One can tell whether he’s in an Eastern European country by riding the train. In contrast to its western counterpart, trains from Nürnberg in Germany to Prague is an older train with no air conditioner; although there was no delay or major problems, you can tell that they could replace the rails so that the ride would be a smoother, efficient, and faster one. At least this is what I think.

The six hour Czech train ride turned out to be an interesting one. Immigration takes place on the train, with two sets of immigration officers screening through the train completely. The first set was two burly and intimidated German officers in their uniform that reminds me of Nazi officers, stamping out everybody’s passports with the EU-Germany exit stamp. Behind them were two Czech Immigration officers in their blue uniform, checking everybody’s passports and stamping in the Czech Republic entrance stamp. The process simple but yet thoroughly strict, and according to Ryan, they even unscrewed bathroom panels to see whether something or someone is hiding inside.

The train was rather sparse with passengers; and there were several hours to kill before reaching Prague. We borrowed a copy of ‘USA Today’ from a lady from Virginia on the train who works for the US Government. We read books about Prague, sown our Euro patches to our backpacks, and had a lunch on the train’s diner car. Chewing my Mexican chicken meal and chugging a glass of Coke, I was glancing out from train window, enjoying the typical Bohemian landscape of church steeples, country houses and people taking a bath in a stream.

Czech Krone is definitely an advantage for us. The ‘official’ rate is €1 = Kč 31.74, according to a money exchange booth at main train station of Praha Hlavní nádraí, but unfortunately I only got Kč 290.40 for €10 converted due to commission charge. Even though Euros are preferred over Czech crowns as a method of payment in almost everywhere in Prague (and Czech Republic), the government outlaws legal transactions to be conducted in Euro currency. It is better for us anyway, since everything is cheaper in Czech crowns. For example, a big glass of soda cost Kč 17 (63 Euro cent) that finally fulfilled our dehydration needs after arriving in Prague for the first time.

Prague is relatively humid in the summer, especially on our hiking journey through the city to Sokolská road where our Advantage Hostel is located. It seems that Americans are still the wanted ones, judging by the receptionist’s 180 degree attitude change when he saw several American passports on his counter. This is one of the advantages of having Jason and Ryan in our entire trip, lol.

Czech language sounds a little harsh, which sounds similar to German to my ears; I believe they share the same Nomadic root. Although the younger generation is more exposed to English language, many older generation hardly speak any words in English. Most of the time, my strategy of asking “Mluvíte anglicky?” (do you speak English?) do not work, so we are forced to use a Tarzan language with hand gestures and talking slower.

Prague holds a special place in my heart since my freshman year of college. Ryan and I were teamed up in our Arch 102 studio class, creating a 1’=100’-0” replica wood model of an existing Church of the Sacred Heart, located in Prague. For a couple of weeks, we spent hours staring at blue prints, photographs and notes to complete the project designed by architect Jozef Plecnik, so naturally I would love to see the real structure first hand. Vinohrady neighborhood, where the church is located, is definitely not a tourist spot, but we found the church fairly quick. It feels like having a de javu looking at the statues, main altar, side altars, organ and the ceiling, including all the brick niches that cover up all exterior wall of the church.

Wenceslas Square (Václavské Náměsti), in New Prague, is a wide pedestrian square dedicated to St. Wenceslas, Patron Saint of Bohemia. This square, started as a humble horse market in the Middle Ages, has been a witness to many historical events, celebrations and demonstrations, including the 1918 Czechoslovakia independence and the 1945 Prague Uprising against the Nazi. An equestrian statue mounted by St. Wenceslas stands proudly in front of the grand neoclassical Czech National Museum.

From what I can recall, Baroque is an era where movement, fluidity and flowing form became the focus of art and design. This affected architecture, paintings, music and art form in general, anything that was produced in 1700s. Prague is heavily influenced by Baroque style, many examples of those are scattered throughout famous structures and music in the city.

St. Nicholas church was completed in 1735, one of the finest Baroque churches in Europe. The main altar of St. Nicholas is adorned with intricate golden details of golden that flows all throughout the interior like a breeze. However, my main focus in this church is the St. Basil II statue, which for an unknown reason, has inspired me so much to visit Prague ever since the first time I laid my eyes on the statue picture several years back. St. Nicholas also houses a small musical museum on its bell tower, a wooden structure that offers the best birds’ eye view over Old Prague.

The medieval astronomical clock Prague Orloj adorns the Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square. The original mechanical clock and astronomical dial were completed in early 1400s, and Orloj was repaired several times until the last major addition of the Apostle statues in mid 1800s. From what I’ve read, during 1945 Prague capitulation effort by the German, Orloj was heavily damaged by fire shot from armored vehicles, and the last major effort to repair it was completed three years later. The intricate design of the clock is very complex, involving three different major elements: the sun and moon’s positions throughout the year, an hourly Apostle Parade clock, and the Zodiac month’s representation based on positions of the stars. Legend has it that the City Councilors, who commissioned the clock, removed the designer’s eyeballs so that he couldn’t construct another similar clock for the rest of his life. There is something about the ‘Walk of the Apostles’ ritual that makes me want to watch it hourly, when it performs.

Ryan’s fantasies of seeing the Fred and Ginger building designed by famous architect Frank Gehri finally came true. The twisted designed building is located by the Vltava River; unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to have a breakfast inside the building as planned.

Prague is famous for its Bohemian crystal, and the Hardy boys found it appropriate to purchase many crystals for their family. So browsing through one crystal store to the next, I was mesmerized by the sparkles of Bohemian crystals; maybe I should join the club and getting some crystals for my own keepsake.

Prague Castle is one of Prague's famous landmarks, noticeable especially from across the Vltava River by the Charles Bridge. The Castle has a tall steeple, the St. Vitus cathedral, in the middle of the complex. As many old European kingdom cultures, Czech guards have a hundred year old tradition of ‘guard changing ceremony’, performed by soldiers in their baby blue uniform. The ritual and the tradition remind me of the Buckingham Palace changing guards we saw several months ago.

Charles Bridge, or Karlův most, is the first bridge built in Prague to unify the two sides of town over the mighty Vltava River. A palindromic sequence of 135797531 is significant in the Charles Bridge’s history, according to royal astrologers and numerologist, so the construction of the bridge started on 9 July 1357, at 5:31am. Believe it or not, but the bridge has been operating for almost 700 years. As the Baroque period started to heavily influence Prague, they added many saints’ statues to Charles bridge to mimic Poste Castel S’Angelo in Rome.

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Part of the trip: Europe

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