Prague-tically Perfect
I think the guide we had for our Prague walking tour is cursed. It didn't matter what alley or out of the way place he found to stop us, as soon as he started his explanations there would be a cacophonous racket a few moments later. He was interrupted by everything; from an ambulance, to construction hammering, to angry people stuck in traffic blaring their horns, to - I kid you not - a really loud go-kart. While it was amusing watching his mental breakdown, we did manage to glean a few facts in between the revving engines and jackhammering concrete. We started in the old town square which is a fun assortment of architectures, from the two Gothic buildings to the baroque church and roco houses. The gothic town hall also has the world's second oldest working astronomical clock on the side which puts on a show every hour, which our guide advertised as the "Biggest Disappointment in Europe." Basically, a skeleton pulls a string, a bunch of vice characters shake their heads, refusing to answer the call of death, and a couple of apostles go around in a circle. Pretty clock though.
Prague is still relatively preserved, compared to other eastern cities, because there wasn't a final battle fought here in WWII, it was surrendered to the Soviets. We walked past Wenceslas Square, around the Jewish Quarter that apparently has the synagogue with the Golem in the attic, and through all the winding street to Charles Bridge. The restaurant we stopped at for lunch had a beautifully painted wooden ceiling and medieval frescos on the wall, and more importantly, really cheap beer. For the afternoon we decided to czech out the Prague castle tour, basically everything on castle hill counts as part of the castle, because once again it's a mismatch of buildings. Steve loved the guide's story of how nobles kept the wooded moat so that they could shoot deer from their windows like a bunch of blue-blooded rednecks, it reminded us of Uncle Pete, either of them. In the garden, there was a mini amphitheatre that if you stood at the centre of it and spoke into the steps, it sounded as though it was being electronically fed back to you. We saw the window out of which the Second Defenestration of Prague occurred in 1618 took place and for those who don't know: The explanation of defenestration is the cooperation of the disgruntled nation leading to the emancipation of the administration from a high elevation. Also there was a whisper arch in the church that Steve and I confirmed worked. We saw the changing of the guards, as well as one protester who had apparently been there for the last 2500ish days. In the golden lane, we could wander around the various shops and displays. They had a room set up as an alchemist's workshop, a torture room, and a weapons room which is Steve's goal for his room, to have it covered in swords, spears, axes and muskets. From the castle walls we had a beautiful view of the sunset over the city.
Day 2: The chimney cakes in Budapest were amazing, but in Prague, they fill them with Nutella and ice-cream - an important part of this balanced breakfast. Today, we retraced our walking tour steps, tried so see how much we could remember of what we'd been told, this time without the noisy interruptions. We saw the Mozart concert hall where one of his famous operas was first performed, we crossed the river and hiked up the the Pendulum on top of the hill. I fell asleep on the grass in the park for a bit, adding to the list of weird places I've slept when I've been in Europe: a burger king, outside a theatre in London, Paris North Train station, Gatwick airport, the lawn beside the leaning tower of Pisa, a viking long hall and a medieval castle. We sat on the grass watching the graceful herds of Segway riders file past. We walked to the John Lennon wall, with the required guy playing the guitar and singing ‘Imagine.’
There was a bit of an episode that evening. I had been taking photos on the Charles Bridge, which is beautiful, but unfortunately everyone agrees, so it's crawling with people I don't want in my pictures. A little while later, when we were off the bridge and farther up the street I went to put my camera back in my bag and it's not there. I look back at Steve, cause previously I'd clip it onto his backpack, but it wasn't there either. I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life, back to the bridge, to the place I'd been taking photos. My mind was in complete white out. It wasn't there, I asked the people standing near and they hadn't seen anything. I was decently calm all things considered, there wasn't much in there but I was already thinking how I'd replace everything. Steve said afterwards that he was looking around at people, seeing if one of them had taken it and worrying that he might have to fight someone to get it back, which was sweet until I found out he was also thinking that he was glad it was me who had messed up and not him - brat. I asked one of the stall people where the nearest police station was, explained why, and two girls overheard me. They showed me a selfie they had just taken, where in the background there was a soldier and a policeman holding my camera bag. This is the first and last time I will be thankful for selfies. I dashed to the end of the bridge and found the gents just as they were passing it off to a squad car. After everything you hear about people warning you about pick pockets, I was amazed that I got it back and it didn't leave my hand for the rest of the trip.
Day 3: Steve and I met up with Sandra, who I had met back in October when I saw Hamlet in London, She had seen that I was in Prague from Facebook so she trained in from Germany to hang out for the day! Love Europe! We met at the Alphonse Mucha museum, who is an artist I've never heard of but I found I really loved his drawings, bought a lot of postcards. We walked to the military fort, Vyšehrad, now a park, which I find rather poetic. There were still soldiers patrolling all around the fort, and around the city in general, which gives you an odd awareness when you see military personal all over the place. It's the paranoia you feel when a cop is driving behind you, even when you're not speeding. We found an amazing medieval shop where I wanted to buy everything, but restrained myself, partly because I wouldn't know what would be authentically acceptable in de Bec, and because I still couldn't get a handle on the conversion rate so I didn't want to spend any money just in case. Crossed the river again, to see the Kafka museum and walk around. Sandra headed home and Steve and I headed to the beer museum. We had a paddle of a selection of various beers, which were quite good but still confirmed that I still prefer cider. After an amazing dinner at a restaurant near the hostel we went to bed. In the morning Steve went to the bus station to head back to Freidrichschafen and on a few days later back to Canada, while in the evening I took a plane back to the UK.
