Praha
Lauren and I took an overnight train from Krakow and got to Prague bright and early before the stampede of tour groups. Since the Czech Republic entered the EU in 2004 Prague has undergone a massive transformation and became a major European destination overnight. I thought Vienna might take the cake for being the most surreal, movie-set-like city on our trip but Prague blew away the competition. As long as you don’t leave the well-worn tourists’ path, every elaborate detail is carefully fashioned to resemble a fantasy city.
Prague is one big sightseeing extravaganza, so the following is a list of our touring accomplishments almost verbatim from our guidebook:
The magnificent 12th century Charles Bridge leads into the Little Quarter and Kampa Island where we found the eccentric Lennon wall. Up the hill is the one of the largest castles in the world. The Czech government and archbishop still live in this giant compound along with the Czech Republic’s most important church – St. Vitus. Inside is a stained glass masterpiece by Art Nouveau genius Alfons Mucha (pronounced MOO-kah.) We fell in love with Mucha’s work after visiting Prague’s Mucha Museum.
Further up the hill past the Castle Quarter you’ll find the Strahov Monastery. We dove into the monastic brewpub for a break from the cold and a few pints of delicious ale. We were sitting just a couple feet from the fermenting vats so the whole place reeked of heavenly yeast.
On the other side of the river is the Jewish Quarter and New Town. In the Jewish Quarter we visited several old Synagogues and the Jewish Cemetery. For centuries the Jewish population of Prague was walled into a ghetto and this cemetery was the only place they were allowed to bury their dead. The graves were built on top of one another and today the tombstones are high above street level.
Frank Gehry’s Dancing House was only a few minutes walk from our hostel turned luxury apartment (when we checked in they told us we had been upgraded due to renovations, if you’ve seen the picture you can imagine our shock.) There was a Dalí exhibit going on in the main square near the 500 year-old astronomical clock and the Gothic Týn Church.
All in all Prague is a beautiful place with a lot to see and do. We liked what we saw and did as much as we could. Next the train keeps rollin’ east to Bratislava.
Tags: Travel
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