Praha

Praha (or Prague, as we know it) is the capital of the Czech Republic and is described as one of Europe's most beautiful and fascinating cities by most who visit it. I am no exception. Although I have used the term 'grand' in a few instances to describe cities visited in the past, this magnificent metropolis also fits that description perfectly but in a very different sense. While places like Vienna and Lyon feel as if you have stepped back into a time where you could imagine the entire city being built to satisfy the wishes and majestic vision of a king, Praha feels more as if it had been pieced together over the course of centuries, bringing to fruition the visions of hundreds of architects, Catholic nobles and artists alike. Having escaped WWII virtually untouched, the city's architectural diversity is enormous and immediately apparent - from Gothic and Renaissance to Art Nouveau and Cubist - and it all just... works.
The portrayal of Prague as 'The City of a Thousand Spires' paints a very realistic picture of what you can expect to find here. The churches, the enormous and imposing watchtower gateways, the famous Old Town Hall clocktower with its giant astronomical clock and of course the Prague Castle all exhibit some version of this Gothic feature. I don't know why but somehow a spire will always seem to add a certain beauty to a building. In the same way, spacious open squares and wide avenues add a certain greatness to a city, and there are plenty of those in Prague. But what about the narrow, cobblestoned, archaic backstreets that I have come to associate with medieval Europe? Yep, a lot of them too. The city really is magnificent. I think Karlův Most (Charles Bridge) also deserves a mention here as it affords fantastic views of the stunning riverfronts on both sides of its 300-odd-metre span across the Vltava River. The bridge is adorned with 30 sculptures dating from the 18th century, strengthening its allure, and is lined with sketch artists and jewellery stalls to catch the attention of the hordes of tourists constantly passing over it - in summer this bridge is the busiest place in the city.
In the evening of our first real day in the Czech Republic, Dan took us by train to his small, charming and quiet village about 40 minutes out of Prague. His parents were kind enough to let us stay for a couple of nights and mum was trying to feed us before we managed to even step through the door and say their adorable word for hello, ahoj ("ahoy."). When we had finished eating (oh those jam and cream cake things for dessert were divine) Dan took us for a walk to the local pub where we met some more of his mates, Pedro lost a game of pool to me, we watched French music videos, and I ate a most disgusting looking (but beautiful tasting) camembert cheese while two old Slovak men argued in the corner. A pretty normal night.. Until...
At some point in the night before, around 2am if I remember correctly, Pedro's best mate, Sky (a funny guy aside from the events of the ensuing discussion), rocked up and we shared a few beers with him. I think he was the only one out of our bunch to not have slept that night. Well he slept this night, that's for sure........ For one he fell asleep in the pub (a side effect of a little too much alcohol me thinks) and it took a glass of water over his face to wake him up. Then there was the short, yet seemingly eternal walk back to Dan's place. And last but not least by any stretch of the imagination, I had to lay next to one of the strangest, loudest and most irritating sleepers I have ever come across. To top it off there was the unfortunate vomiting episode all over Pedro and Kristina's clothes, acting as a catalyst for a heated (and loud, for 5am) argument between those two. Sufficed to say, I gave up on sleep for that night. Dan was not a very happy either that all this was going on in the room next to his parents'. Oh well.. One for the grandkids..
We spent 2 very relaxed days in that village and again there was a lot of sleeping in past midday (for everyone except me that is). The morning after all that unpleasantness, while everyone else slept, I sat and watched a Czech program on TV that looked like a really old news broadcast. Dan informed me that that was exactly what it was. Every single day they air the news that was broadcast on that date exactly 25 years ago. He explained that it was really interesting because in 1983 they were still part of Czechoslovakia and the news at that time took on a very obvious communist stance. What a great idea! Not the communism, but revisiting the news from the past on a daily basis. Why don't they do something similar back home?
We said our děkuji's to Dan's parents and migrated back into town after this stint in the Czech countryside. We ended up settling for our remaining two days into a hostel situated down a small alley just off the old town square, Staroměstské náměstí, home to the old town hall and towered over by the twin spires of the Týn Church, the latter being conspicuously and spectacularly lit by blue light in the evenings. A bit of partying, a bit of general sightseeing and some eating at the vegetarian restaurant downstairs from the hostel followed until Friday afternoon, when most of us were scheduled to leave - everyone already had their flights booked, except for me.. again.. I couldn't even decide where I wanted to go after Prague:

Berlin? Somewhere else in Germany? Maybe Paris?

Photos:

In Dan's Village

in the early hours of the morning

Lee, the centre of attention as usual...

the cheese - mmmm

imposing structures

Vltava River

Týn Church

communist art

spectacular

Spionator

it doesn't take much to cause a crowd

the astronomical clock

eating some Czech sausage