I arrived to Prague on Sunday, and I leave tonight. I don't want to leave, but Vienna awaits.
When I arrived, I was feeling pretty awful from a full night out in Berlin on Saturday, but I headed into town to explore nonetheless. Walked around as it got dark, fascinated by the architecture and the castle looming in the distance on the other side of the Vlatva River. Got a little turned around, found something to eat, and jumped back on the tram to go home.
When I arrived, I was feeling pretty awful from a full night out in Berlin on Saturday, but I headed into town to explore nonetheless. Walked around as it got dark, fascinated by the architecture and the castle looming in the distance on the other side of the Vlatva River. Got a little turned around, found something to eat, and jumped back on the tram to go home.
Monday I explored the city alone. I managed to see quite a bit of it, as it's really a small city compared with Berlin. Berlin has about 14 pages of maps in my DK guide, Prague, six. A bit smaller, but I'm not sure what the scale is like.
Prague is a city of twists and turns, of winding roads and changing street names. All the streets are stone and about as wide as your thumb, so it's tough to get around and easy to get killed. But believe me, I'd rather die in Prague than live in a lot of places I've been.
Prague is a city of twists and turns, of winding roads and changing street names. All the streets are stone and about as wide as your thumb, so it's tough to get around and easy to get killed. But believe me, I'd rather die in Prague than live in a lot of places I've been.
Monday ended simply enough, I headed back to the hostel, had a couple of beers at the "bar" there for about $1 USD each, and crashed out.
It was a massive day out in Prague Tuesday, as Markus from Perth, Australia and I headed out to hit the town. Went up to the castle where we somehow managed to see the president of Lithuania. Took the funicular (read: tram) down to the base of the Vlatva river and stumbled into the Museum of Modern Art where we were treated to an exhibition by Kupka. More on him later.
Headed out to ask about some tourist activities. Maybe it was the Prague talking, but we wanted to do something special to commemorate our trip. So we sussed out some help from the tourism office.
We asked the girl at the tourism office, "Excuse me, do you speak English?"
"Yes," she proudly replied.
I cleared my throat and said, "We'd like to jump out of a plane." She wasn't quite sure she'd heard us right. Markus bit his lip, hard, to keep from bursting out laughing.
"Excuse me?" she asked, puzzled.
Next we headed to Klub Arkitecture for dinner. Had some asian-fusion style pork and some local dumplings, along with Czech beer, of course, some of the best and cheapest in the world. It was almost $2.25 USD per pint at this club, which is actually pretty expensive for this place. Yeah I know, I'm in heaven.
Finally, after dinner, we decided to catch some music at one of Prague's many excellent jazz clubs. Finally found one after trying to find another one from Markus' Lonely Planet guide that listed the wrong address. They had a sign on the door that read, WE ARE NOT JAZZ CLUB. WE DO NOT KNOW JAZZ CLUB.
"Yes," she proudly replied.
I cleared my throat and said, "We'd like to jump out of a plane." She wasn't quite sure she'd heard us right. Markus bit his lip, hard, to keep from bursting out laughing.
"Excuse me?" she asked, puzzled.
Next we headed to Klub Arkitecture for dinner. Had some asian-fusion style pork and some local dumplings, along with Czech beer, of course, some of the best and cheapest in the world. It was almost $2.25 USD per pint at this club, which is actually pretty expensive for this place. Yeah I know, I'm in heaven.
Finally, after dinner, we decided to catch some music at one of Prague's many excellent jazz clubs. Finally found one after trying to find another one from Markus' Lonely Planet guide that listed the wrong address. They had a sign on the door that read, WE ARE NOT JAZZ CLUB. WE DO NOT KNOW JAZZ CLUB.
When we finally got to a decent one, we saw an excellent four-piece combo complete with a vocalist with stylings recalling Bebel Gilberto and an older gentleman whose fingers were difficult to see when he played his stand-up bass. The guitarist had serious chops as well.
We stumbled home after two sets, finally springing for a cab after we couldn't find the 52 (night tram) back to the hostel. Our hostel, by the way, was absolutely excellent. Look up The Boat House if you're ever fortunate enough to find yourself here.
We stumbled home after two sets, finally springing for a cab after we couldn't find the 52 (night tram) back to the hostel. Our hostel, by the way, was absolutely excellent. Look up The Boat House if you're ever fortunate enough to find yourself here.
I have been writing this over the last couple of days. I´m in Vienna, heartbroken that I had to leave Prague, but we´ll see what this city brings. Not much so far.
I´ll try to post more on Prague soon, and something on Vienna. Watch this space for the story of the dumbest thing I´ve done on this or any other vacation.
4 comments:
Good to see you back online.
Certainly sounds like good times, can't wait to see the slide show and lecture once you get back.
I have a friend that spends every Spring living in Berlin and working as a singer in the jazz clubs there. Who knew Prague had a scene, too?
Dumbest thing you've ever done? That's a pretty tall order...
-S
Everyone always raves about Prague so I was excited to be finally going there for a long weekend. The weather was excellent, the city was interesting and we didn't have any trouble with pick-pockets.We booked a room in one of the Prague hotels right in the center of the Old Town - wanting to be close to everything. We ate a lot of dumplings and drank a lot of beer. It was an interesting few day and we did fall in love with Prague like most people do. It has a fabulous Castle, Cathedrals, Squares and it just did capture our heart.
Hello Maashu
I pretty much agree with you, I’ve been to Prague many times and I never get sick of it. I love the small streets and the mystic environment. Walking from street to street, even if alone always makes me feel so small but at the same time so well connected to the city. The New Art connected to the buildings, shops, restaurants and cafes always gives me the feeling to be in-between the XIX and the XX century, reminding me of Mucha. Although I found the city very safe, I never had a problem for being out until late and alone or ever saw any incident.
What I also enjoy in this city is the night life, the Prague music clubs are all so cozy and have such a nice environment and decoration and make you want to stay long. If you want to go there again I leave you here a nice site with good clubs to go.
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