Perhaps The Most Beautiful City In The World...

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October 9th 2007

Published: December 8th 2007

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Delek Delek

Prague Castle & Charles Bridge

The postcard shot of Prague.

Everyone we had talked to about Prague all used the same word when describing it - beautiful. So we were to find out for ourselves whether Prague would indeed live up to all the hype.

So it was October 6th, 2007 - does everyone remember this date? If your memory needs some jogging, then read on...
As a final gesture to Andreas for letting us stay Davies decided to cook up a hot breakfast for everyone. I didn't think it was necessary, and thought that we should confirm our hostel via email before getting to the train station in time for our 10.30am train.
Well, we did confirm our stay, but then the beginning of a bad day started when we arrived at the train station to see our train still on the platform but take off as soon as we started banging on the doors to let us in.
You see, the reason we were more disappointed than normal was because we wanted to get to Prague in time for the rugby. Yes. The rugby. Luckily after a bit of a wait, we were able to have our reservations transferred to a series of trains leaving less than an

Tyn Church

Taken in Prague's main square at about 6.30am by drunken inspiration.

hour later.
So we finally left Munich for Nuremburg where we then got on a Hof-bound train to Marktredwitz.
On the train to Marktredwitz, two plain-clothed men approached to us and flashed their Polizei badges asking us to show them our passports. With a degree of suspicion, we complied. When the "police officers" told us to "wait a minute" while they went into the next carriage, I decided to follow them - this seemed dodgy, and to lose my passport now would be an expensive hassle. I was starting to think what I'd do should they try and run off the train at the next stop. One of the men was examining my passport while talking on a walkie-talkie.
"Is everything alright?", I asked.
"Yes, everthing is fine", the other 'officer' told me.
This was weird.
Then they handed us back our passports, getting off at the next stop.
What was all that about? Davies decided to tell one of the train officers about what had happened, and according to the train officer, they were bona-fide policemen. Hmmm.
On the train from Marktredwitz to the Czech border town of Cheb, another police officer, this time in uniform asked for my

Charles Bridge

Prague's main attraction still maintains it's romantic aura despite the incessant number of tourists.

passport again. Seeing that we were actually crossing the border this time, I had a bit more trust in this particular officer as he took my passport away to be stamped, though I was still a little nervous that he took so long to stamp it.

When we arrived at the train station in Cheb, we knew we were back in Eastern Europe.
A tired, cold looking station, there were also several dodgy looking characters hanging around it.
It was also time to change currency again and 1€ gets you roughly 26 Czech Krowns (CZK). Not the easiest number to work with, our math was going to get worked overtime during our stay in Prague. Once I had carefully withdrawn my krowns in front of the dodgy characters, I then bought a ready-made submarine sandwich for 49CZK. That is cheap - you do the math.
Waiting for our train at the platform, the big question was how crusty the Czech train would be.
Well the answer was that it wasn't flash like the German ones, but it was more than adequate. Another train with seperate cabins, we once again got our own one, meaning that we could have bit

Statue On The Bridge

One of the 30 statues that line the Charles Bridge, with Prague Castle in the background.

of a nap on the way to Prague, not that the lady who intruded our cabin numerous times to check our tickets helped.
Once we arrived in Prague, night had fallen and it seems that every new place we come to is colder than the last.
Prague's main train station is "a little bit" nicer than Cheb's and we took Prague's amazingly cheap (30CZK per journey) and efficient metro system to the old town square.
Because we have been on the road so long and seen so much, nothing seems to take our breath away anymore. Prague's old square was certainly beautiful, but at the time we didn't seem to appreciate it very much. With our hostel convienently located about 3 minutes from the main square behind the twin-spired Tyn Church, we were perhaps disappointed at the lack of atmosphere here. Hostel Tyn had no kitchen or indeed any common area, although the six-bed dorm was comfortable.
Once we had checked in, it was time to find a bar to watch the rugby.

