After a 4 hour fairly painless bus ride from Nurnberg, we arrived in Prague at 10pm. My old friend, Chris Moore, lives in Prague and we were staying with him there. He’s such a champ. He met us at the bus station even after being totally jet lagged from his trip back from the US earlier that day.
He encouraged us to soak in the Prague culture right away and start drinking. So, we did. We all went to 2 bars—one a converted restroom (the rooftop was pretty fun, but shortlived) and the other was dubbed the “Red Room,” which had live music and was…well, red.
A couple of hours later, we came to his home and met his beautiful, sweet girlfriend Julie who had kindly made up a deli plate for us to snack on when we got there. After noshing on some delicious sausage and cheeses, we crashed on their couch and would explore Prague the next day.
First stop: St Charles Bridge. The bridge is beautiful and incredibly historic, having weathered both war and…weather. This combo makes it a popular destination. There are old, religious statues adorning it on the sides, and the ends of the bridge are each decorated with towers and Czech royal coats of arms. But, the view of Prague from there is spectacular. You have a view of old and new Prague (which the bridge connects) over the river. Various historical buildings presenting differing types of architectural styles line the river, and the result is stunning.
Of course, where there are tourists, there are things to buy and people to steal your money. Merchants offer “hand made” jewelry and caricature artists sell their drawings, and some suspicious looking people seem to have eyes roaming at peoples’ purses. Chris and I saw this action throughout the trip several times. Pick pocketing is certainly not a rarity; you’ll find it everywhere, and more in some places. In Prague, I clutched my bag tighter than I did in, say, Switzerland. Chris and I would point out to the other “hey, watch out for that guy” as we saw their eyes scanning. Nothing ever became an issue for us, but we were smart about not becoming targets.
He encouraged us to soak in the Prague culture right away and start drinking. So, we did. We all went to 2 bars—one a converted restroom (the rooftop was pretty fun, but shortlived) and the other was dubbed the “Red Room,” which had live music and was…well, red.
A couple of hours later, we came to his home and met his beautiful, sweet girlfriend Julie who had kindly made up a deli plate for us to snack on when we got there. After noshing on some delicious sausage and cheeses, we crashed on their couch and would explore Prague the next day.
First stop: St Charles Bridge. The bridge is beautiful and incredibly historic, having weathered both war and…weather. This combo makes it a popular destination. There are old, religious statues adorning it on the sides, and the ends of the bridge are each decorated with towers and Czech royal coats of arms. But, the view of Prague from there is spectacular. You have a view of old and new Prague (which the bridge connects) over the river. Various historical buildings presenting differing types of architectural styles line the river, and the result is stunning.
Of course, where there are tourists, there are things to buy and people to steal your money. Merchants offer “hand made” jewelry and caricature artists sell their drawings, and some suspicious looking people seem to have eyes roaming at peoples’ purses. Chris and I saw this action throughout the trip several times. Pick pocketing is certainly not a rarity; you’ll find it everywhere, and more in some places. In Prague, I clutched my bag tighter than I did in, say, Switzerland. Chris and I would point out to the other “hey, watch out for that guy” as we saw their eyes scanning. Nothing ever became an issue for us, but we were smart about not becoming targets.
After the bridge, we crossed over into a coffee shop and grabbed some coffee and muffins. Well, I thought I got a cherry muffin (because that’s what the salesperson said), but it turned out to be more like cake, which would be fantastic at any time of the day besides breakfast! We accidentally ended up in the smoking section at first, which is adjacent to the non-smoking section. So, you get the enchanting smell either way. There are quite a few smokers in all of Europe, as you can imagine, and the culture is much more tolerant of it than the US. Even in Paris, where you can’t smoke inside buildings or restaurants anymore, you can smoke just outside of it or even a foot outside the train. Unfortunately, it does make it a little harder for the non-smoker to avoid being surrounded by it.
After our breakfast cakes, we walked up the hill to the Prague castle. It’s accompanied by the St Vitrus Cathedral, where various royal weddings and funerals took place. Both are magnificent. The St Vitrus Cathedral is built in the Gothic style (the style of every other major cathedral we’d seen). The stained glass is very meticulous and separated by iron, as opposed to free-standing. The result is beautiful. Statues lining the congregation, instead of stone, appear bronze and lifelike. The interior and exterior are quite ornate with gold and intricate detail. Other new items we saw in this cathedral were gold stars at the peaks, and an astronomical clock.
