"A beautiful old town" a Prague Travel Page by jo104

I have made good on my promise to return to Prague & catch up on all the sites I missed before as a result of bad weather & trying to keep up with my local Czech friend who breezed through the sites with no particular detail.

So this visit I was prepared armed with a guide book I got from the library, my warm clothes & my wit's about me ready to take on this great city in all its snowy wonder. My friend Rich was a great travel companion & a rather good photographer so we will leave the arty shots to him & the historical information to me.

We got off to an early start catching the first tube to Heathrow which is 5.22am as our flight was departing at 7.55am. When we arrived in Prague we used the ATM & drew some CZK then purchased a 3 day travel pass. It took us only 30min total to get to the hotel. Which was fab just like the website & I practised my Czech with the receptionist as I believe its only polite to learn a few important words in the country’s native language.

We took a saunter around Old Town Square warming ourselves up with a cup of mulled wine & a parek (sausage in bread). The best way to get the feel of the area is to walk around & discover those hidden treasures & secret passages away from the maddening crowds. We decided to go up the clock tower & to make things interesting Rich & I had a race to the top – I won (but of course) do I have to confess I took the elevator??

We had a sandwich & coffee at this great cafe we found called Cafe Beirut, the owner was very friendly & we spent some time relaxing, warming up & playing chess as well as backgammon. Then across Charles Bridge to meet up with VT’er Walter & his friends at U Mecenase a traditional Czech restaurant. Our food was yummy & the place was very atmospheric. When we left it was snowing a lot so we took refuge in a cocktail bar & when in Prague do what the Prague people do – Uhm drink. We walked home in the early hours of the morning the snow had not stopped so we took the opportunity to hurl snow at each other.

That evening Rich woke me up at 4am to say I was snoring then promptly went to sleep & started snoring himself – geez that’s not fair. I was so tired I forgot to set my phone alarm correctly for brekkie.

On sunday morning we went to the Jewish quarter & visited several synagogues & the Old Jewish cemetery. The irony of the fact that there is such a vast collection of Jewish religious artefacts here in Prague is that Hitler himself preserved the Josefov ghetto so he would have a site for his “Exotic Museum to an Extinct race”. It was quite a moving experience especially after reading of how the Prague jews had been mistreated across the ages. One thing that infuriated me inside these synagogues is people being disrespectful taking photo’s this is strictly not allowed.

We enjoyed a pub lunch at Olympia which is part of the Urquell brewery. Then we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Vysehrad. I think the Vysehrad is probably best experienced in the summer as it can be a quiet retreat from the masses. We did however find the cemetery quite amazing with the different way the snow fell on the gravestones.

For dinner we went to Mount Steak which was probably the best steak I have eaten in Europe, with 60 different steaks to chose from, some more exotic like kangaroo, alligator & ostrich how can you go wrong. We also enjoyed all the Czech wine we had each day this is produced in Moravia & its not exported as they do not have the quota.

Monday was a wonderfully clear day so we decided to take the funicular up to Petrin & visit the look out tower as well as the mirror maze. Unfortunately the funicular was closed so Rich decided to walk up the snowy hill but I chickened out fairly early as it was quite slippy & steep. So I left the mountain goat to take my snaps for me whilst I visited the John Lennon wall & into the quiet district of Kampa. After lunch we walked over Charles bridge looking at statue in detail reading about each one, I’m surprised nobody joined my group. I give some of the more interesting details of the statues in my Charles bridge tip.

That evening we dressed up & went to the opera to see Rigolletto, the inside of the national theatre was so awesome & the opera was a real treat.

The next day we arrived at Prague castle at 10am thinking we would have beaten the crowds but sadly they obviously thought the same thing. We decided to not purchase a ticket for all the sites as there were so many tour groups competing with each other you could not expect any quiet time to reflect & marvel the sites. We decided to only visit Golden Lane which is touristy but can be fun as well, we tried our hand at archery. There is a good look out point at the steps of the castle so great for photo’s on a clear day.

We then went to the cathedral crypt of sv Cyrl and Metodej this is where 7 agents hid, who were involved in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, from the Nazi’s. I have written more about the assassination of the Butcher of Prague in my tip. A story of courage is displayed by these young men who hid in this crypt & whose hiding place was made known to the Nazi’s by one of the Czech resistance. They eventually committed suicide rather then give themselves up.

Our final meal before heading off to the airport was at Klub Architect which was good although dessert was nothing to rave about.

We had a great time in Prague, a fascinating city & although I felt sorry for the locals who said it was a particularly hard winter, it was good for us as it kept the tourists at bay.

The pictures on my Prague pages are a mixture of my own and my friend Rich who accompanied me on this trip in capacity of photographer ;-) Rich has now joined VT after meeting some excellent VT'ers so all photo's are used with his permission Tingles