From Prague With Love

I am a passenger

I stay under glass

I look through my window so bright

I see the stars come out tonight

- Iggy Pop, Passenger

Prague Castle. Photo RGH

Prague - old Europe, walkable, relaxing, quaint. Not. We were really surprised by Prague. We knew it was old and walkable, so we assumed it was small. We knew it was a popular destination for young people travelling on the cheap, so we assumed it would have a lot of bars and clubs, be hopping at night, but otherwise relatively un-crowded. Our assumptions were all wrong. Certain things were almost stereotypical ... taxi drivers looked like Russian thugs from bad Hollywood movies and drove banged-up Mercedes. The women were out in full make-up and dressed to impress. And everyone, man, woman, young, and old smoked cigarettes. It's also the first place on our trip where we got ripped off. Our taxi ride from the train station should have cost 450 Koruna (about 18 Euros) and our cabbie charged us 25 Euros, but if that's the worse that happens to us this trip, we'll be doing just fine.

Prague is a city of contradictions. It's an ancient city at the centre of a young democracy. The people are justifiably proud of their history, but the memories of communist rule are still fresh and painful. It boasts a young, bustling population presided over by the largest ancient castle in the world. It's a city of churches in a country of atheists. Churches all over the city have been converted to other uses because the population can't sustain them. Restaurants and nightclubs, hotels and hostels, and one of them was even used as a "gentlemen's club".

  

  

The streets of Prague. Photos RGH

The Strahov Monastery was founded in 1143 by the Premonstratensians under the direction of Jindrich Zdik, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It sits atop the hill overlooking Prague near to the castle. Over the past 874 years, it has seen a variety of functions. Today it continues to serve the Premonstratensian Order and includes a Theological Hall, a commercial brewery, and a hotel. Our room was on the upper level of what was originally built as an economic headquarters building in the 17th century. It was a long climb up narrow, winding stairs to get there, but the inside of the room was stunning, and the views out the windows were breathtaking.

  

Strahov Monastery overlooking the city. Photos KAH/RGH

As usual for this trip, we had a Sandemans tour scheduled on our first full day in the city. For the first time, we were disappointed. There were 60 people for the English language tour, so they split us into 3 groups of 20. Our guide, Andrea, was Czechoslovakian (yes, I know that designation doesn't exist any more, but bear with me). On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two countries, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. However, Andrea's grandfather was Slovak and her grandmother Czech. Her father is Czech, and her mother Slovak. So, she states that she is a proud "Czechoslovakian". She grew up under communist rule and was a teenager during the fall of communism in the late 1980s. She could have provided so much insight into the people and culture. Unfortunately, her tour stuck to the standard textbook site descriptions interspersed with a few stories of the buildings and famous people from the area. She was difficult to hear above the background noise and crowds around us. The contrast to our previous tours was made more obvious when we crossed paths with the other two groups where we overheard their guides telling dynamic historical stories and legends. Hopefully, our Sandemans experience in Prague will not be repeated elsewhere. The good thing about the tours is that they are "free" ... you tip the guide based on what you think the tour was worth. We didn't stiff her, and we paid what I think was a fair price, but I would have gladly paid more if the experience had been better.

  

  

Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral. Photos RGH

We had the rest of the afternoon to explore on our own, but decided to return to the monastery for a much needed break. We also wanted to try the famous Czech dumplings and beer at the monastery brewery. We did venture out to wander the castle grounds. Unfortunately, it was while everything was shutting down for the evening. The upside of that was the relatively smaller crowds. When we went back to the castle the next morning, it was amongst several thousand others. As Kari pointed out, the only thing that made the crowds tolerable was the absolutely enormous space in which we were all contained. Prague castle occupies an area of almost 70,000 sqm, and is the largest ancient castle in the world. Construction started in 870 with its first walled building. It has undergone numerous reconstruction and renovations, most recently in the late 18th century. The construction of St Vitus Cathedral, the centerpiece of the castle grounds and visible from throughout Prague, began in 1344.

Our rail trip through Europe was designed as a "post-card" tour ... 1-2 days in each city to see the highlights and to get a taste of the local flavours. As has been typical, our short time in Prague left us thirsting for more.

Na zdravi ...