Advertisement
Published: January 23rd 2007
Edit Blog Post
Sleepless Night I started my trip to Prague with Michael after a sleepless night! We had been to the opera in Vienna and then had gone out to 1516, an Austrian pub, for an early 21st birthday celebration for Justin. I came back to Joel's room to pack before the others and at about 3am discovered that I didn't have my credit card folder complete with Driver's Licence!! I turned the room upside down looking for them; no easy task after four of us had been living in a two-bed room! No amount of searching unearthed them!! In the end I rang Colin, AMEX and ANZ and cancelled my cards! By this time it was 7am and time for us to leave for our bus!!! Luckily I had some Euros and Australian dollars which were enough to tide me over until Colin arrived! In the last minute confusion the cards had ended up in Justin's day pack so I will see them again in Australia. In an interesting twist Justin left his Lonely Planet guide to Europe behind when he left so we are enjoying using that on our travels and will return it to him when we catch up in
Australia - I think it's a fair trade!
Prague We had a wonderful four days in Prague, otherwise known as the City of a Thousand Spires. It is one of Europe's most beautiful cities and during WW2 virtually escaped damage unscathed. The city centre features many different types of architecture so it is an amazing place to explore with its medieval lanes, magestic bridges and tall church spires. Michael and I renamed it The City of Books as we were impressed with the number of bookshops that we saw throughout the city. The people of Prague definitely read a lot and we enjoyed searching through second-hand English sections for bargains. Michael bought seven books! I even picked one up about the experiences of a man who had taught in Kasane in Botswana!
A 'Czechered' Past The Czech Republic has had quite a checkered past, so to speak, from becoming Czechoslovakia after the fall of the Habsburg Empire (1918) to the Nazis (1938), followed by the Communists (1948), the Soviets (1968), the Velvet Revolution (1989) which overthrew the Communist regime, and finally the Velvet Divorce (1993) when it was divided into two countries - Czech Republic & Slovakia.
Charles Bridge One of our first sights was Charles Bridge and in fact we visited it each day. This is the oldest bridge in Prague founded by Charles 1V in 1357. It stretches 515m over the Vltava River and the sides of the bridge are adorned with 30 sculptures of saints. On the last morning, we got up at dawn and were able to get some photos of the bridge almost deserted, with the lights/lamps still on! It was a special time!
Our hostel was very close to the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn and the Old Town Square, which dates from 1338. This is the very heart and soul of Prague and is dominated by the twin gothic steeples of Tyn Church, (1365). The Old Town Hall features a very famous astronomical clock (built in 1410) and on the hour, figures of the 12 apostles parade past the clock, entertaining the crowd that inevitably gathers each hour. On our last morning, while Michael watched the packs at the bottom, (he'd climbed the tower 3 years earlier), I climbed to the top and had a magical time - completely on my own - taking photos of the square
beneath me. The Jan Hus monument, in the centre of the square, was erected in 1915 on the 500th anniversary of this religious reformer's execution at the stake.
In the evening, we bought tickets for a concert in the Church of Saint-Martin-in-the-Wall, which dates back to the 12th century. It was the first church where blessed wine, (usually reserved for the clergy), was offered to the public. We really enjoyed music from Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi & others, played by a very talented string quartet. After a hearty meal of goulash, we drastically changed music styles and went to 'Karlovy Lazne', reputed to be the largest club of its kind in Central Europe, where we listened to trance and hip-hop. It was fairly quiet, (a Wednesday night), but was fun to visit and get a different view of Prague.
Petrin Hill One day we took the funicular to the top of Petrin Hill, which overlooks the city. The elusive sun kept peeping out from the clouds, and we had fun trying to capture the panoramic scene before us, before it disappeared again. We had coffee in a fairly upmarket cafe and enjoyed the views out of the wind! This
Michael with the Disappearing Man
These unusual statues were at the foot of Petrin Hill. At the top of the steps there was not much left of the 'man'. area also features as a setting in one of Michael's favourite books, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", by the Czech novelist Milan Kundera.
I also enjoyed browsing in the markets and exploring some of the synagogues and an old cemetery in the Jewish Quarter. On our last day, we visited the Museum of Communism - very interesting! - before meeting up with Karel, one of Michael's Czech friends whom he had met in Sweden three years ago. We met Karel at 'the horse', a famous meeting place for Prague locals. Wenceslas Square is dominated by a statue of Saint Wenceslas, the country's patron saint, on horseback and has always been a focus for demonstrations and public gatherings. There is a shrine beneath the statue to the victims of communism, including Jan Palach & Jan Zajic, both of whom burned themselves alive in 1969 in protest of the Soviet invasion.
We had a wonderful Czech meal with Karel, in a little restaurant near the railway station, before catching the 2.06pm, (left on the dot, as is usual here!), for our next stop - which was Krakow, Poland!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.055s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0204s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
deleted_15735
deleted_15735
Prague seems so much more beautiful when there's no tourists!
Oi! I didn't agree to that trade!!! I smell a dodgy deal here...