Sept 6 – 9, 2017
Prague is the beginning of our fall European trip. I had planned this trip almost a year ago when I got a Gate1 brochure in the mail with some great deals. We are not big cruisers but decided to give it a try with a two week trip starting in Central Europe – from Budapest to Amsterdam. Prague is not part of the package but it’s been on my list for many years so we were able to fly into Prague to start our adventure. Bill’s sister Bonnie joined us in Prague for 3 days and then our longtime college friends Pat and David as well as Cynthia, a Pensacola friend, joined us in Budapest.
Prague was everything we expected and more. This capital of Czech Republic is very walkeable with many styles of well preserved architecture that remained mostly intact after the war because the city wasn’t bombed. But the Czechs did not have an easy time during the 20th century – two world wars, Nazi occupation, the Holocaust, and a communist dictatorship. They seem to have recovered well since the Velvet Revolution in November of 1989 when student protests eventually led to the dissolution of the communist regime.
We rented an apartment in Mala Strand area near the St. Nicholas church. I hired a private guide for both mornings to show us around. Gabriella was very serious and it took Bill the full four hours to get a smile out of her. I think she was having a bad day. She had lots of good information to share.
Prague is now a young hip town with a blend of new and old. We hit all the key spots – the castle quarter up on the hill, the Jewish Quarter, Charles Bridge, the New Town. Prague is part of The Czech Republic which is a new country since the Velvet Revolution. Prior to that it had been part of Czechoslovakia since before World War I. They are part of the European Union but do not use the Euro for currency. The use Czech crowns (kc) with a 21.7 to $1 exchange rate in 2017. Prices were fairly reasonable in Prague.
Their language is Czech but most people we encountered spoke excellent English. The town’s directional signs are all in Czech, no English which is funny because I doubt the locals use the signs to the key sites!
The Vlatva River divides the city with many beautiful bridges crossing the water. The city is called the “Golden City of a Hundred Spires” because there are so many churches. We found many of the beautiful viewpoints but not all of them. We kept migrating back to the Old Town Square where the Old Tyn church sits. The famous astronomical clock attracts hordes of tourists each hour. It’s more complex than most people know – showing Bohemian time, modern time, astronomical clock. The clock was designed in early 1400’s. I read that the local city council blinded the clock maker so he wouldn’t create a similar clock for another city.
We had read about the biggest rip offs in Prague, mostly with money changers. We had a couple of shady guys approach us at the ATM machines asking us to change small bills. We chased them away.
On our second day’s walking tour we spent a few hours in the Jewish Quarter. The Prague Jewish Quarter is really a museum now with very few Jews living there. Much of the religious treasures of the Czech Jews were collected and archived in Prague because Hitler had planned to make the area a museum to all of the Jews he was planning to exterminate. The museum ticket included visit to the Pinkas Synagogue which had an interesting video showing a “fly-over” of a 1800’s paper model of the old Jewish Quarter before it was torn down in 1900’s to make room for new city. We visited the Spanish Synagogue without our guide which had some interesting exhibits about the history of the Jews. We also visited the Holocaust Memorial where the names of the 80,000 Czech Jews are listed on wall after wall. The topsy turvy old cemetery has 12,000 tombstones covering some graves that are 7 and 8 bodies deep.
The Castle Quarter
The Castle Quarter is located on a hill on the West side of the river looking down to the East Side. It is walkeable or you can take a tram from the Old Town. We took the tram up and walked down. This area includes the Prague Castle which is more like a palace complex than a castle and the Gothic/Neo Gothic styled St. Vitus Cathedral. There are beautiful vistas from the Strahov Monastery.
We walked across the Charles Bridge many times and it was always filled with people, vendors and a few beggars who lay with their head on the ground, a dog next to them and a cup for donations.
We attended one evening concert at the Klementium Mirror Hall to hear music by Czech composers Vivaldi, Smetana, and Dvorak. There were many opportunities to hear live classical music at the various churches and other venues every night.
The city is very busy as it is high season. The temperatures range from cool in the morning to warm in the afternoon. It’s a pedestrian city with all cobblestone roads. You need good shoes.