Good King Wenceslas
I actually love the movie Love Actually. I generally like to watch sappy romance movies every now and again as an easy, thoughtless way to spend the time. The addition of pretty dresses, likeable actors and actresses, boys with cute accents, and cute boys in general make a sappy romance movie more entertaining, but hardly a good piece of film. Yet I love Love Actually. Thankfully, I brought my copy along with me to Paris, and, thankfully, my friend Amie loves it too. So, one day I went over to her apartment with Love Actually tucked away in my bag. The stated reason for our rendez-vous was to work on plans for Prague and Amsterdam together as the train tickets were such a nightmare to book. The real reason? Watch movies. We watched part of Love Actually, all of its deleted scenes (with commentary), and then the entire film My Cousin Vinny (which I also love), which Amie had never had the pleasure of viewing until that night.
There is one scene in Love Actually that was particularly fitting for our trip. When the Prime Minister, going door to door in an attempt to find Natalie, sings a Christmas carol to some little girls, he motions for his driver to join in only to be startled by his hidden talent. The song they sing? Good King Wenceslas. The only time I'd ever heard that carol was in that movie, and therefore the only words I knew where from that clip, which was particularly annoying as it was continually stuck in my head for over 4 days.
On the first day in Prague our Middlebury "tour guide" (Amie's friend) took us to get fried cheese at her favorite stand in Wenceslas Square. Wenceslas Square? Why yes! That same good King who looked out on the feast of Stephen! And so the madness began. Amie and I could not rid ourselves of that carol. As soon as one of us forgot it the other would suddenly burst into song. At the very least, the unrelenting mention of his name stirred up some curiosity. With the power of Google I now know that Good King Wenceslas, born in the 10th century just outside of modern day Prague, was a good Christian Duke of Bohemia who became known for his charity. He was killed by his pagan brother and his followers.
A statue of the king riding a horse acts as the centerpiece at the end of the square. After seeing it we went just down the street to where a satirized version of the statue by the famous (incredibly bizarre and interesting) Czech artist, David Cerny, hung from the ceiling. Our lovely Midd friend then told us of the trouble Cerny stirred up after mocking all of Europe in a giant installation he was commissioned to do for the EU display.
There wasn't a whole lot to do in Wenceslas Square (other than stuff our faces with fried cheese). It was more of a central square around which there are a few museums (the Communism Museum, for example, which we visited), many many H&Ms, a movie theatre (where we went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), and the usual bars and restaurants. It's worth a visit, though. Just pick another song to get stuck in your head because that carol is pretty addictive.
There is one scene in Love Actually that was particularly fitting for our trip. When the Prime Minister, going door to door in an attempt to find Natalie, sings a Christmas carol to some little girls, he motions for his driver to join in only to be startled by his hidden talent. The song they sing? Good King Wenceslas. The only time I'd ever heard that carol was in that movie, and therefore the only words I knew where from that clip, which was particularly annoying as it was continually stuck in my head for over 4 days.
On the first day in Prague our Middlebury "tour guide" (Amie's friend) took us to get fried cheese at her favorite stand in Wenceslas Square. Wenceslas Square? Why yes! That same good King who looked out on the feast of Stephen! And so the madness began. Amie and I could not rid ourselves of that carol. As soon as one of us forgot it the other would suddenly burst into song. At the very least, the unrelenting mention of his name stirred up some curiosity. With the power of Google I now know that Good King Wenceslas, born in the 10th century just outside of modern day Prague, was a good Christian Duke of Bohemia who became known for his charity. He was killed by his pagan brother and his followers.
A statue of the king riding a horse acts as the centerpiece at the end of the square. After seeing it we went just down the street to where a satirized version of the statue by the famous (incredibly bizarre and interesting) Czech artist, David Cerny, hung from the ceiling. Our lovely Midd friend then told us of the trouble Cerny stirred up after mocking all of Europe in a giant installation he was commissioned to do for the EU display.There wasn't a whole lot to do in Wenceslas Square (other than stuff our faces with fried cheese). It was more of a central square around which there are a few museums (the Communism Museum, for example, which we visited), many many H&Ms, a movie theatre (where we went to see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), and the usual bars and restaurants. It's worth a visit, though. Just pick another song to get stuck in your head because that carol is pretty addictive.
Interesting how you can get a history lesson when and where you least expect it. That cheese must have been really good..you keep writing about it.
ReplyDeleteYES!! Best post ever!
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