Yes, the rugby - New Zealand vs. France.
The sports bar just round the corner was absolutely packed - it was cold outside but outside was

Charles Bridge & Prague Castle By Day

Still beautiful but I think I prefer the night shot.

the only place we could watch the TV screen and getting to the bar was nigh impossible. We had got our time zones mixed up so the game had already started - luckily Davies had spotted another sports bar not too far away from the one we were at, and this one was much nicer and bigger being underground and had several big screens. There were a lot of Kiwis here too - who knew Prague had so many - and it was cool to see a whole contingent of my fellow countrymen and women all gathered for a common national cause in a very foreign country.
I was very nervous about this game. We all remember what happened in 1999, and it seemed inconceivable that the hosts would be out at the quarter-final stage. However, it was also inconceivable that the All Blacks would not win the cup this time, as everything had been geared towards this tournament and in Graham Henry we had arguably the best NZ coach ever at the helm.
The beer I was drinking was Staropramen, which was OK, but didn't seem to live up to the highly regarded reputation that Czech beer has.
As

Old Town Square

Prague's main square and the old clock tower.

the first half went on with little scoring, my nerves got worse until Luke McAlister scored our try. From the noise level in the bar, there were certainly a lot of Kiwis present. 13-0 at half time, things were looking good and I was pretty confident we would bring it home.
Then came the absolutely bullshit decision to sin-bin Luke McAlister. This was a crucial decision that the referee got horribly wrong. Mind you the All Blacks were looking on the ropes and I was starting to get worried.
Then the French scored. This was a pulsating game, and my eyes were completely glued to the screen - I have never been this nervous/excited over any sporting event ever. Seriously.
When Rodney So'oialo crossed over I got so excited I spilt my beer all over the French gentleman standing next to me. But I was so psyched that I didn't care. Crucially, McAlister missed the conversion.
Then the French scored that infamous try. In my opinion it was a line ball, and that a similar pass was made in the buildup to McAlister's try in the first half - so we can have no complaints about it.
As the clock

St. Nicholas Church

Barqoue church just off the main square.

ticked down, it became apparent that there were many more French in this bar than there were Kiwis. Huge chants of "Allez Les Bleus" were going round as well as numerous renditions of La Marseillaise. The last moments of the match were so exciting that it almost became unbearable. Surely we could come back. We needed a drop goal and we were in the perfect positon to kick one several times. But being the All Blacks we went for the try. That's the difference in entertainment between Northern and Southern Hemisphere rugby, but at this point in this match the approach was ridiculously stupid.
When the advantage wasn't given when McAlister attempted a ludicrous 50m drop goal, that was it.
The final whistle then sealed the All Black's World Cup fate. Again. How could this have happened? Again?
My dream World Cup Final ending to my Euro trip was completely shattered, as was I.
I held my head in my hands for a full five minutes as wild scenes of French jubilation surrounded me and a French conga-line started, all while a French victory song I did not recognise reverberated around the large underground bar. This could not be any

Jazz On The Bridge

Delightful four piece break it down on the Charles Bridge.

worse. The French couldn't believe it either, as their famous resistence once again came to the fore against the All Blacks.
I then got talking to some solemn-looking blokes who we assumed were Kiwis too, but it turned out they were English.
I texted a couple of messages home for solace, and ironically my mate Alastair texted me back telling me to avoid French and English people. Our only consolation was finding out the news that Australia had gone out to England just hours before. Couldn't have handled them winning a third World Cup that's for sure.
We were hungry so we went to McDonald's for a feed only to bump into two more English blokes. They gave us some mock sympathy before smugly reminding us who were world champions, several times. I'm SO going for France in the semi-final.
It was a Saturday night, so we then decided we should try and drown our sorrows.
Walking around the streets of Prague, I was completely miserable. I hadn't felt this shit for a long time.
We then came across a nightclub that was throwing an 80s and 90s party. Surely that would cheer me up, so in we went. Negative.

Charles & I

Me and Prague's most famous land (water)mark.

Six shots of Jaegermeifter later, and I was still as sober as I was when I walked in. The feeling of devastation was pitted in my stomach. It was time to cut our losses and sleep it off.

