Living There
I spent a beautiful short vacation in the wonderful Czech city of Prague and I wanted to share this experience with you.
Night 1 -Nick and I arrived in Prague, settled into the hostel (which seemed sort of ghetto) and went to the Bohemian Bagel for a late dinner. It wasn’t too difficult to figure things out as the workers spoke English and the menu was in both Czech and English. To start our first night in continental Europe, Nick and I ate American. Nick had a Philly style Cheesburger and I had a Philly style Cheesesteak. Before planning our trip I searched for more info about the country and I found some very useful advices on a European Travel Tips Blog in order to prepare ourselves to have a great vacation. So, we wonder the streets to get a sense for the area, having very little clue where we were. We ran into the river Vltava and found one of the bridges across which had beautiful sculptures. We got lost going home and stumbled on the Staromestske namesti (Old TownSquare) but had no idea what we found, just saw this really nice looking church, some horse and carriages, and a large statue in the center of the square. We found the street that lead back to our hostel and headed back, calling it a night.
Day 2 – Following the travel guide I bought in England, we followed the route it set out and walked down Revolucni to the Obecni dum (Municipal House) and the Prasna Brana (Powder Tower), our first piece of Prague’s history and we had almost no clue what it was or what it was for. We later found out the Municipal House is something like a cultural center where concerts are put on and small theatre shows. We walked along a little street, Celetna, and looked at a number of different stores, all which were closed cause it was only 9am and as we found out, Prague doesn’t open until 10am. We again found ourselves in the Staromestske namesti from the night before, this time knowing where we were. We walked around it, looking at the now recognized Tynsky chram (Church of Our Lady Before Tyn or more commonly known as Tyn Church) which we have many pictures of, but none of its interior because they wouldn’t let us take photos :-(. We walked up to the Staromestska Radnice (Old Town Hall) and looked for the famous Astronomical Clock. Much to our disappointment, this amazing clock, suppose to be able to tell the time, date, phase of the moon, and astronomical signs was completely covered by scaffolding for repairs.
We went into the Staromestske Radnice and climbed its tower to the top where we found an amazing view of the city. We continued on from there through the heavily touristy shops and souveiner stores area until we finally made our way to Karluv Most (Charles Bridge). The most famous bridge in all of Prague, the Karluv Most was the firstbridge built across the river Vltava and is decorated with saintly Baroque statues. Crossing it, we wondered from the Stare Mesto (Old Town) into the Mala Strana (Little Town or ‘literally’ Lesser Quarters). We went to Chram sv Mikulase (Saint Nicholas’s Church) and were very happy to be able to take pictures inside. The church is gorgeous and there were so many statues and wall murals that it was our first best impression that we truly were not in Kansas anymore.
After leaving the church in amazement, we began walking up the steep street towards Prazsky hrad (Prague Castle) and stopped for lunch in a small tea house. After the most amazing cup of tea I have had in my life, Nick and I finished climbing the rest of the hill until we reached Prazsky hrad. The castle consists of an impressive front enterance gate, a new section still used today, the old castle keep, small houses for the early peasants and finally the central masterpiece, the Katedrala sv. Vita (St. Vitus’s Cathedral). We took a tour and found ourselves amazed. Our tour guide took us past the graves of the medival kings including going beneith the Cathedral to see the coffins. When we found our way to the old castle keep, we walked into a giant Great Hall, about the size of a football field, no joke. Our tour guide told us that they used to have jousting competitions inside the Great Hall in the colder months.
Night 2 – After we had gone through the castle we wandered back to our hostel, relaxed for a bit, and then went out for a traditonal Czech dinner. This was a bit difficult to find as there were restaurants for every kind of food. The meal consisted of a sweet meat in a brown gravy that I have to say, I couldn’t compare the taste to anything else I’ve ever had, but it was really good and Czech dumplings which are really doughy and unlike any other dumpling I’ve ever seen. After that, Nick and I wondered through the new town and after being propositioned a number of times by prostitues, (yes, that is legal in the Czech republic), went to a bar for a few hours.
The most difficult part about being in a foreign country is when you start going where the locals go, because suddenly English is not the most common language and communication can sometimes be difficult. There are virtually no similarities between English and Czech. Nick and I mostly talked to each other while looking around until this guy standing near us said something to us. To our surprise, he was American and as we found out, was from Texas. Jacques, was touring alone and we all started talking because we attached onto the English we recognized. It was pretty interesting and I noticed how quickly I picked up on anyone speaking English while abroad. After the bar, we wanted to find a dance club and went to a place called Termix which was a rather small club but was completely packed and we stayed out until 3am.
Day 3 – After a very late morning…or should I say early afternoon, we walked down to the Old Town Square and looked through some of the shops. We had done a huge amount of sight-seeing the day before and decided to go at a slower pace. Our wanderings brought us across the Prague Sex Machine Museum and as you should expect, we went in. ‘Interesting’ is all I will use to describe the interior and leave the rest to your imagination…although I don’t know if you can guess some of what we saw. I have pictures for those who want to ask. Later that evening we took a ghost tour of Prague and learned about many of the old legends that haunt the area, one invloving three sisters who married the same man unknowingly, another about a 7 foot tall many who sold his bones after he died and became rich in life, and yet another about the ghost of a butcher doomed to guard an old church for the rest of time.
Night 3 – We had a quick dinner and were set to meet our Texan friend at a bar around 10pm. After having a few drinks, we went down to a club called Geyzeer. It was free entry, which was good because it never got busy the whole hour we were there before deciding to leave. We went back to Termix and found that the music was entirely 80s. They played ABBA, Say a Little Prayer, the Grease Medley and also the YMCA, which I’ve never seen anyone go so crazy for in my life. I now understand a bit of the cultural effects of being only 16 years out of Communism. Anyway, we spent another late night in the club and headed back, saying goodbye to Jacques because he was heading out the next afternoon.
Day 4 – We caught a boat tour through the city and learned a lot of the history of the city as well as the Czech Republic itself. We saw the city from a perspective most don’t get to from the boat. It was absolutely beautiful and I went through a ton of pictures. After the boat tour, we walked through the Jewish quarters, where for many years, even before the natzis, Jews in Czechoslovacia’s capital were forced to live and for some time, merely encouraged to stay for their own sake. After some final souvenier shopping, we picked up our luggage and hopped on a shuttle for the airport and from there Barcelona. I hadn’t planned on touring Prague when I had originally started planning my Travel Break but I’m extremely glad I came across it. It was truely a completely different place to visit and an amazingly beautiful, historic city.
