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Published: June 22nd 2015
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This city of
Prague (Praha) seems to rival others in terms of the
immense expanse of glorious ancient beauty in architecture, influenced by countless dynasties, rivalries, war and change. Fortunately it is all there before us to see, feel and enjoy. The old city and the area surrounding the great castle across the river just ooze with history. Just walking the Charles Bridge over the Vltava River (built by King Charles iv, starting 1357) after leaving the castle, says it all, baroque-style statue after statue (replicas now), depicting important parts of the city history.
I found it very difficult to absorb it all and settled for simply enjoying the ambience of this magnificent city which was so intertwined with
religious conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and her Protestant challengers centuries ago. Now the Church's influence has waned terribly and I am told that with about seventy percent of the population now calling themselves atheist and the rest divided between a myriad of beliefs, it is not uncommon to find many churches presented as ancient relics only.
The Prague population is reputed to be the heaviest consumers of beer and I would not doubt that because of the large
number of taverns that litter the city. On the other hand, beer seems to be the beverage of choice throughout Europe and I assume especially in the summer. Neither Jeanette nor I are beer drinkers but we have been regularly enjoying a taste now and then throughout eastern Europe. And their beer is very good. We stopped in at the
oldest tavern dating back to the 14th century, in which little has changed. It is located just down the hill from the castle. Once you are inside you feel transported backwards in time, it's old fashioned wooden furniture and dark interior giving a real sense of medieval living.
The people are quite friendly too but English is not as commonplace as say in Germany. We did have to carefully watch the drivers here especially on pedestrian crossings, making eye contact before venturing into the danger zone or one could easily be run over, unlike in Germany and Poland.
We did not particularly care for the cuisine but as elsewhere in Europe we felt safe walking anywhere, side streets and all. I will just let pictures speak for themselves mostly. One can easily conclude that one building is similar
to the other as the more you walk and look it seems a blur of merged art but in reality, there is much that is unique to each structure. In many cases individual families try to outdo their neighbours. One thing is clear is that the Roman and even Greek influence dominated this city.
We took a side trip from Prague, taking three trains to get to Kutna Hora. There we visited the Sedlec Ossuary, a small Roman Catholic chapel containing the skeletons of up to 70,000 people. It sounds bizarre and in many cases the bones were artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the church. It was truly a strange place which is actually part of the UNESCO World Heritage program. If you are interested in how this came to be, visit this site, but "enjoy" the pictures:
https://end. m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary
Along the way we kept meeting and engaging very interesting people. At the Ossuary we talked with Brianna who travels extensively and who was visiting Prague as part of an academic review for New York University. Later we met and chatted with Marilyn who also travels extensively and is a psychologist from Los Angeles.
On the street where we stayed.
Hotel and restaurant opposite - perfect location. Constantly meeting new and interesting people throughout our holiday is an added bonus to any travel, an opportunity to learn about others and an integral part of our goal in Europe. We love it. We have made full use of the very efficient public transportation system and have never had the need to use a taxi. We have used the train, tram, bus and underground to get absolutely everywhere we wanted.
Our recommendation is that you visit Prague over several days and take the time to venture outside the city as well.
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sharon
non-member comment
prague
Again, your description brings things to life for us readers. You really should publish this as a compilation with other of your trips