"From its mythological inception to the present, benefactors have placed Prague on the cusp of the divine. Benevolent or evil, a dreamy spell hangs over Prague, where the clocks run backwards or not at all." - taken from the Let's Go Europe Travel Guide at www.letsgo.com One of my major travelling goals while in Europe was to see Prague (Praha, in Czech). I had heard from many that it is a beautiful city rich in history and very affordable. I also knew that each year more and more western tourists visit Prague, each time taking away from its uniqueness when compared with the great cities of Western Europe. I had tried already on two occasions early in 2000 to see Prague with a French friend, but each time our plans fell through. Finally in mid-May I left for the Czech capital with eight Swedish friends; they were also on exchange in Karlsruhe. We took a night train and arrived in Prague early in the morning. Another Swede studying in Graz, Austria met us there, making us a group of ten. It doesn't take long for the western traveller to realize that he has arrived in an eastern country still in the process of establishing a stable, free economy. As soon as we stepped off the train, we were approached by many locals eager to offer us cheap accomodation or a taxi. We ignored one offer after another, expecting to find a cheap hostel with room. Unfortunately, we only found cheap hostels which were full. Eventually we let one woman at the train station show us the apartment she was trying to rent. It was cheap, had enough beds for our large group in about three rooms, had a small kitchen, and was relatively clean (at least by my low standards!). We had no alternatives, so we settled in to our new home. On our second day in Prague we were joined by more friends; five more Swedes arrived by car from Munich. We made room for them in our apartment. This brought us to 14 Swedes and one Canadian. I would also like to point out that five of those Swedes were hot Swedish girls. Mind you, the phrase "hot Swedish girl" is rather redundant, since as far as I'm concerned, all Swedish girls are hot by default. Later in the weekend we also met up with Jocelyn and Sabrina, the two girls from BC I had originally met in Amsterdam two weeks earlier. Although not as cheap as it may have been ten years ago, when the Czech people revolted against their communist leaders, Prague is still very inexpensive. A quality half-litre of beer is about $0.40 to $0.80 Cdn, a full satisfying meal in a restaurant with side dishes and drinks and tips starts at about $5 Cdn, a night in a hotel is about $15 Cdn. It is also worth noting that the Czechs make some of the best pilsener beers in the world. Since the drinks are so cheap, going out in Prague can be quite an enjoyable (and sometimes dangerous!) experience. We tried various bars and clubs during our stay. In addition to beer one should also try Becherovka, a Czech drink best described as vodka with cinnamon. On our second night we tried a local club, where we met even more Swedes (not a part of our group)! The following night we went to another club right on the river in the heart of Prague's nightlife. While we were in Prague, there had been much talk of a drink called absinthe, which was new to me. From what I heard the drink was quite potent and even illegal in most countries - although I imagine not in Sweden, as most of my Swedish friends were already familiar with the stuff. I had been reluctant to try any but this being our last night in Prague made me have somewhat more of an open mind. Absinthe is certainly not illegal in the Czech Rep. as every bar offers it, and this place was no exception. I tried a few rounds; from what I remember it was like a mouthwash which kicks you in the head. First snus, then the Midsommerfest, and finally absinthe - Swedes were becoming a dangerous influence on me! I gave up on the absinthe and returned to beer, however someone else I know drank so much she jumped off the Charles Bridge into the river! (dictionary definition of absinthe: "A green liqueur having a bitter anise or licorice flavor and a high alcohol content, prepared from absinthe and other herbs. Production of absinthe is now prohibited in many countries because of its toxicity.") Since we were a large group, we often split up into smaller groups when visiting the city. We toured the castle district, a large walled-in area containing the castle (Hradçany) itself and many churches. Here I am next to one of the castle guards. The guard is the guy on the right ... er, left ... You can see the entire castle district on the hill in this picture (more than just the castle on the left itself). Andreas and I had a great view of the city from the hill. The tower in the background is the TV tower; it looks like a space rocket. This is one of the churches near the castle. While we were there we heard some story about a battle in which someone was thrown out of a window. This lead to far too many jokes among the Swedes and I involving the word "defenstration" (the act of throwing something from a window, normally used to refer to throwing a person out of a window with the intent of killing them in the process). The most famous bridge in Prague is the Charles Bridge (Karluv Most). Used only for pedestrian traffic, it is the main connection over the Vltava river and is a popular spot for artists to sell their work. Opposite the castle district is the main square. Many large churches and the famous astrological clock are in the square. Here is one church in the square ... ... and the astrological clock (notice the skeleton on the right). Every hour on the hour the figures around the clock do a little dance for hundreds of tourists. The people standing directly in front of the clock (holding signs) are selling tickets for classical music concerts. ... and here is another church in the square with hundreds of tourists in the foreground (this particular scene is a common tourist photo). Also in the centre of the city is the Powder Tower, used to store gunpowder and ammunition back in the good 'ol days. About five of us spent half a day in Prague's Jewish quarter. There are a number of synagogues and museums which testify to the history of Prague's Jewish community. This is one of the more famous synagogues. The most incredible site is the Jewish cemetery. Despite the relatively small size of the cemetery, over 200 000 graves have been crammed into it, the oldest ones dating back to the 15th century. The graves are closely packed together and are in some spots nine layers deep. Each year more of the gravestones are deciphered, giving identities to those buried there. A city like Prague is a great chance to experience classical music for at least two reasons: the history of music in the city itself, and the fact that everything in Prague is pretty cheap. Because of varying tastes, we split up into two groups when deciding which performances to see. There are hundreds of people selling tickets on the streets to many classical shows throughout the summer. For about $20 Cdn, we saw an impressive one-hour performance of Mozart's work in a church. We had incredible weather during our entire trip to Prague. It was always hot and the sun was always shining. On our last day, some of the Swedes left early, but I stayed behind with three others (to take another night train later in the day). Here I am on a bridge on that final day. With some time to myself, I visited a small church with an interesting WWII story. Some Czech paratroopers (I believe seven) were dropped into the city with the mission of assassinating Heydrich, the Nazi commander of Czechoslovakia. They were successful, but had to hide in the city after their attack to avoid being caught. They hid in the crypt of this small church for some time (a few weeks or even months I think), but were eventually betrayed, found, and executed. The Nazis sent in over 300 troops to get them, so once they were found, they were somewhat outnumbered. Despite the 300:7 ratio their battle still lasted a few hours! The final games of the World Hockey Championships were taking place while we were in Prague. On our second last evening, I had the misfortune of watching Canada lose the semi-final (for the second year in a row) to the Czech Republic 2-1 on a flukey goal. I was subjected to many drunken cheers by the locals as I watched the game in a pub (without any other Canadian support). On our last evening, the Czechs beat their cousins from Slovakia in the gold medal match. The main square was full of thousands and thousands of fans watching the game on a large jumbo screen. Shots of the crowd were also shown on Czech television. At one point I made my way to the front of the crowd to appear on TV. Many of the fans had jerseys; many were also drunk. The crowd went absolutely crazy when the Czech Rep. won the game (they were world champions last year as well). It was exciting to be there to experience their excitement and witness their celebrations, but I was still bitter about the night before. Back to the Main Page - Zurück zur Hauptseite