The next morning I felt bloody awful. We didn't get up until well into the afternoon, and subsequently decided that we should have a look around the city.
Luckily for us, there is no more beautiful a city to get over our loss in, than Prague - it is simply stunning.
Logically, our exploration of the city started in the cobblestoned main square near our hostel, where the old clock tower and the baroque St. Nicholas Church live. Along with the old town of Tallinn, I would say that Prague is the most truly medieval looking city I have ever seen. Walking through it's narrow cobblestoned alleyways really feels like a trip back in time. These alleyways eventually led us to Prague's most famous and postcarded landmark - the Charles Bridge.
The medieval stone bridge, lined with 30 statues is quite possibly the most beautiful bridge in the world. It possesses an almost ethereal aura to it, despite the number of

Mala Strana

Beautifully baroque quarter of Prague.

people on it. Passing under the astonishingly gothic black bridge tower, we walked across the bridge with what seemed to be like 50,000 tourists. All sorts of painters, jewellery sellers and even jazz quartets all compete for the attention of the tourists, which does add another dimension to Prague's most famous landmark. But yes, Prague is completely overrun by tourists. Which explained why we had absolutely no problems communicating with anyone despite not knowing a word of Czech. However, you can't blame the tourists for flocking here in droves - it is quite simply, a beautiful city. There seems to be a potential postcard photograph everywhere you turn, which explains the 176 pictures I took here in just four days.
Across the other side of the bridge is the beautifully baroque area of Mala Strana, and in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the city. When I say baroque, I mean every single building in this area is baroque - it's like your walking in a period film set. There is an area where the river flows into a series of canals just off the Charles Bridge which is like a little piece of Venice. We also walked into

Wall Of Bodies

Artisitically scultptured wall of what look like bodies inside the parliamentary grounds.

the parliamentary grounds which are very well kept and come complete with peacocks. It also has a very nice Romanesque "stage" with it's very own ceiling fresco. There is also a large stone wall here that has been painstakingly and artistically chiselled. You can't quite make out what the forms on the wall are, but you swear that the entire wall is composed of carved out human bodies - very weird. After a nice stroll through these gardens, we walked along the rocks by the river where we got a great shot of the Charles Bridge.
We then took a walk through a nice park before crossing an alternative bridge back to the old town, passing the National Theatre along the way. We stopped by at a Tesco as well, where we got some rock-bottom-priced groceries. Twenty (euro) cents for a chocolate bar anyone?
Because we were staying right in the middle of the tourist zone, the rock-bottom prices didn't continue into the old town square, and I ended up paying roughly 4€ for a fishburger. Right opposite the fish shop was the old clock tower and it's famous astronomical clock. Every hour on the hour there is a "show"

Astronomical Clock

Don't be fooled by the stupid tourists gathered here on the hour - it's really not worth it.

which entertains the masses of tourists. It's a bit lame however - a small window opens up and small wooden figures of the Apostles move from right to left across this window as the bell chimes. There is also a skeleton "ringing" the bell which is slightly amusing.
Although we had a terrible night out the night before, we were still feeling the effects of lots of Jaegermeifter, so it was to be a quiet night for us, which was helped by the fact that we had an empty dorm room.

The next day we had planned to visit Karlsteyn Castle, which is about 45 minutes outside of Prague by train, and only costs about 2€ to get out there. While the train was pretty crusty, the countryside on the way out there was anything but. It was a beautiful day to be out and about and the autumn colours were in full flow.
When we got off at Karlsteyn's dinky little station, it was absolutely deserted. I thought that this was a bit weird though, and we had no idea how to get to the castle from here. After getting some directions from some tourists we followed a

Karlsteyn Castle

Closed on Mondays.

