Prague, Czech Republic, May 1st - 4th, 2009

Chuck and Bonnie were in the house again this spring which provided more than enough incentive for another voyage to the continent. This time we chose Prague - partly because we had already purchased plane tickets for the bank holiday weekend and partly because Prague was one of my favorite stops during my backpacking trip in 2002.

Erin and I left after work (well, let’s just say late in the day) on Friday, sprinting to Paddington Station to catch the Heathrow Express to the airport. Only by divine intervention did Erin hop into the train just as it was pulling out of the station. It’s one thing to miss a flight. It’s quite another thing to miss your flight when you’ve already sent your in-laws ahead on Wizz Air with no phone, no email, no hotel reservation, and no back-up plan….yikes. Anyway, we made it so disaster averted.

The four of us arrived at the Angel Aparthotel at Karla Englise 2 in Praha 5 at about 11:30pm. The “hotel” seemed like an apartment building that hadn’t been able to rent out all the units so proceeded to hire the remaining flats out on a nightly basis. It was good enough for sleeping so it was more than sufficient. Night one: straight to bed.

A long walk before breakfast

We got a slow start on Saturday morning. C&B hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before so they were starving. Regardless, we had them walking in search of a suitable bread-roll for about 2 hours. We were about 30 seconds from giving into the call of the Golden Arches, but finally found an Albert supermarket at the top of Wenceslas Square by the Museum. We dipped in for a few croissants and a sausage roll and scarfed it all down amidst throngs of tourists on the main strip.

We then follow Fodor’s recommended “Day 1 of 2” walks to hit all the main sights, saving the castle for the last day. The city was packed! Every street was bursting at the seems and it was only the first week of May! It was incredible how crowded it was. For better or worse most of the other visitors seemed to be locals from various parts of the Czech Republic. We didn’t hear too many languages we recognized so figured most were at least Eastern European. Besides the language, the fashion was also a clue. Needless to say, Paris chic has yet to make it’s way East, at least to the tourist classes…ourselves included. It was actually kind of nice. In places like Paris and Rome one can feel like quite an outsider wielding a camera in comfortable walking shoes and rain gear because everyone else is decked to the nines in Louis V or Prada.

We arrived first at the Powder Tower, so named because it is strikingly white with two red stained-glass windows near the top. Actually that's a lie. It used to be part of the city's fortification system and held the gunpowder. This blackened Gothic structure provides strong contrast against the whimsical, art-nouveau Municipal House next door. The architectural juxtaposition continues throughout Prague and must be one of the reasons it has become such a popular destination for travelers - one of the perks of surviving two World Wars without being on the receiving end of bombing runs.

We made it to Staromak (old town square) by high noon to catch the crowd-pleasing medieval astronomical clock. As hundreds of onlookers gazed upward, the "morality play" which unfolded on the hour was, uh, underwhelming. In our day of computer graphics, TV, and movies, a few garden gnomes representing the 12 apostles gliding past a window just doesn't quite carry the weight it must have done in the 15th century. In fact, the clock's designer was blinded by the municipal council after the clock's completion in order to prevent him from replicating his masterpiece elsewhere. "A simple 'thanks' would have been just fine," he said.

After a sausage and starch-filled lunch in the basement of a pub called Kolkovna, we moved on to the Charles Bridge. Completely packed. Clearly Erin and I have lived in London too long because to us it seemed these heathens could have learned a thing or two about the rules of queuing. Twenty minutes later we had shuffled our way through the masses to the west side of the bridge. Once across we sought a break from the crowds and needed to fortify. We stopped into the Starbucks for the most expensive coffee we'd ever had. The four cups of joe were more than half the price of our lunch which had included huge meals and beers. Kudos American business!

We then visited some well-manicured gardens in Mala Strana, the neighborhood between the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. Each was in a different stage of bloom. The Wallenstein Gardens were well-manicured and spacious and the melting limestone grotto was unique, but the Vrtba Gardens were out favorite. The views they provided within the courtyard and of the city were spectacular. After the gardens we visited some very quiet streets within Mala Strana and saw the John Lennon Peace Wall before strolling through Kamba Park along the Vltava River on the way back to our hotel.

