Sharise and I set out to find the Prague National Gallery, which displays Mucha's masterpiece, "Slav Epic." Mucha is known for his lithographic prints, which are mostly commercial, but still beautiful. I have been obsessed with Mucha for years. But when I discovered his "Slav Epic," a series of 21 large paintings depicting the history of the Slavic people, from Russians to Czech, I had to see it.
When we reached the gallery, I just paid to see the "Slav Epic" and nothing else. Sure there was more art there to view but I wanted to spend my time just on this exhibit. It did not disappoint. When we entered the gallery, the first painting I saw was enormous. It was one of the ones I saw online that made me want to see the exhibit. A girl with wide frightened eyes returns your gaze. You're unable to look away, drawn into the painting and curious as to why she looks so afraid. What had she seen or experienced? The paintings depict historical scenes, wars, the struggles of the common Slavic people, dying, oppressed, clutching their children, trying to survive in a grim place. There are paintings of scholars, religious scenes, and some pagan or mythological symbols, one depicted a rite of passage for young boys. Each painting looks like it was a huge undertaking, probably requiring scaffolding to paint, I'm not sure how he was able to paint the large size pieces.
After we left the museum, we decided to visit the cemetery where Alphonse Mucha was laid to rest. The cemetery is in an interesting part of Prague, away from the old city center. The memorials, statues and art in the cemetery are beautiful and touching. Many famous people are buried there, most of which I don't know, other than Mucha and Dvorak. I can't remember if Kafka is buried here too. After some time, we finally found Mucha's name with other notable people on plaques at a grand memorial. A little old lady who seems to frequent the cemetery showed us Mucha's name. I was thrilled but also perplexed. I imagined an artistic and unique memorial just for Mucha, but his name is on a plaque with four other people and there were several of these plaques on the memorial wall.
I went into the church at the cemetery and it was a small but pretty church with lovely art nouveau illustrations of saints. Outside the cemetery and church is a park. It seems families come out here with their babies, people bring their pets and some people jog in the vicinity of this cemetery/park. I thought it was quite unusual and interesting. We walked down numerous flights of steps to the Vltava River. This was a fabulous place for cycling, jogging, feeding swans and having a drink with friends. I could see myself wanting to visit a place like this often, either to relax by the river or having a drink with friends. It's a lively place and the locals seem to enjoy coming here.
Finally, we ended the night with our last dinner. I had to try the famous goulash of Prague and Sharise picked a great place to try it. I ate the goulash with small fried potato pancakes and dumplings which actually look like thick slices of bread. The goulash was might tasty with my local Prague pilsner. We shared an apple strudel for dessert, then walked back to her flat.
The next morning, we ate breakfast at her local cafe, called Faux Pas. I felt nervous about my departure from Prague but I also felt ready to leave. I felt sad for leaving Sharise and because I knew I would miss the company. We both felt a little like crying, but held back the tears. I was on my to Vienna, not sure what to expect, would I make new friends or be alone? My train ride from Prague to Vienna made me feel anxious and sad.