How to Do Prague in One Day - And I'm Finally Here....

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(Dec 2011)

I was sitting in a bus from Rotorua to Auckland, New Zealand. It’s going to be somewhat 5 hours journey. To kill time, I opened my e-book and started to flicker my travel books collection. I stumble upon Prague and started to read.

Me: (talking to myself) I wish I could go there one day….

M: (looking over my shoulder) “Yeah, my professor also said that Prague is very beautiful. He said I should visit it someday.”

Me: Yeah, well easy for you – you’ll have your Australian passport soon. Me on the other hand, my Schengen visa got rejected before. I dunno when I can go to Europe.

M: Well, you’ll never know e?

I said nothing and just shrug my shoulder. I just don’t see how I could possibly go to Prague.

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(Sep 2012)

Fast forward nine months later, and apparently indeed – life is full of surprises. You’ll just never know. I never thought that Norway would be the path that leads me to Europe (read my visa struggle HERE ). I never thought that I would be sharing both NZ and Europe vacation with M. Heck, I didn’t even think I would ever be friends again with M in the first place after we had a fall out several years back. And I never thought that I would actually be able to see Prague in flesh. At least not this soon. The pictures in the book that I pointed out together with M, are now unfolding right before my eyes. The real thing, I mean. I guess that’s life. Full of surprises. Never say never.

The flight from Stockholm to Prague went smoothly. Initially I never thought to combine Scandinavia with Central/Eastern Europe on one trip (which only lasted for 2 weeks I should say). But apparently if you buy well in advance, it’s not that expensive to fly. For me it only cost around 74 USD, that’s including tax and the cost of check in luggage. There’s even free wifi on the flight which M enjoyed thoroughly.

After gobbling down some value for money & delicious Panini from the airport Dilla supermarket, we dash to the city by taking bus. It’s a bit tricky because you have to take a bus to certain point, then take the metro to the city. All only for 32 CZK. If you have luggage, they will charge you extra. But the funny thing is, if you are carrying a backpack (regardless how huge it is); it’s still not counted as luggage so you can just take it to the bus for free. It’s a bit tricky to commute to city this way, but it’s easy to do as long as you know the bus number and all. After dropping bags in the hotel, we roam around the old town.

As I heard so many good things about Prague, I have very high expectations. And apparently Prague IS gorgeous. I couldn’t believe just how pretty each and every turns are. It’s like you can’t take a bad picture here. Every angle has its own charm. M even said that Prague is prettier than Paris. I just stood there in the middle of Old Town Square and slowly turned my body to get 360 view. I still can’t believe I’m here. With the blue sky up above, it is a picture perfect day.

Oh, what’s that? Why are the tourists gathered? Apparently all of them are looking the famous clock, waiting for it to ring. I joined the crowd. But growing up in Indonesia, I know all too well, you never should let your guards down. The heavier the crowd, the tighter you should hang on to your belongings. To be honest, I don’t think the clock “show” was that spectacular. What grabs my attention more is actually the parades of brides & grooms. The Old Church even have its own doors specifically for couples who wants to get married there. I find it funny that so many couples want to take “exclusive-just-the-two-of-us” picture under the clock. However, with like hundreds of tourists swarming, it’s not an easy task for the photographer. One of the photographer even have to lie on her back in a position that reminds me of my OBGYN ha ha…

Right in front of the church there’s the famous U Prince Hotel. Price tag for their double room starts from around 200 USD/night – which is quite steep for Prague. So many people sit around at their café. So tempting. I’m really keen to try the ice cream as it was so hot. But I decided to continue walking to Charles Bridge while the sky is still blue.

The small road that leads to Charles Bridge is not really straight. You kinda need to navigate these alleys. However, in daylight it’s easy. Just follow the stream of tourists. You’ll get there.