I toured the palace next door. Because of 2 large fires in the 12thand 16th centuries, not much was restored. The fires caused much of the structural devastation before the 17th century; afterwards it appears that wars took care of the rest. The Czech monarchy (Habsburgs) ended its reign in 1918 after over 7 centuries, so the palace hasn’t been inhabited in nearly 100 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habsburg_Monarchy The décor was surprisingly simple, but that’s probably just because a lot of the furnishings were not present anymore. I stood in the room where a couple of rebels threw 2 noblemen out of the window, starting the 30 Years War.
This is an amazing thing about Europe. With centuries upon centuries of history, often times you’ll just find yourself standing or looking at some incredibly significant piece of local or world history. Remarkably, both men survived (it’s on the 2nd floor but probably 30 feet up) without any major injuries. The men allegedly landed in a dung heap that cushioned their fall and likely freshened them up.
That evening we indulged in our first “night out” during the trip. We joined Chris and Julie with a couple of their friends to a few bars. It was fun to meet their friends, who were also American expats and primarily teaching English to Czech natives.
We walked around Prague more the next day. Before we arrived in Prague, the weather had been beautiful and the temperature comfortable. Our first morning, it turned rainy and cold. So our walks about the city were slightly dampened, but seeing the unique architecture made it totally worthwhile. You see very different buildings and variety of styles than we found anywhere else— gold stars and halos surrounded the heads of religious statues (just like you see in their paintings) and the peaks were pointed, rounded, and some pear-shaped. Remnants of Stalin’s influence throughout the “Iron Curtain” are visible through architecture.
The recent history of Prague is also fascinating. It was occupied by the Nazis during WW2, and with Allied forces on one side of the city and Russian soldiers on the other, the Czechs were actually able to push out the Nazis by themselves on May 8, 1945. The Nazis retreated but the Russians deftly negotiated an agreement with the US to win the land post-war. Occupying Czech the very next day, the Russians even positioned themselves as the heroes in the country’s liberation and cleverly used it to win political leadership in the next election, 1948. This is when Prague became ruled by Communism. The Soviets also changed “Independence day” from May 8 to May 9 (when the Soviets arrived to “free” the Czechs from the retreating Nazis). This new “independence” would stay intact for over the next 3 decades.
There are still Communist-era buildings (although most have been torn down), like the Crowne Plaza we visited, that depict the friendly Russians kissing the Czech peasants with brotherly love as they rescued them. Chris and Julie’s apartment complex was even built to house single families that applied to the Communist government for it. The complex is huge and intentionally simple. The area contains rows of these buildings, almost all of equal style and size. Purposefully, these buildings were designed to emphasize equality amongst the people. No individual was to be bigger than the whole. In contrast, while these buildings still stand (and still house Soviet made elevators! Awesome!), they are now privatized and decorated. It is a beautiful irony, really, that these buildings that once symbolized equality through oppression, now symbolize equality through expression. On our later train ride leaving Prague, we saw many of these gigantic rows of block buildings in each town we passed through the Czech countryside, which probably still house thousands of small families.
In America, we are so far away from Communism, that we both found this tangibility to it rather fascinating. Perhaps it is this history, or the Czech culture in general, but we also found the vibe of Prague different than any other place. It feels a little more ingrained in its roots, a little dark, and also a bit unpredictable. Being accustomed to and trained in a society where drugs and sex are bad, and true chaos rarely breaks out, it’s a stark contrast (and quite eye-opening) to watch things that are considered “taboo” to be easily accepted. Drinking is embraced in the Czeck culture by all ages (not just teenagers and young adults). Pilsner beer was created just west of Prague in a town called Pilzn (Pilsen).
We walked around Prague more the next day. Before we arrived in Prague, the weather had been beautiful and the temperature comfortable. Our first morning, it turned rainy and cold. So our walks about the city were slightly dampened, but seeing the unique architecture made it totally worthwhile. You see very different buildings and variety of styles than we found anywhere else— gold stars and halos surrounded the heads of religious statues (just like you see in their paintings) and the peaks were pointed, rounded, and some pear-shaped. Remnants of Stalin’s influence throughout the “Iron Curtain” are visible through architecture.
