Tales from Urban Bohemia

The train pulled into Prague quite late on Sunday evening, the 8th of August...and for some reason, it was far less disconcerting than when we had arrived in Vienna 24 hours earlier...The first tram stop we arrived at outside the station gave us a bit of a preview into the local scene- Bohemia indeed! Kids- well, young adults- with dreadlocks and piercings a plenty, earthy-hippy-grunge get up, and a dog per person...well, maybe not that many, but I saw more dogs in the Czech Republic than anywhere else in Europe, and trust me, there are a lot of dogs here. But I digress...In short, a very cool scene.

It was late evening and very dark when we arrived in Prague, and so it was a bit hard to get an idea of the architecture, but again, my first impressions gave way to later experiences...although the city is primarily renowned for it's Gothic bridges and buildings, and combination of many styles of architecture from different periods in history, there are also plenty of newly renovated buildings fitted with features that are 'environmentally aware'- censor lights in rooms and hall ways, the option of lightly flushing the loo, for example- and from what I could make out from the messages on bill boards around the place, the city is advancing it's energy saving techniques- or at least trying to- which is uber cool.

Despite all this development, and the evident Western influence (well, in terms of the shopping centres and products anyway), Prague is still very traditional- it's people, it's food and it's culture (FYI- smoking in bars has not yet been outlawed!). The food is fantastic- there's always Goulash, sausage, bread dumplings, as well as red and white cabbage on the menu- and the local ales really are as good as they make them out to be!

Not to divert from our standard routine, we took a walking tour of Prague- but this time we actually paid for it upfront, and despite all the amazing things we saw, and the [far-too-long] lunch half way through- the other free tours that I have been on have been so much better.

'The Ultimate Tour' started at the King Wencelas statue (Wencelas Square), in front of the city's museum, from where we walked along side awesome art nouveau buildings such as The Grand Hotel Europa, through shops and past monuments, to the Old Town Hall and The Astronomical Clock (see photo above).

From here, standing in the 'Old Town Square', you have a spectacular view of the Church of Our Lady before Týn (in Czech Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem, also Týnský chrám (Týn Church) or just Týn), and the diverse architecture that dominates Prague. From the Old Town Square, we walked through the Old Jewish Quarter, past the museum of Cubism (and the only existing building constructed in the Cubist style), until we reached the Vltava River. It was here that we boarded the boat for the 45 minute river cruise- it was also the place where Nina the Tour Guide was at her best- with the hand held mic, she cruised up and down the aisle of the boat, crackin' jokes, pointing out museums, universities, the hospital and the giant Prague Metronome (again, a very cool structure, erected in 1991 in place of a demolished statue of Stalin- Amen to that!).

Once the boat docked, we wandered through the streets of Prague, stopping at a crystal shop (Nina was officially on the downward spiral here) before heading out to a local restaurant for lunch...more goulash, more beer! Following our 2 hour lunch break, we crossed over the Karlův Most- the Charles Bridge- which in my mind, was close to the highlight of the entire six hour tour- the statues that line the edges of both sides of the bridge are sensational, and the views from both sides of the bridge, along the river, and up to Prague Castle are fabulous (Sadly, Nina knew she had spent too much time in the restaurant, and wanted to race across the bridge without explaining anything about it! Ahhhh! Ah well- thankfully we had time to return, and were able to research the history and significance behind it for ourselves).

Our tour was to conclude up around Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) and St. Vitus Cathedral. Prague Castle dominates the sky line of the Czech capital like no other building- it's the world's largest medieval castle, and has towered over the city since the 9th century. The Prague skyline, for that matter, really is a remarkably harmonious ensemble of of contrasting styles, and is the product of generations of gifted architects...plus, it looks like it's haunted!! St. Vitus Cathedral is yet another wondrous Gothic creation- the exterior decor, and the interior stain glass windows are truly divine- I've never seen stain glass windows so bright, and use all the colours on the spectrum so harmoniously...and it was here that we ran out of time. Nina led us over to a look out over the city of Prague to conclude the tour. Although I was somewhat deflated from and disappointed by the tour, I was far from defeated! And that which I felt Nina failed to show us or spend enough time at, I walked back to to explore further.

From the look out over Prague, we walked back down the hill, past restaurants and through vineyards until we made it back to the Charles Bridge, where we took our sweet time to enjoy ourselves- and wander back through the streets of Praha and wear out the camera battery.

For those of you who know about my fascination with Matryoshka dolls, I was very pleased to discover that they were everywhere in Prague, and although it was like finding a needle in a haystack, I managed to find a set that were just right. My ultimate Eastern European souvenir.