Built in 1357, the bridge is apparently quite wide. There are a lot of people, but you still have your own space. With the massive three tower bridges, it has a very gothic feel to it. Left and right I see people rubbing certain parts of the statues; must be some myth that it will bring luck. I wonder whether the charm still works, considering the status that stood at the bridge are replicas only. The real ones were stored in the National Museum back in 1965. I can also see lots of painters . And there are also some beggars.

Admittedly, the city itself was not as clean as Stockholm. I also noticed a lot of beggars near the Charles Bridge. But, with all of the gorgeous architectures, you tend to forget the little details. However, I do want to warn visitors not to lose their guard and still be careful with your belongings.

We continue to walk up to Mala Strana area, near the Castle Complex. The area is equally as pretty as Old Town but with fewer tourists. I think most people just walk up to Charles Bridge then turn around. I find it interesting that even in this part of the world, there is Chinese restaurant. Another thing I find interesting is that there are a lot of old convertible cars that you could hire to go around. It comes with a driver too. It cost 1200 CZK but if you want to go up to the Castle area, you need to pay more. I personally find the price tag too extravagant to justify the experience. I’d rather explore it on foot.

The path to Castle Complex is uphill. It doesn’t look so steep, but nevertheless I found myself huffing and panting. The view from the top – so gorgeous. There’s a viewing deck which is big and not too crowded. When I passed by, I can hear few lads saying racist things because I’m a muslim. I ignore them and just focus on the view.

As I sit there and take everything in, my eyes get teary. I missed my hubby. A lot. I texted him half way across the globe, although that doesn’t really kill the pain. The longer I sit there, more couples asked me to take picture for them. Which makes me even annoyed that I’m not there with someone who loves me back. For some reason if you carry SLR on your neck, you become the obvious choice to take people’s picture; because logically – why would you steal pocket camera when you have SLR. Make sense. Afternoon is the right time to go up there, because the light just hit at the perfect angle – giving the town a soft orange hue. I smiled at the lawn mower robot nearby. Its so busy clipping the grasses of the Castle grounds. It looks like a remote control car but with scissors. My husband would’ve enjoyed seeing that.

Walk around some more in the Castle Complex and you are greeted by this giant fasade of St Vitus Cathedral! I was lucky enough to catch the last batch to climb the tower before they closed for the day. It cost 150 CZK to climb those 287 stairs. And – no handrail! But the view from the top – is even more spectacular from the viewing deck below. Somehow it reminds me of pictures of Italian old towns. My head is already dizzy from exhaustion. I still haven’t had my proper meal for the day and walked so far. I gathered whatever strength that I have to pick up my SLR and take picture, and as much as possible enjoy the view. I feel very blessed to be able to be here.

I walked back to Old Town much slower than when I came, because I barely had any energy left. Couldn’t find any reasonable place to eat so to stuff something in my belly. I was gobsmack to see tourists drink water directly from a dirty fountain. To my knowledge the water in Prague is not potable. Instead of fighting for the fountain water, I bought a watermelon gelato instead. Yum! It was around 15 CZK. You should walk around before you buy, because the prices are different. The closer you get to the Old Town, the more expensive it gets, of course.

Well perhaps it’s a good thing that I walked slowly. Because when I arrived back to the Old Town Square – I was just in time for the famous blue hour. It’s that magical time in photography world – the few mins just after sunset – where the sky turns blue but the town lights are already on. I snapped view pictures and finally settle just to have some Subway sandwiches. Better than nothing. The night ended in Wenceslas Square. Now for this part of the town, I don’t necessarily feel it’s unique. I could be anywhere. Saw a Bata shoe store which apparently originated from Czech.

Damn, it’s a loooooooong walk back to Miss Sophie’s hotel. Tomorrow definitely must take subway or tram instead. I’m super exhausted. But I ended up covering places that I’m supposed to only visit tomorrow in my 2-days Prague itinerary. Apparently I accidentally manage to cover the key highlights of Prague in 1 day instead.

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Photos

Photographer in Action
No, she's not giving birth. She's trying to take picture of the bride/groom with the clock.