the tower is a Hall of Mirrors. We had a wonderful time playing in the mirrors.

One of the sights we had been told not to miss was the Museum of Communism. So off we went. The museum was established by an American who was visiting in Prague when the Velvet Revolution happened (Nov. 1989). He realized a good business opportunity when he saw one and stayed to open a Jazz Club. Jazz was high on the list of things the communist government didn’t allow (right next to rock music) so his club was an immediate hit. He started buying up memorabilia from the Communist era and then put together this museum. He asked a documentary maker to design the sets for the museum. It was one of the best museums I have been in. The sets added greatly to the written explanations. There was enough information to be interesting but not so much as to overwhelm (think House of Terror in Budapest). I pass on the recommendation to go see it the next time you are in Prague. One of the things it talked about was this giant statue of Stalin that the Party in Prague built to honor him on his 60th birthday. It wasn’t finished until after his death and only 2 years before Khrushchev denounced him so down came the statue leaving this giant base with stairs on another hill overlooking the city. At some point a metronome was built on the platform which doesn’t do much either for me or the site.