The recent history of Prague is also fascinating. It was occupied by the Nazis during WW2, and with Allied forces on one side of the city and Russian soldiers on the other, the Czechs were actually able to push out the Nazis by themselves on May 8, 1945. The Nazis retreated but the Russians deftly negotiated an agreement with the US to win the land post-war. Occupying Czech the very next day, the Russians even positioned themselves as the heroes in the country’s liberation and cleverly used it to win political leadership in the next election, 1948. This is when Prague became ruled by Communism. The Soviets also changed “Independence day” from May 8 to May 9 (when the Soviets arrived to “free” the Czechs from the retreating Nazis). This new “independence” would stay intact for over the next 3 decades.
There are still Communist-era buildings (although most have been torn down), like the Crowne Plaza we visited, that depict the friendly Russians kissing the Czech peasants with brotherly love as they rescued them. Chris and Julie’s apartment complex was even built to house single families that applied to the Communist government for it. The complex is huge and intentionally simple. The area contains rows of these buildings, almost all of equal style and size. Purposefully, these buildings were designed to emphasize equality amongst the people. No individual was to be bigger than the whole. In contrast, while these buildings still stand (and still house Soviet made elevators! Awesome!), they are now privatized and decorated. It is a beautiful irony, really, that these buildings that once symbolized equality through oppression, now symbolize equality through expression. On our later train ride leaving Prague, we saw many of these gigantic rows of block buildings in each town we passed through the Czech countryside, which probably still house thousands of small families.
In America, we are so far away from Communism, that we both found this tangibility to it rather fascinating. Perhaps it is this history, or the Czech culture in general, but we also found the vibe of Prague different than any other place. It feels a little more ingrained in its roots, a little dark, and also a bit unpredictable. Being accustomed to and trained in a society where drugs and sex are bad, and true chaos rarely breaks out, it’s a stark contrast (and quite eye-opening) to watch things that are considered “taboo” to be easily accepted. Drinking is embraced in the Czeck culture by all ages (not just teenagers and young adults). Pilsner beer was created just west of Prague in a town called Pilzn (Pilsen).
Drug use feels more rampant, as well. It certainly occurs everywhere, including the US, but because in our culture it is both illegal and deemed immoral, that activity is more underground. In Czech, people walk around with open containers, can be seen obviously impaired, and brothels can be found in regular neighborhoods.
We were in Wenceslas square and witnessed a demonstration (or was it a parade? Or a party?) with about 12 bus-type vehicles driving around. Each vehicle had a DJ blaring some different type of music than the other (Rap, Reggae, Industrial, etc). A younger crowd, costumed and impaired, followed behind whichever bus played their music of choice, seemingly entranced. Firecrackers popped near our feet. It was like a walking Rave! The whole thing just happened to start right in front of us. And although police were everywhere, something about the whole scene just seemed rather “anything goes.” We didn’t really know the culture, what this was about, and what could happen. While it didn’t necessarily feel dangerous and we left shortly afterwards, it was an impactful experience.
We were in Wenceslas square and witnessed a demonstration (or was it a parade? Or a party?) with about 12 bus-type vehicles driving around. Each vehicle had a DJ blaring some different type of music than the other (Rap, Reggae, Industrial, etc). A younger crowd, costumed and impaired, followed behind whichever bus played their music of choice, seemingly entranced. Firecrackers popped near our feet. It was like a walking Rave! The whole thing just happened to start right in front of us. And although police were everywhere, something about the whole scene just seemed rather “anything goes.” We didn’t really know the culture, what this was about, and what could happen. While it didn’t necessarily feel dangerous and we left shortly afterwards, it was an impactful experience.
The Czech currency (Czech Koruna [crown]) was strong and pretty reasonable. Although the numbers sure looked high (40 crowns for a coffee?!), the exchange rate was about (17.5:1), so you just divide everything by about 17.5 to get a more calming number. We were over our total trip budget by this point (thanks to Switzerland and Paris), so this little monetary reprieve was helpful for us.
We really enjoyed Prague. The culture was interesting and the environment beautiful. The buildings seemed more authentic—less restored and just in their natural state—so it was nice to just walk around the city. We could’ve stayed another few days because there was so much more to see. But even though we had to head to Vienna, we felt grateful to have experienced this unique, funky, and gorgeous city.
We really enjoyed Prague. The culture was interesting and the environment beautiful. The buildings seemed more authentic—less restored and just in their natural state—so it was nice to just walk around the city. We could’ve stayed another few days because there was so much more to see. But even though we had to head to Vienna, we felt grateful to have experienced this unique, funky, and gorgeous city.
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