A Bridge in Winter

Yesterday, I happened to be in the center of Prague. I often go weeks without venturing there; most of what I need to do can be done more easily closer to home. But there I was, finished with my errand, and starting for home. A soft, light snow was falling. I thought, I haven’t been near Charles Bridge (Karlův Most) in a long time — I generally prefer to avoid the press of tourists. I thought, I shall go now to the Charles Bridge, to see what it looks like in this nice afternoon snow.

There were few tourists today, as it happens. January, by itself, keeps them at home; bad weather often keeps them indoors. Swans were paddling the cold brown waters of the Vltava and sea gulls floated effortlessly on the air, calling at each other with piercing squeals. The statues of the Charles Bridge, famous for their black and gold, had added white to their wardrobes.

A young couple made the traditional wish (throwing a coin in the river) at the spot where Jan Nepomucký, on 20 March 1393, was thrown into the water, his tongue cut out, for having angered King Wenceslas.

A tourist was feeding french fries to the seagulls.

It was quiet and cold. The Christians were shivering and pleading, as they always do, in their tiny cell watched over by the fat, indifferent Turk. As I crossed over Kampa Island and neared U tří pštrosů (At the Three Ostriches), where, in 1714 the Armenian Deodat Ramajan sold the first coffee in Bohemia, I needed to warm up. I headed for the nearest coffee house to enjoy one of Ramajan’s hot beverages.


Trio Bayanistov (А. И. Кузнецов, Я. Ф. Попков, А. Ф. Данилов): Дунайские волны, 1940