Prague, As Best I Can Tell It! (Part 1)

September 12, 2011

I am setting out to regale my several days in Prague as part of IES' "3 Cities Tour." I feel like I need to say more than I can, but if I don't just do it, it will never get done, so I'm doing the best I can to explain everything! We arrived the first night and had an authentic goulash in a Czech restaurant. Afterward we took a boat tour and got a cursory introduction to Prague, beautiful as it was at night.

Inside Prague Castle

The next morning we got up and were off touring. This first day we toured the main attraction of Prague, the Prague Castle, the largest castle in the world. It houses the impressive St. Vitus Cathedral, as well as several other churches, basilicas, and the quaint Golden Lane of ancient shops. After seeing this exquisite site we continued on to see the Lesser Town and some of the Old Town, walking down past the John Lennon Wall, across the Lover's Bridge, and finally across the Charles Bridge.

St. Vitus from behind

Prague Castle and St. Vitus' Cathedral speak essentially for themselves. The other monuments however are impressive in their own right. The John Lennon Wall gained graffiti after his murder from young students in Prague who wanted to express their desires for freedom, peace, love, and so forth. Some years ago the government decided that the wall was an eyesore and ordered the owner to paint over the built up graffiti They did so in the course of a normal workday, the wall white by the time the sun set. The next morning, it looked exactly as it had the prior to beginning the work.

A great tradition, in my opinion!

The lover's bridge, if not a canvas for sentimental words, is perhaps the realization of sentimental feelings. Couples come to the bridge (most likely in the evening or night) either when they are engaged, getting married, just married, or perhaps for proposal. They take a lock and lock it around the metal of the bridge with the key and then throw the key away into the river, symbolizing their eternal commitment. Many of the locks have things written on them, as well. We'll leave the few locks that had sprung open and those that looked like they could be slid off the grate well enough alone.

The Charles Bridge has been around since about the 13th century, and in light of that is an incredible piece of architecture. Churches are mammoth in scale and gorgeous, but a bridge must not only be beautiful but very functional and robust. It was a stunning piece of engineering. After this we had another lunch that was also traditional, a sort of pork wrapped around dumplings. The time after lunch was laid aside for us to do whatever interested us, find our way around, go back to places we liked before, and so on.

The city, seen from the Castle

I had seen a crown keychain that represented the jewels kept in St. Vitas' Cathedral and I decided I would go back to try to buy it. I didn't buy it at first because I thought, "no, that's too tacky for a family ornament." But now there's quite a story to accompany the piece! I at this point had a bit of a headache and I was trying to get back by 6:15 for dinner. I took some wrong turns but finally made it back across the river, up the mountain, into the castle, and to the gift shop, just as it closed. At this point, my headache had gotten worse. Eschewing the group dinner, I bought a sandwich and some ice cream for the road, and decided to make my way back to the hotel. This was the challenge: I speak no Czech, I had a splitting headache, I had not eaten since lunch, and I was now far from the central square where they had told us we could find easy public transportation; I had no map and I had no public transportation guide; I knew only the name of the streetcar station next to the hotel. With only this information I, several walking miles, two subway stops, and a streetcar ride later, arrived at the hotel about an hour and forty-five minutes later. I went to bed for about two hours before getting up again and eating my sandwich, before then going back to bed. The next day will be in the next post, but here are some additional photos: