2. 2011

Prague, Czech Republic, in October.

In October Jasmijn and I both managed to score speaking slots at the 2nd Annual European Conference for Critical Animal Studies in Prague, interested as we are in esoteric socio-philosophical theories about human-animal relations. In particular, I was deeply interested in the troubled relations between the citizens of medieval Prague and the fabled Golem, which unfortunately seemed to regularly end in disaster when the Golem ran amok. And so we prepared our powerpoint presentations, gathered our cryptozoological research tools, and boarded our fateful flight to one of Europe's most haunted cities...
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    Whenever disaster befell the city, apparently the population blamed the Jews and organised a pogrom. The Jews fled into the synagogue, and my theory is that this was the escape route from the attic, which is also reputed to be the final resting place of the Golem.
    We found this Golem statue in a nearby restaurant. Apparently a powerful rabbi magically created him out of clay to either defend the synagogue or work in it, depending on the story. Regardless, in all versions the Golem ends up running amok. It's unclear whether he was destroyed or merely remains sleeping in a hidden room somewhere in the Old City.
    Very sadly, all too soon it was time to leave these ancient, haunted streets and head back to the hostel and on to the airport.