Prague

Prague, a city close to the heart of Mozart, home to ‘good king Wenceslas’ (from the Christmas carol), and  well known for their beer (seriously you can order one for breakfast, at McDonalds, or get one as takeaway on your way to the castle).

My first impressions of Prague were that it was a quaint city. The old architecture mixed in amongst the new. Clean and quiet yet filled with bustling streets, welcoming store fronts and entertaining street performers. Unfortunately for us, we had gotten very used to the Italian language; we regrettably confess our efforts of learning Czech were poor.

Following a slow afternoon we set out in the evening to cross the Charles Bridge. The statues were not as well lit as we had hoped but we could still see them well enough and with the Prague info book we’d borrowed from the hostel’s book exchange we were able to name each of them; making the stroll across the bridge not only beautiful, but educational. We like learning :).  From the bridge you could also see the Prague Castle marvellously lit up on the hill and the experience was enhanced by buskers playing at various points along the walk. This reinforced the quaint or enchanted feel of Prague city.

The following day, our first full day in Prague we had signed up for the free walking tour. These tours are always good fun, they teach you about this history of the city, point out little details that you would normally not notice and give tips on other great places to go in the city; and it’s all for free! This tour took us through the Old Town followed by the New Town and finally the Jewish Ghetto. The guide pointed out iconic buildings like the astrological clock which had a few very interesting stories attached to it; symbolic monuments like the metronome on the hill which represents moving forward from communism; and explained much of the country’s history. We didn’t realise how much we didn’t know about the Czechs and how much they had been though especially in regard to Nazi Germany, communist occupation and their reasonably new democracy.

We enjoyed that tour so much we signed straight up for The Prague Castle tour that afternoon with the same lady. Not free but we felt it was worth it. The castle tour took us around the castle area, again highlighting other historical buildings or monuments of importance. We arrived at the Prague Castle just in time for the changing of the guard. We were fascinated by the guards wearing aviators, agreeing this is defiantly something the guards at Buckingham palace should incorporate into their uniform.  Gemma felt the need to stand there and have a conversation with the guard, tell him how much she was enjoying his city and detail her life story (or just about) about why she was in Europe and in particular Prague. She resisted from actually doing so, but opted for practicing her one sided conversation on me. Inside the castle walls is a Cathedral, it is taller than the castle it’s self and has a gothic appearance, and from a far (or at least the Charles Bridge) it is assumed that the towers of the cathedral is in fact the castle not a structure within it.  Unfortunately, you are unable to see the actual crown jewels when visiting the castle (and we like crown Jewels), as they are locked up behind golden mosaics and a door with seven locks, each with a different person possessing the key. Again the story of the old security encouraged the fairy tale image of the city.

Before returning home we admired the immaculate view from an old vineyard by the castle, detoured via the Lennon peace wall (where we saw our 8^th Bride of the day – everyone in Prague seem to be getting married) and had traditional Czech cuisine for dinner. Gem had the Goulash and I had... well I don’t know what I had. I’ve enjoyed attempting to read the foreign description and se-le-ve-ing it. They were definitely hearty meals; Gem has described them as something she would expect at a medieval banquet.

We spent much of the next day revisiting the Jewish Ghetto (I enjoy that it’s called a ghetto because it makes it sound like its rough and gang infested, when it’s mostly it has many up market designer stores, synagogues or touristy stores.) Our ticket allowed us to visit each synagogue in the area including the Jewish cemetery. 

A few details about the Ghetto:  this was an area that before the Nazi occupation the Jewish community within Prague were forced into and walled off from the rest of the city. A change came about at the end of the 1800’s when it was decided that if people inside were rich enough then they could move out. Most of them were and this dirty part of the city instead filled up with criminals and the poor. At the start of the 1900’s the Prague government decided to knock down the whole area (except for the synagogues) and rebuild it into the up market area that it is now. Our guide had informed us that Hitler apparently had a liking for Prague and had requested that it not be damaged during the war. Apparently Hitler had also requested that the Jewish ghetto not yet be touched as he had plans to use it after the war as a museum of the extinct race.  It really enforces how sadistic this man was especially when you’re walking around the area. Fortunately, because of this wish Prague was able to keep the city intact and the ghetto still contains much of the Jewish history and for that reason The Old New Synagogue in Prague is the Oldest Synagogue in Europe. The Pinkus Synagogue contained every name of every Jewish person in the Czech Republic killed during this time, as well as children’s drawing retrieved from a concentration camp. It was sobering to see each name individually scripted on the walls with a date as well as to view the children’s art work which portrayed fear yet hope that the struggle would soon be over.  I noticed that several had been titled Ester, after the bible story (I would assume) and again was sobering to read the child’s name, and see their photo by their art work with a date of death.

A story that particularly captured Gemma’s imagination was that of the Golum. He was apparently made out of clay from the banks of the river and fashioned into the form of a man by a rabbi who was concerned for the safety of his people. He brought the Golum to life and apparently he still lives in the attic of the Old-New Synagogue keeping guard. Another reason why the Jewish Ghetto survived the war. We spent the whole day with our eye out for the famous Golum, he didn’t come out.

To continue with traditional activities we ate lunch in the old town square, eating food from a market stall; a hearty meals again unsure the exact ingredients. I recall one moment when Gemma finished her mouthful saying “well that wasn’t a potato” in a surprised tone.  We also took on the challenge of consuming Absinthe; of course the proper way. Because our resources were limited we weren’t able to use a shot glass and a teaspoon instead we had a regular glass and a soup spoon. First with the sugar, lighting it until it caramelised before dropping it into the glass and downing it.  We had Irish roommates which enjoyed watching us attempt this and took the pleasure of taking our photos for our evidence. Unfortunately, chugging in general is not a skill of mine, so doing it with Absinthe is not in the slightest easy, so I needed to do it in two parts, succeeding in the end (Don’t ever break up horrible things in to two parts... be wise and get it over with in one go!).

Naturally, following our Absinthe episode we decided it  would be a good idea to use the remainder of our final night in Prague to find the Lovers bridge – another bridge covered head to toe in padlocks signifying everlasting love(it seems this is big in Europe); revisit the Lennon wall; and hunt for the narrowest lane in Prague. We found it! It was maybe about half a meter wide and had traffic lights at either end, as to help prevent getting stuck in the middle with two people going opposite directions.

We had originally booked Prague mostly because there were limited airports we could get to from Milan but when telling people that is where we were headed, no one could say a bad thing about it. After our short stay in the city we completely agree with all of them. Prague is fantastic we would have loved to stay longer, and would also recommend it to anyone.