Beautiful, beautiful Prague

I never thought I would find a city we loved as much as Paris, but I think Prague might be this place. From the moment we stepped off the bus, I fell in love with this place. This is a medieval city like no other, with historic and beautiful buildings that go on and on (a bit like this blog actually). Prague is elegant, Prague is chic, Prague is sexy, oh to hell with it, Prague is marvellous.  Just when you think you’ve seen everything, you turn a corner and there is something even more unbelievable. To be very honest, it is easy to suffer from sensory overload here, there is simply so much to see.

A typically Prague street, with beautiful street facade

We have been really fortunate with the weather in Prague. Although bitterly cold, the sun has been out for most of the two days. The temperature yesterday was 6 degrees, but the wind chill brought that down to 4. We have on our beanies and coats, but most of the locals get around in pretty short skirts (and that’s just the blokes) and don’t seem to notice the cold. Maybe six degrees is actually pretty warm for getting on to winter. Whatever the reason, I don’t think I’d like to be in Prague on a ‘cold’ day.

A view to Prague Castle - lovely, isn't it

We went to a lovely little Czech restaurant on our first night here for dinner, serving mainly local dishes. I had Czech goulash while Alison had pork with sauerkraut. Both dishes were served with what they call bread dumplings, although we’d simply call them bread slices. Europeans have a love affair with food, I’m absolutely convinced of this. Restaurants, street vendors, supermarkets serving hot food, whether you chose to look there is something to eat. Prices for food in Prague, and the Czech Republic in general, seem very reasonable. Our restaurant meal the other night came to around 570 Koruna (around $28 AUD), including our main dishes, two 0.5 litres of beer, and two lovely desserts.  Many of the restaurants in Prague are so nicely decorated and so cosy you feel like staying there all night (obviously, a great marketing ploy).

The beautiful Vltava River runs right through Prague

Yesterday we visited the Museum of Communism, which I absolutely loved. It was so well set out and so informative. The museum chronicled the dark days of Cold War Soviet Stalinist administration in Czechoslovakia, and how the Czech people rebelled against this administration, culminating in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Amazingly, there was footage of the daily demonstrations in Wenceslas Square with up to 100,000 people protesting for the end of the communist regime. This square is less than a few hundred metres from where we are staying, and it’s almost impossible to imagine how it must have looked a mere twenty-five years ago. There were also a couple of VIPs drop into the museum while we were there; some guy by the name of Lenin, and another chap who went by the name Marx (no relation to Groucho).  I’m not certain who they were, but they seemed pretty important so I did what all good tourists do and asked for a photo. They were happy to oblige.

Some guy by the name of Karl Marx, who kept going on about the proletariat and how workers on the world needed to unite. I have no idea who he was, but he seemed happy enough for Alison to snap this photo of us together

Staromestska Nam square, with the Tynska ulicka in the background, which dates back to the 13th century

Today we took one of the lovely trams (Prague does remind me a lot of Melbourne) to Prague Castle, which is so grand, so imposing that it almost defies description. I understand Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle anywhere in the world. It’s also one of the oldest, dated back to the eighth century, although it has been modified and redesigned many times (thanks, no doubt, to shows like Better Homes and Gardens and The Block for the ideas). Something which we are finding very testing after over four weeks on the road is the sheer quantum of tourists everywhere we go. I don’t question their right to be there, but I would bet my next Budweiser that ninety percent of them have next to no interest in learning about what they’re seeing, they just use the venue as an excuse to shoot either selfies or snaps of the boyfriend/girlfriend in ridiculous poses.

St. Vitus Cathedral, part of the Prague Castle

I’m going to end the post now, as anything more I say about Prague will not really do it justice. I’ll leave a selection of photos below which will hopefully do a much better job of conveying the beauty of this city than I ever could. We leave Prague tomorrow for the final leg of our journey, Spain. I’m going to be talking about Prague long after the plane has left the airport, in fact, long after our homeward bound plane touches down in Sydney in a little over two weeks. I just love it.  

Gate tower at the opening to Charles IV bridge

Prague from Petrin Hill

Inside St. Vitus Cathedral