Prague
Praha
Statue on Charles Bridge
October 23, 2004
Yesterday we got a train to Praha through Kolín and arrived by noon. On the way
we decided what hostels we wanted, then today arrived and went to a hostel, they
were booked but showed us one nearby… it was more expensive, but a great location
and a quiet hostel as opposed to a party hostel. We dropped our stuff and then headed
over to Josefov to see all the synagogues and the Jewish cemetery.
Heading down to the river, we meandered down a small street/back ally where we found
affordable food.
Following dinner, we walked through old town and Josefov to the east side and Nové
Mésto, then flanked the entire old town until we reached Václavské nám (Wenceslas
square) and people watched.
We heard just about every language on earth here, but mostly German, American English,
and British English. Some guy who looked stoned said something to us, we didn’t
understand, but the cops immediately stopped him; he had a bag on him, which was
at one time a home for a white powder, but was no more so the cops let him go because
there was no hard evidence I guess.
A little later a girl with a very heavy accent asked me to take a picture of her
and her boyfriend in English so I did. What gets me is that they approached me in
English, not her native language whatever it is and not in Czech.
Soon after this we went south and found an area completely covered in graffiti;
our guide books said that this is where the locals live and I enjoyed it. Our next
stop, the area south of Malá Strana (quarter) was, thus far my favorite part of
the city, the rest thus far has had too many tourists, but no real culture, only
great architecture. This area is overpriced being the embassy district, but only
4 or 5 blocks south is completely local and cheap. The streets were peaceful, narrow,
and cobble stoned. The buildings were great and beautiful. It was peaceful and quite.
No sooner did I start to like it when we hit Malostranské nám, again half touristy,
but much less so... much more fun and less crowded.
By this point we were very tired and headed back home where we ate and very quickly
crashed. We have two roommates, a Pole from Gdansk and a Japanese. The Pole was
very friendly and the Japanese didn’t speak enough English to talk to, but earlier
in the day we made an eating sign and invited him out to dinner anyway.
Jewish Cemetery
Streets
Today we got up and saw Charles Bridge early – a great idea, there were no tourists
and the people selling junk only started to come out when we were leaving. We then
headed down to Vyšehrad, a great place… kind of a park with walls and a history.
It was peaceful and had few tourists. We ate here and got great views of the city.
After this I needed to see “Carolinum,” the oldest building of Charles University…
Collegium Maius (my university building in Krakow) is more impressive in my opinion,
but perhaps that’s only because “Carolinum” was revamped and now has an electric
gate in front of it and shiny gold letters nailed on the side saying Charles University.
We walked around old town square and watched the astronomical clock, I bought a
watercolor, then headed back to the hostel to relax.
Vysehrad
October 24, 2004
At the end of the night last night we went out and walked up the big hill near the
tower and castle. It was a great walk up and there were great views, but the top
was closed, we got there at 6:05, five minutes late. It was beautiful none-the-less
with all the leaves changing to reds and yellows. Derek joked about how this was
the most romantic place he had ever been, but next time he’d bring a girl.
We ate at a restaurant we learned about the day before, but goulash was no longer
on the menu – it was the daily special yesterday, so we found a little Chinese restaurant
instead.
After taking some pictures from the Charles Bridge we headed back and saw our irate
hostel employee. In general the people here seem irritated and no one truly seems
happy… of course they deal with tourists everyday and quite frankly I’d probably
be irritated and unhappy as well.
Prague Castle
Prague Castle
Prague Castle
Today we got up early, got over to Sparta Praha and got a pennant for Derek then
went back to town to meet Dan and Gracie at 10:00 at the hostel.
We grabbed a bite to eat on the way to the castle, the cathedral from the outside
is incredible and so is the view from the tower, but the inside and crypt weren't
anything to write home about. The palace was nice, as was Gold Street, but the latter
felt re-created and “cute.”
We grabbed lunch from a street vendor and took off to the train station.
Impression of Prague… beautiful city, but the local culture and life seems to have
been pushed out of the city by the tourists, whose culture of spending and partying
has seemed to replace it. Many of the locals seemed fed up with tourists and by
the end so was I; it was mostly big tour groups following a fan, a flower, or an
umbrella around the city like mindless cattle. I think the best way of putting it
is that Praha, Czechoslovakia was probably a great city, perhaps one of the best
in the world, but Prague, Czech Republic has died at the hands of tourists.