Prague (in Czech, Praha) was GORGEOUS. The golden city of 100 spires was possibly my favourite city we’ve visited on this trip. My opinion may be slightly influenced by the fact that we had perfect weather during our entire stay but I think even if it was raining we would have had a delightful experience there. We arrived on Friday May 17th from Dresden and left the morning of Tuesday May 21st headed for Munich.
Something somewhat unique about Prague is that by a miraculous stroke of luck, most of the city has been preserved. It has been an increasing pattern in cities we’ve been to that all the “old” buildings are not in fact that old because they were bombed or destroyed during WWII and were reconstructed later on. This makes the “old towns” of many cities actually newer than the “new towns.”
Our walking tour guide in Prague was really not very good, but the tour itself was great and explored all the main downtown areas of the city. That left us ample time to explore around the lesser-visited parts of the city and put our Use-It map to good use. Prague is not flat, and I appreciated that, as I never trust a city with no hills. The city is full of amazing viewpoints from which you can see all the red roofs, steeples and greenery Prague has to offer. The best part of the Use-It map in my opinion is the suggested walking routes. It offered us three and we did them all because we’ve had such good experiences with the walking routes in the past! The first one took us through the quarters of Karlin and Holešovice, a more industrial and modern region. Apparently in 2002 most of this area was demolished by floods so most of the buildings are new. Halfway through the walk we spotted a sketchy looking foot tunnel so naturally we decided to walk through it. The map suggested it would take us to a park and after a long and brisk walk of listening to the joker-like laughter of strangers echoing through the tunnel we emerged in a park indeed. I don’t know why I expected any less from Prague but their parks, or at least the ones we visited were absolutely gorgeous. (Again, experiences were of course elevated by weather.)
The other walks we did took us through the more mainstream areas such as Petrín’s Hill where Prague’s “Eiffel Tower” can be found as well as an amazing view of the city. We actually stopped hiking half way up to lay in a lush, rolling meadow because it was too hot and we were too tired. We had a quality photo shoot in this meadow and enjoyed the much needed shade after walking all day in the sun.
Prague’s most famous bridge, the Charles bridge, was constantly jam packed with tourists and for good reason as it is probably the most beautiful bridge transporting people over the Vltava river. even so, we never actually crossed it as there are at least 5 other perfectly good bridges connecting the city to cross on.
We visited at least three high-up viewpoints during our stay in Prague and from every angle it is just as mesmerizing. Something that can be seen from almost everywhere is the TV tower, a horrible monstrosity that for some inexplicable reason/someone’s idea of art has 11 giant black (stone?) babies crawling all over it. This structure was voted the world’s second ugliest and everyone is confused about the giant baby “art.”
We used the trams and metros quite often to get from the further ends if the city to others and it was all going wonderfully until the very last evening. We had just gotten some traditional Czech potato dishes from an outdoor market and were waiting for the metro to get back to the hostel, when a man in a discreet navy blue bomber jacket approached us. He came up close and flashed an odd metal object on a chain at us and then uttered “tickets” in a gruff, tired voice. These people’s only job is to ruin others’ lives. Pure panic flashed through Emz and I’s eyes and we knew we were caught. It was actually quite sad because I in fact had a ticket but it was not validated so the two of us headed upstairs to pay him our 40$ fine, or 800 Czech crowns. Not the best end to our stay but regardless of the negative, Prague was beautiful, classic, filled with things to do, and relaxing and charming all at the same time. However, the UNESCO world heritage site, Chesky Krumlov takes the cake for charming I’d say. This quaint little town is gorgeous. It’s extraordinarily tourist-y but we had a delightful time wandering around, eating traditional pastries and going up to the castle tower and museum for some historical background and an amazing 360 degree view of the town. As you can see from the photos Emz posted, it was quite breathtaking. After about four hours we caught the 4pm bus, a ride taking us back into Prague after about 3 1/2 hours. The next morning we were en route to Bavaria!
In summary, Prague has something for everyone coming from every walk of life. Five out of five stars! Also I’d definitely recommend the hostel we stayed in, Czech Inn, as the staff was helpful, the rooms and washrooms were clean and spacious and it was very easy to find and close to everything by walking, tram or metro! Also the name is a Czech pun which is fun as well.
OH. How could I forget: We Czecked out (ha) THE GREAT GATSBY, Wonderful film. Indulgent, over-the-top, a glorious spectacle. If you’re not into cheesy films sprinkled with every last ounce of glitz and glam New York in the 20’s had to offer, don’t see it.
