Prague

Prague Castle

Tyn Church

(written March 06)
WOW is the best way to describe this city. Every building has something about it that made it stand out. From a bright yellow or pink paint, a wild façade, gargoyles, statues on the roof, or spires to the sky. We flew in from Dusseldorf Thursday evening and then took the bus and metro into the city itself. Public transportation is very cheap, maybe a buck to ride the bus and metro across 3 “zones” with transfers. We were pretty tired that night so we just headed to the hotel.
It was Easter weekend so there where a lot of tourist and it seemed that Italy must have been empty because they were all in Prague. There we also a lot of Asian tour groups and many smaller packs of Brits, Germans, and Americans. The Old Town had a large Easter Bazaar as well as a bazaar in Wenceslas Square. We discovered a wonderful Czech pastry that we dubbed “those round thingies” and we ate many of them throughout the weekend.
Friday was damp, but we didn’t let that stop us and we headed out to “The Old Town” to meet up with our “Communism Walk Tour.” It was just us and two Swedes on the tour. Unfortunately, while our guide was nice and told great stories, he just wasn’t informative and didn’t have a very organized presentation. I think that he relied on bigger groups with people asking more questions, whereas we just wanted to listen and learn. Joseph, our guide, did have a few interesting opinions as he told about being “liberated” by the Germans and twice by the Russians. We discussed the “Velvet Revolution” when the Czech people broke away from the Soviet Union and then went down the creepy street where the police department and jail where located. People used to whisper the street name as everyone knew what sort of evil went on behind the walls. There used to be a huge statue of Lenin that towered over the city but it was “accidentally” destroyed during the time of the revolution. The descriptions that we have heard and read about say that there was “an explosion” and the statue crumbled. Those Czech do have a great sense of humor. (grin) On the flip side, the Czechs have taken to capitalism like fish to water. The souvenir shops sell all kinds of Russian and Soviet memorabilia, even stuff that is newly made to meet the desire to own it. There are McDonalds everywhere, along with many, many pubs, shops, and bookstores. After the somewhat disappointing tour, we grabbed some lunch at an…..Irish pub then headed toward the Museum of Communism. The museum is located above a McDonalds; next to a casino…hmmm I’ll just bet that Lenin is spinning in his grave. After the museum we walked some more, just taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Then we went to a very exotic restaurant to sample some excellent foreign cuisine……TGIFs. OK, so I had some guilt at first, but remember, I don’t get to go to places like TGIFs very often so it was a real treat.
The next day we had an earlier start as we had to meet out city tour guide at the St. Charles Bridge. Blanca was our guide and our group had 9 people. We toured the city on foot heading out to Prague Castle (the largest in the world) then into Little Town, the Jewish Quarter, and Old Town after watching the Astronomical clock …again…not so great the second time, but this was our third…the group broke up and only 4 of us plus the guide went on and had a traditional Czech lunch. The desert was a traditional Prague specialty known as “little coffins” and was meringue coffin shaped pieces smothered in fresh whipped cream. They were invented because so many people committed suicide by jumping from the St. Charles Bridge. Then we took a boat tour of the Vlata River. Unfortunately due to flooding the ride didn’t go very far, but it was the only sunny day that we had, so it was nice, plus we got to hear even more history.
We wanted to take a beer walk tour that evening, but the person running the tour never showed. We hung around the plaza at St Charles and just soaked in the atmosphere; finally we took our own beer walk and went to…hold onto your hats folks…an Irish pub. Then a British one and finally for dinner we took off down a narrow alley, into a small courtyard, and down into the cellar of a building for a great tradition Czech dinner. So many of the best places here are off the main road and down narrow alleys.
We were worried that Sunday would be slow because it was Easter, but we couldn’t have been more wrong…the Italians were everywhere…ha ha We crossed to the other side of the river and rode the funicular railway up to a tower on the hills near Prague castle. The park was beautiful and we took our time strolling back down into the city. Lunch was pizza baked on a wood stove…with more beer. The restaurant was located off a side street, down a narrow alley and across a courtyard…but it was worth getting there! FYI, the Czechs drink more beer per capita than any other nation. Their Pilsner Urquell is said to have many medical benefits including curing kidney stones, so I figure that we were just trying to get healthy. Also Budweiser originally came from Czech, but it’s now called Budvar and it’s MUCH, MUCH tastier than the US brew. That night we took in a show at one of the black light theaters which were first developed in the late 60’s. It’s a non-verbal show with lots of modern dance and imagery…all under a black light. It was actually pretty cool and I think that it’s probably where Cirq de soils (yeah, it’s spelled wrong) started from…of course the Vegas show is much, much better. We ate American again, but it was the best damn steak I had eaten in 8 months. The restaurant was called “The Crazy Cow” and it had an interesting spin on what the Czechs thought that an American steak house should look like. Lots of Pancho Villa photos along with a copy of the Declaration on Independence.
We got on quite well there speaking only English as everyone under 40 seems to have a pretty solid grasp of the language. The people were so nice, well except for the Italians…but that’s another story…and seemed to enjoy answering our questions. Monday we just strolled around the Old Town and Wenceslas Square, eating more round thingies until it was time to head out to the airport. I did get to see some of the areas outside of the city center and boy are the buildings ugly. The outskirts were filled with Sovietesque apartment complexes. I did learn that the Czech really dislike the Roma (Gypsies), Ukrainians (the new refugees), and of course the Russians. They might be willing to sell Soviet trinkets, but they boycott any business owed by Russians. The history here is just amazing for such a tiny little country and we hope to go back to see some of the countryside and other cities.