Looking towards 14th cent Our Lady Before Tyn Cathedral, Prague Castle in background.
I’ve so hyped up cities like Hong Kong and most recently Amsterdam that they could never meet Trish’s expectations, leaving her underwhelmed. Prague presented no such problem. We’d rented a large 3 level flat just outside the vibrant core in Vinohrady but amongst locals where English is spotty and everything sounds like a slavic stew to us.
Nice hood….
We’d been warned repeatedly about the usual pickpocketers (English warnings everywhere) but also that 80% of cabbies failed honesty tests when it came to tourists ( so says locals and our guide books). But also that because tourists typically didnt count their change, or were easily confused with the Krona, it was like breathing for locals to skim and scam travellers. While we experienced some of this, we think Czechs are bush league compared to much of Asia.
Outside of the core where no tourists dare tread and the cobblestone streets end, blocks of concrete buildings line our Tram 22 route eastward. Quite a contrast to the all brick construction of the Netherlands. While this concrete maze may have once been Stalinist, at least they they’re decently painted and more or less blend in with new builds. And yes there are bicycle paths. Just no bicycles. Anywhere. Where the Dutch glided through their daily life, the Praguers(?) smoke and munch and beer their way through.
But if there’s a fairy tale city, this is it, though these picture don’t capture it.
Unscathed by the war, wonderfully preserved, the centre’s a glorious walking museum of co-existing architectural styles—baroque, neo-classical, art nouvelle, Renaissance, gothic, Romanism and mod. Reminiscent of Paris, almost as stylish as Gaudi’s Barcelona, but wonderfully cheap, cheap, and cheap.
Example:
Our fully equipped monster flat with a tub…. $75 Cdn a night
Beer….half litre of liquid heaven $2-3 –more than coke, coffee, or water. Good place to give up coffee.
24 hr Metro ticket…. $6
Eating out….seemed like it was free after Iceland and the Netherlands.
Astronomical clock, constructed 1410
Trish gagged at the sauerkraut and couldn’t get over the blandness of the dumplings, though roast pork was moist and flavourful.
By day two she declared no more Czech food. However if a famine were coming this is what you’d want to load up with. Gotta admit though, I too was ready for some real heat, not just the two base flavours of Czech food— sweet and sour.
Our favourite building, the Art Deco gem, blandly named the Municipal Hall
The gothic masterpiece, built 1344, St Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle
Atop Klemintum Complex
Baroque Library in former Jesuit complex the Klemintim, now housing globes and clocks of astronomical society
Atop Prague Castle
St Nicholas Church
Normally we despise this lavish, baroque style….but it really was stunning inside. We know after a day or two in Italy, this will be rather no hum.
In Ottawa we have the NAC with underground parking. Prague only has the National Theatre on right, new theatre on left…neither has parking.
Prague castle atop hill on left, 13th cent Charles Bridge…..busy busy busy
On Charles Bridge, aka Disneyland Bohemia where the crowds never end
It’s really hard to find a bad backdrop for pix.
Beer
If we thought the Dutch were about the bikes, here it’s all about the beer. Czechs drink more of it than anybody else, they invented the Pilsner, they drink it with lunch, it’s served in glasses in parks, it’s cheaper than anything else to drink, and it’s absolutely yummy.
This big daddy darky which I would normally never touch,was superb. $2. Might be a good place to give up coffee.
You would think all that beer would make people more pleasan but we thought locals were rather dour until we met the effervescent Jacob, a financial analyst. Living in Vienna and about to marry a woman from Sofia, he said Czechs are far less uptight than the higher paid Germans and Austrians. Furthermore in a morality kinda test where if you could imagine a friend causing an accident, the Czechs would be least likely of selling you out to the authorities. He says Brits, Dutch, Germans et all have more trust in institutions ( unlike the Czechs with hangovers from Communism ).
Mostly Mozart
Wolfie loved Prague. A lot. He played weekly here at the Mirror Chapel (mirrors reflect each other to symbolize the infinity of heaven. Sounds like bad feng shui to me)
Wolfe also played here!… where the film Amadeus was partially shot. We caught a concert here with the Royal Czech Orchestra….didn’t help Trish’s migraines at all but great acoustics.
Dump the Dumplings:
I got Trish to give the local fare another shot, carefully avoiding dumplings and that sweet sour goo they call sauerkraut. While chicken schnitzel and beef goulash were done with quality meats, she’s quick to say Czech food sucks. She might say otherwise if a famine were coming.
On our last full day it rained. And after 2.5 weeks, we decided to do nothing. Trish started to come down with a bug so it was a Netflix afternoon for her while I poked around our hood, finally starting to chill a bit, even if it was beer-induced.
Though this was a dream-like setting, it lacked the same visceral reaction as Iceland and the Netherlands, likely because we didn’t meet more locals like Jacob. Nevertheless it is with good reason the crowds come in swarms, especially The Chinese (who are everywhere).
and the Russians who have an affinity for Prague, which isn’t reciprocated.
NEXT:
Train to Vienna for dinner then overnight to Venice.
