Assalam alaikum, Whistle-stop tours tend to be just that, in my case barely 2 days leaving me with just 6 hours spread over two days in which to discover the Islamic heritage of Prague. I would of course have had better chance finding a needle in a haystack, for then at least you know that once you run out of hay, you will find the needle. As it stands, the Muslims never made it as far into Central Europe, thus anything `Islamic' would have been additions over the past couple of centuries.
My short trip exposed me to two faces of the Czech people. The common taxi drivers, as well as being rude have this tendency to charge three times the cost of the journey, feigning ignorance when you point out a sign at you hotels entrance clearly stating the cost of a journey from the hotel to the city. Though I suppose this is the same everywhere, what to do other than to sigh with patience. This leaves me with the rest of the Czech people. Admittedly, I didn't really meet that many aside from Tom who at first with his (US) national guard lanyard and his strong accent left me with the impression that he was an American college student on a summer job, only to discover his accent like mine, was gained having attended American schools overseas. Prague is a city which managed to escape bombing in the second world war. What little destruction that did take place was in the old town square where the old town hall, a pinkish coloured building was used as a documentary storage house by the Nazis. As they left, instead of removing their documents they simple knocked the building down with a line of tanks from the square. Perhaps one of the few good things Adolf Hitler did as to leave the Jewish `ghetto' in tact preserving some rather old synagogues to this day. Apparently his plan was to extinguish the worlds Jewish population leaving Prague's Jewish Quarter as an open air museum. Fortunately for humanity his plan to extinguish an entire group of people failed. Prague castle being the largest ancient castle in the world has a number of attractions. My advice would be to buy a ticket to walk down the `Golden Lane'. At the entrance, directly in front of you is a stairway which leads to the upper floors of the shops which constitute the old lane of traders. Lined today with various medieval coats of arms and weapons there is a fun archery range at one end with a store selling the oddest leather goods at the other. If you have every wanted to see what a complete skinned cow looks likes, the wall hanging outside the store is exact, right down to the hoofs and the cows nose quite cool in a gross sort of way. Elsewhere in the city amongst many sights is a piece of `art' which shows two men urinating in a fountain in the shape of the Czech republic. There is a telephone number to which you can send an SMS, the men will then urinate the letters of the SMS into the water. There is something about Czech humor and `art' which leaves a lot to be desired.. This brief glimpse and much more was covered in a very short time courtesy of the Segway. For those unfamiliar with the device, it is a platform attached to two wheels and a handlebar enabling a person to stand yet move much faster than when walking. With a top speed of 15 mph they are both convenient and fun to ride. After my haunting encounters with taxi drivers, Tom, our Segway guide showed me the pleasant side to the Czech people though what other than friendly hospitability could be expected in a city where nearly three fourths of its summer population is comprised of tourists? Having managed to cover so much ground in such little time I tried again to find the city center Mosque. It must exist, in fact I know it exists as I called from England before I left to enquire about Friday prayers. As per the directions found on the islamicfinder website, the imam confirmed that it was opposite the Istanbul restaurant. That morning I found the address only to find a shopping mall hence my needle in a haystack remark earlier. Just passed midday I returned to the Istanbul restaurant where, now open for lunch, they point again in the direction of the shopping mall indicating the mosque is on the 2nd floor. Déjà vu, no such luck. With 85% of the Czech people classing themselves as atheists, the Czech republic, Prague in specific, has an astonishing number of churches scattered all around. Perhaps in the same way there are so many Churches but so few Church goers, could the 20,000 strong Muslim community with its listed though near impossible to find - mosques be the spark to help bring faith back to the people? May Allah Almighty have mercy and keep us safe in all that we do, ameen. fi aminallah, assalam alaikum, f ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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