road up a small hill, and then there it was, majestically perched at the top of a hill. It was a real change though, from having crowds of tourist to suddenly having none. This was strange. The small town on the road up to the castle was decked out for tourists - lots of souvenier shops (including an awesome medival weapons shop which made me feel like I was in one of those choose-your-own-path play books you read when you're a kid) and restaurants, but with nobody in them. Half of them weren't even open.
So up to the castle we went.
For a fairly major attraction, there were hardly any people around and when we got there we discovered why. Karlsteyn Castle is not open on Mondays. Great - what a waste of the day. Immediately reaching for the Lonely Planet merely confirmed this fact. So yeah, as well as feeling angry about wasting the day we now also felt stupid.
Anyway, once we got back to Prague and had 6€ Subway we then headed down to the astronomical clock - the meeting point for tonight's "Absinthe" pub crawl.
It was a big one tonight as well, as over

Czech Countryside

The trip out to Karlsteyn wasn't a complete waste of time - this beautiful scenery reminded me of the South Island back home.

fifty young, thirsty and mainly male tourists showed up on this Monday night. The organiser said that only two people had showed up the previous night, so I guess we got lucky.
The first stop on the crawl was a swanky looking bar, just round the corner from our hostel.
Apparently, the Czech Republic is the only place in the world where you can get "proper" Absinthe - the real stuff with wormwood - the stuff that makes you hallucinate. So this crawl had the potential to be very messy indeed. As the free beers and absinthe shots went around, a slick-haired, silk-shirted, old Californian dude showed us the proper way to drink Absinthe. Basically, you have the Absinthe in a glass and you scoop a little bit of it up into a teaspoon which has sugar in it, and light up the teaspoon. You then put the blazing spoon into the glass lighting the whole thing up. After letting it burn a little, you fill the glass up with water, putting out the flame in the process, before knocking it back in one. There was a reason this Absinthe was free - it didn't even light up. So we

Absinthe - As It Should Be

Davies puts into practice the "proper way" of doing Absinthe. Not sure about hallucinations, but I did feel weird on the Charles Bridge afterwards ;-)

certainly weren't going to hallucinate on this stuff. We also got talking to a Brazilian guy called Jose (pronounced "zho-say" as he corrected me - Brazilians speak Portuguese) who was cool. He had been to many parts of Eastern Europe including Budapest, Bucharest and Istanbul. He showed us some pictures which were amazing and have since inspired me to go there on my next big travel adventure.
The second stop was at an underground place where we got talking to two German girls. It probably wasn't the greatest move calling one of the girls' hometown of Regensburg, "a small town". Maybe if I had kept my trap shut they might have followed us to the next bar! There were also a lot of Australians on the pub crawl - at least they weren't able to tease us about the rugby.
The next place was the first bar we tried to watch the rugby at on the first night. Once again it was packed to the rafters, so I ended up playing drunken soccer with a Coke bottle and a dog. Yes, you read correctly ;-)
The last place was a club, complete with strobe lights and trancy music. And then

Random Reunion

An unbelievable Monday night coincidence saw me bump into two Australian dudes who I partied with in Madrid 9 weeks earlier. From left; Random dude I don't know (possibly Drew Carey?), (Zh)Jose, me, Aussie Alex and Aussie Ricki.

you'll never guessed what happened - I bumped into the two young Australian dudes, Alex and Ricki, who were in my dorm in Madrid (see blog entry "Siestas y Fiestas en Espana")! What are the chances of that! We had a great catch up and talked about the places we had been to and were going to and inevitably with these guys, which place had the hottest chicks ;-) It's definitely a cool feeling to randomly and unexpectedly see familiar faces, in unfamiliar places.
Having been drinking Absinthe all night and then mixing it with Red Bull once I got to the club, it was fair to say I was pretty trashed. I had lost Davies at some point, and me and the Aussies left the club at about 5am, where Alex was keen for a schnitzel burger.
So we get to this place along the way towards the "new town" and come across Prague's equivalent of the White Lady, which was open even at 5am on a Tuesday morning. They served up a damn good schintzel burger too, for less than 2€. Alex tried chatting up the young girl behind the counter by trying to frighten her by popping up from below the counter with a "boo". Hilarious. Alex then got in

