Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/220

lightful frame to this admired view. Yet there are many more places which add color to Prague’s beauty. There are the old palaces in Italian Renaissance and baroque styles, with marvelous gardens behind their archways, old churches and monasteries, the buildings of the oldest university of Central Europe, the famous Powder Tower standing as a guard to the Old Town, and the picturesque silhouette of Vyšehrad.

But Prague does not win admiration only by its famous views, but also enchants by the charms of its quiet corners. Here are some of the many surprises: the unexpected beauty of the ivory blossoms of the ancient stones of the 13th century Jewish Cemetery, the richness of the Strahov Library, the idyll of Loretta, and the picturesqueness of the narrow streets of Mala Strana. Since Prague became the capital of an independent state, new quarters, new institutions, large stores and hotels have been feverishly built. And yet Prague keeps its characteristic idyllic beauty. Its checkered roofs, towers, and cupolas emerge out of an immense sea of green, which in spring changes into a delicately scented bouquet of white and pink blossoms. The pleasures of Prague, however, are not all Czechoslovakia has to offer. All parts of the country have their own charms and interests for the tourists. The lovers of mountains will find in Czechoslovakia not only the Giant Mountains of the North East of Bohemia, and the Bohemian Forests on the South Eastern border, but especially the Slovak High