Czech Republic (Prague)

Our luck finally caught up with us in Prague, for it rained heavily on our first two days in the city.  We tried to still walk around and see as much as we could, but the rain put a damper on our experience.  It made getting around the city more difficult and simple things such as finding the correct tram stop became ordeals.  The rain was the heaviest during the first day so we decided to take refuge in a movie theater, seeing Bridesmaids.  Thankfully it was in English, with Czech subtitles.  Watching this mainstream American film was interesting because we felt completely removed from this foreign land, right back in the U.S.  The Czech Republic was our first stop where the language barrier proved to sometimes be troublesome.  Since once again we were staying outside the city center we ran into more people who did not speak English.  The Czech language has almost nothing in common with English which was different from the German or French we have seen which share many roots with English.  This was nice though, seeing fewer American influences, although this was fully made up for by the McDonalds’ on every block in central Prague.

A street on the western side of the city

Close up of the clock

Having been so impressed with our walking tour in Berlin we
decided to take one in Prague especially because both of us were less familiar with the history.  We started out in the Old Town Square which was very beautiful and housed a few sights.  One of the sights was the Astronomical Clock Tower that had a very unique clock that kept track of moon and sun cycles and the current month.  Every hour people crowd around it to see the ‘March of the Apostles’ where statues are mechanically moved and made to strike the time.  This was very impressive because it dated back to the 1400s and is the oldest such clock still in operation.  The designer of this clock was actually rewarded by the King of Prague by having his eyes poked out with hot rods so that he could not design another one.

The old town square

The clock tower

Many of the buildings in Prague date back much earlier than any other city that we have visited and looked to be surprisingly unharmed for the most part.  Our tour guide informed us that Hitler was so enamored by this city that he wanted to retire here, thus leaving the city protected in a way during WWII.  This was very apparent during our visit here.  Few buildings in the downtown were built in the last few hundred years, and unlike many cities in Europe, did not have to be rebuilt after the war.  Most also had a very unique façade, with intricate roof structures and attached statues and sculptures.  It was an interesting contrast to see an electronics store or a KFC housed in one of these buildings.

Great example of architecture in Prague

In the Jewish Quarter many synagogues remained, some having been converted into memorials for the Jewish people killed in the Holocaust.  Hitler did not have some of these synagogues destroyed because he wanted to keep them as a museum to show the extinct Jewish race.  We also saw the 15^th century Jewish Cemetery.  This was the cemetery that the architect of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial had mentioned as inspiration.  The ground of the cemetery was uneven and very high in some parts because of the number of people buried in such a small plot of land.  As the cemetery filled up, the Jews in Prague could not acquire any more land, and started to bury their dead vertically at this site.  There are about 12,000 burial stones, but it is estimated that it contains 3 to 5 times this number of bodies.

The Jewish cemetary

Prague’s most popular sight is the Prague Castle, the largest medieval castle in Europe.  The city is divided by the Vltava River and on one side sits the castle on top of a hill.  To get to the castle from the other side of the city you can cross a number of bridges, the most famous and most crossed by tourists is the Charles Bridge.  The bridge is very beautiful, with statues lining the sides, and it leads beautifully into the entry of the castle.  The vast number of tourists and caricature artists took away from the bridge; however it was impossible to take away from the impressive structures and beauty surrounding us.  The pictures are from when we returned to the bridge at night

View from the shore

Looking toward downtown (east)

Looking toward the castle (west)

We walked up the hill to the castle and on our way saw some beautiful views of the city.  As we continued we were a little unsure of where the castle began and ended.  The grounds of the castle are so large that it often felt that we were walking down ordinary streets lined with cafes.  The main building in the castle is the cathedral.  It is the main structure that you can see from all over Prague.  The intricate details were very impressive.   Each attraction in the castle charges an admission fee, however we enjoyed walking through the gardens and grounds. 

The cathedral inside the castle walls

When walking throughout the city we passed numerous signs for Jazz clubs.  We were unsure of why jazz seemed to be so popular, however we decided to spend one of our evenings at the Jazz Dock.  The Jazz Dock was an upscale jazz club right on the river.  There was one lead vocalist who was accompanied by a bass, piano, and drums.  We had a wonderful time enjoying great music.  This kept us out until about 1am, when we decided to head back.  On our way back we crossed the once packed Charles Bridge, now almost empty.  With the buildings lit up in the background we were blown away with how different and beautiful the city looked. 

Looking out from the fortress to the river

On our final day in Prague we felt that we had seen everything that we had wanted to and looked to our guide book for some advice.  There was one line about Vysehrad, an “ancient hilltop fortress with superb views.”  So we packed up our lunch, not sure what to expect and took the tram to Vysehrad.  With no signs directing us, we hiked up a steep hill to what seemed to be a fortress wall.  After eating our lunch in the shade, we explored the area.  We found this area to be a nice change for the bustling city.  There were many parks and a church on top of the fortress and great views of the city and the surrounding areas.  Prague has a lot to offer, however it did not appeal to us as much as some of our other stops.  Maybe this was just our specific taste because many people instantly fall in love with this city.

Looking down from the fortress wall