Charles Bridge At An Unearthly Hour

Drunkenly taken at 6am with not a soul in sight - it felt as eerie as it looks.

a minor argument with Ricki over some chicks which caused Ricki to storm off.
I then got a text message from my mate Adam back in Auckland;
"Who is this? You've just sent me 40 text messages."
Shit! I had somehow left my phone unlocked in my pocket and it had sent forty text messages across to the other side of the world. That would've cost like £10! I drunkenly responded with an apology citing Absinthe as the cause ;-)
Neither me or Alex smoked, but Alex had a whole packet of fags that he swiped from somewhere, and I ended up smoking two of them while stumbling around the beautiful streets of Prague. They were enjoyable too, although I don't think I'll be taking it up anytime soon ;-)
I then had the crazy idea of going to the Charles Bridge. By now it was about 6am, and the bridge would be empty - giving me an awesome opportunity to get a great photo. Alex was heading that way anyway, so off we went. Once we got there I got (what I thought at the time anyway) the perfect shot looking down the bridge, with not a soul in

Front Of St. Vitus Cathedral

Gothic rose window of Prague Castle's main cathedral.

sight. And for one moment I just stood there and admired the eerie atmosphere of this beautiful place. Me and Alex then went our separate ways on the bridge - who knows where I'll bump into him next?
By the time I got back to the hostel, the sun was starting to rise at approximately 7am.

When we eventually got up at around 2pm, we headed straight to the city's other star attraction, Prague Castle.
It's not really a "castle" of sorts like Karlsteyn Castle is, but more like a walled complex where all the royal buildings are located.
The first thing you see as you enter the castle gates is the imposing and towering St. Vitus Cathedral. Once inside we were lucky we joined the queue to get into the cathedral when we did, as the line promptly streched a good fifty metres back about two minutes after we joined the queue. As I've seen so many churches on my trip, I've become too numb to appreciate them anymore. I guess that's the problem of doing such a long trip. However, as my opinion of Prague is so high despite this, then it must really say something about

View From The Top

Stunning view across Mala Strana and the old town of Prague including the Charles Bridge.

this city.
We then walked up 287 uniform steps, round and round up to the top of the cathedral tower. Not the best thing to do when you're severely hungover, as I was feeling a bit dizzy and gasping for air by the time I got to the top.
The views from up there were amazing however, and was well worth the effort.
Back on the ground, we then went inside the royal palace which was a big disappointment as well as hitting Golden Lane, a small street lined with historic ex-goldsmith houses exhibiting medieval weapons and armoury while also selling souveniers. All the houses are connected by a cool wooden passage. At the end of this passage is a crossbow gallery, where for a small fee, you can fire a crossbow a paper targets. Naturally we did it, which was cool - though admittedly I only managed to get 4 of my 6 arrows to land on the paper! Good fun though.
After that we went to the Daliborka Tower, which was a prison reserved for noble prisoners. The tower was named after it's first inmate - a young knight called Dalibor of Kozojedy. Legend has it that he

Ready, Aim, Fire!

I wasn't cut out to be a sniper I don't think and struggled to hit the target. Upstairs in Golders Lane.

played the violin during his time in the rather inhospitable prison and the locals would come to listen to his sad, but beautiful music.
Inside, we saw the numerous torture devices of the times, including a nice rack ;-)
I was then keen for a stroll of the royal gardens, but Davies isn't one to appreciate botanic beauty, so we buggered off back to the hostel where we had a very cheap and good Indian meal just downstairs from our hostel.

That, was to be the last act of our time in the Czech capital. Being here for four days rather than our usual two or three really meant we could take our time a bit more and I felt really relaxed here. In my mind there is no doubt that what they say about Prague is true, and that it certainly lives up to the hype. Charming and fantastically medieval with good nightlife and awesome prices, there is no wonder that it's such a hot tourist destination - certainly one of the must-sees in Europe in my opinion. It is perhaps, the most beautiful city in the world, and it is with a tinge of sadness that we