Dinner was at Pivovarsky Dum (loosely translated as "Brewery House") a 10 year-old micro brewery. It was a popular place, but probably not for the locals. Strangely for a brew house, it was not possible to order beer at the bar which made the 45 minute wait for a table a little more painful than it had to be. I ordered the pig's knee or "knuckle," which turned out to be fantastic despite the presentation making me feel a bit caveman-ish. 18 years later, I now understand what my Dad was raving about at the gasthaus beer garden outside Frankfurt. Delicious. Chuck and I also went for the beer sampler, which included one each of light, dark, wheat, coffee, banana, cherry, and nettle beers.

Karlstejn Castle

On Sunday we woke up early to catch a train to Karlstejn Castle which is about 40 minutes from Prague. Stupidly, I had us schlep for an hour all the way into the central train station (Hlavni Nadrazi) only to get on a train that would backtrack our steps and stop right outside our hotel. Oh well. Sights along the 30-minute hike up to the castle from the train station was very picturesque. Although the main route to the top is now lined mostly with tourist shops, it is very easy to see the quaint town hiding just one crystal shop or sausage-stand layer beneath the surface. The unspoiled surrounding countryside also makes for lots of nice views. Per our guide-book's recommendation, we skipped the inner castle tour and just had a look around the outside. The pictures can do the talking. The lunch we had on the way back to the Karlstejn train station was unmemorable, save for the beer and the friendly waitstaff, both of which were pretty constant throughout our trip.

It's always important to sample a local drink.

Prague's tram system offers a great way to get around without disappearing underground for the metro. We used it to put ourselves within walking distance of dinner. We crossed St. Charles Bridge again, this time at dusk and without the crowds, which reminded me why this sight is so popular in the first place. I can only image how spectacular it must have looked when it first opened 600 years ago. Bonnie had the opportunity to rub the relief of St. John of Nepomuk which sits below a statue of the same guy. He was allegedly tossed off the bridge to drown, but for some reason touching him offers good luck. Seems like it might be better luck to rub the statues of the guys who DIDN'T get thrown off the bridge, but who am I to judge.

Dinner at Novomestsky Pivovar put us over the top on Czech food. It was decent, but nothing memorable. I suppose it's easy to forget that such a beautiful city has only had 20 years of culinary progress since the departure of the Soviets. Using that as a starting point, my goulash and potato dumplings were probably pretty good. After dinner we wandered back to Staromestske namesti to have a drink by the famous clock. The cool intrigue of absinth called for Chuck and me. Erin tied my hands to my sides so I didn't try to cut my own ear off or anything. To my disappointment, there were no 'special effects' other than the ridiculous cotton mouth I had the next morning thanks to the green grain alcohol. Even lacking a boost from hallucinogens, the main square is certainly something special at night. The Kostel Matky Bozi pred Tynem (Big Scary Gothic church) becomes even more foreboding in floodlights. It was once more across the Charles Bridge, then a short tram ride back to the hotel.

After two days of beautiful sunshine, the weather took a turn for the worse on Monday. None of us had packed properly to walk around in mid 40s temperatures so our jaunt around Prague Castle and the royal gardens was brief. We then headed toward the Jewish Quarter to finish off the trip. Before visiting any sights we visited a Jewish deli which, according to the guidebook, served New York style deli sandwiches. It might have been a good place, but they were out of three of the things we tried to order and they didn't take credit cards. The latter constraint would not normally be an issue but we were short on cash so Chuck left to find and ATM and half an hour later we were worried that he would never return.

The Castle from St. Charles Bridge

I had visited a number of the Jewish temples and the Old Cemetery during my last visit so I skipped them this time around. According to Erin they were still well worth the visit, especially the one displaying pictures drawn by children in a WWII concentration camp. The images captured the horrors of some of the darkest hours of European history. The tightly packed grave stones in the cemetery added to the somber experience, even if most of their owners died of natural causes.

Eric's best of Prague: architecture, beers, friendly/accommodating locals

Erin's best of Prague: Karlstejn and the night cap in Staromestske Namesti

Link to Photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=hj0zhyv.8omc75ev&x=0&y=wi9eax&localeid=en_US