I cannot accurately describe Prague for you. Sure I can give you some helpful facts such as the Czech Republic maintains its own currency while still being an EU member so your Euros won’t do you much good. Vendors will often take Euros from you but at a dismal rate of exchange. I can tell you the public transport is good with the subway running near anywhere you want to be, and there is a regular bus schedule from the airport into the city; just buy at ticket at the bus ticket booth in the airport. There are sights and activities for just about every mood and taste from fantastic clocks, to crystal shops, to war monuments to bridges and royal complexes complete with fanfared guard changes. There are museums to beer and sex as well as cathedrals and gardens. You can take night walking tours for ghosts and river dinner cruises. Prague will provide you with any form of entertainment you would want in a European city and by having a separate currency it is very affordable. Our first dinner at a very comfortable traditional Czech food establishment came to about $10 a plate including the beer and a dessert. As such, it seems to be a popular shopping destination and you can stroll for an entire day and never find yourself wanting of a shop to pop in to.
For me, I came to Prague at a difficult time. My grandfather, the patriarch of my family, passed away the week beforehand and we pulled off the daunting fete of getting my entire family back to Indiana to attend the funeral ceremonies and back home again in time for my husband and me to leave the next day on our flight to Prague. The timing was so tight that when I walked in for the flight out in the morning, I actually picked up a suitcase of ours that hadn’t made it onto our flight the night before. This was handy since a few of my essential travel items were tucked inside. I was able to bag up all the kids’ dirty clothes that were mixed in and take my suitcase with my goods along with me.
To be sure, I was exhausted. And emotionally raw. My hands were shaking as I drove the rental car from the funeral home out to the cemetery behind the flashing lights of my great uncles Cadillac just a few days before and I had not completely stopped shaking in my heart. With my grandfather’s passing an entire chapter of my family’s story ended. That’s it, done. Finale. A hard reality to wrap the mind around.
The flight is never fun as you are cramped and trying to balance getting a bit of sleep with getting up regularly enough to ensure your blood doesn’t clot in your legs. Once you land , you follow the signs and can pretty easily get on the bus, that leads you to the metro, which then gets you near enough your destination to hoof it the rest of the way. The bus is crowded, the metro is deep and dreary (though splashed with dazzle when you pass the stations with sparkling murals on the walls) and the streets are happily pedestrian. Though do watch when you are crossing the trolley car rails as those suckers can sneak up on you.
The city is charming with some great architecture. Once you wander a bit you see a whole host of various periods represented and in blocks so that you are sure to not miss it. The art nouveau area is truly stunning. And the Dancing House catches you by surprise as you walk along the river. You can’t help but just stop and admire it, it captures your imagination and you are hard pressed to leave it.
Now one bit of European travel advice I always throw out the window is to try to acclimate to the time right away. The advice is always to suffer through the first day and not sleep until dark to reset your clock. But I am never on a tight deadline when I travel, generally taking a week or longer in a location, so I get to my hotel, draw the curtains and pass out to the world for as long a I like. This seems like sheer indulgence when I know there are no kids or dogs who will wake me up in the middle of the night.
Between catching up with friends and my own wandering plans, I made several trips to the old town area of the city that boasts the castle grounds and the cathedral. We took the mandatory route over the iconic Charles Bridge. Very pretty. There are little shops, museums and restaurants to help you fritter away your day. The palace to me was a bit disappointing. It is really more of a large compound of legislative buildings, it has an impressive gate where you can watch a changing of the guard, but I found it crowded and just a bit lackluster. The St. Vitus Cathedral was my favorite bit of the area. Even though it is a relatively new construction it has all the elements of a gothic cathedral, and some of the new stained glass depicting a modern sense were neat to see.
Take the time to stroll down to the Old Town Square and watch the astronomical clock. It is quickly over as the main attraction of it is when it chimes, then you are perfectly situated to enjoy some nice shopping, outdoor seating for a beer and watching the typical street entertainments of the square. I was completely dazzled by the crystal shop located directly across the way from the clock, it is huge and so sparkly you are nothing short of dazzled. The old architecture will draw you out of the square and onto delightful side streets full of vendors and goods.
The New Town region has anything you are wishing to find in the way of modern shopping and restaurants. I took in a local open air market here and found my little trinkets to take home to the kids here.
Prague had a lot of construction/restoration style work going on at the time in and around the city. Work required trips over a huge expanse of bridge with daily commuting traffic grinding across. In the middle of the bridge was a great view of the possibilities the city had to offer. The convention center is easy to reach by foot or by metro and was very impressive. But above all, what kept drawing my eye and my imagination while in Prague amongst the huge city, with its hustle and charming history and architecture, was the local people I saw all around on the streets, in the restaurants, on the train. They struck me as a bit stoic and very seriously polite. In fact, the only people I found who appeared happy were the few young families pushing babies in strollers. Otherwise, there seemed to be a weariness to the way most people carried themselves. Prague served up many lessons to me; both about my own emotional resilience, about how time and place can shape a character, and that just going to a place doesn’t mean you’ve really been there. I saw some sights and had some good times with friends, but I wouldn’t dare say I understand Prague.
tamingthemilemonster 