Prague

I have heard numerous people rave about Prague over the years and now that I have been there, I can tell you that it is one of my favourite cities. It truly is a beauty to behold. Did you know that its nickname is “City of a Hundred Spires”? You will understand why when you see some of my pictures.

We arrived in Prague via train from Dresden. Once again, we were told that we didn’t have a reservation. I know, I’m starting to sound like a broken record. I told the staff that I was not prompted to make a reservation when purchasing the tickets. Thankfully, once again, it all worked out in the end and we made our scheduled train. So, a word of advice… when buying tickets from Canada, make sure that you not only buy the tickets, but that you make a reservation as well. Or, if you buy your tickets in Canada, make sure that once you get to Europe that you call the train company a minimum of 24 hours in advance of your departure to reserve your seats.

This train ride was more interesting than the last because we paralleled the Elbe River. There were lots of quaint homes along the way as well as some more substantial homes. We arrived to a cloudy, but warm day. Fortunately, the metro line was in the same building as Prague Main Station so, without leaving the building, we were able to take the metro to a station near our hotel. This was the first time that we were not in walking distance to the places we wanted to see.

It was quite a struggle getting from the metro station to the hotel the first time due to the lack of ramps. A local woman apologized to us for this, saying that her city is not very wheelchair accessible. She told us we would have to take the metro to the next stop, get off and come back on the other side so that we would be on the same side as our hotel. Luckily, we were able to find a route that worked without having to take her advice.

After checking in to the hotel, we were ready for a bite to eat. We checked our map program, and it said that there were a couple of restaurants nearby. Upon arriving at the first one, we saw that the pictures online were deceiving. It looked like there was only one step up, which we could handle, but when we got there, there were four. We then thought we’d try the restaurant kitty-corner to the hotel, but we got a lot of strange looks from the locals and decided to have dinner at the hotel. Thankfully, the hotel had a restaurant, and we were able to enjoy a nice meal.

The next day we headed into the Old Town via the metro. We were several stops away, but it felt like we got there in no time because boy, did that metro fly! Once we popped up from the station, we began to meander in what we felt was the right direction. We came across this amazing street (Václavské Námĕstí where Wenceslas Square is). It was so incredibly wide and was for pedestrians only. It was full of shops and restaurants. Clearly it was a popular street because the restaurant patios were full of people.

Wenceslas Square

As we continued our way to the Old Town, we came across a market I was hoping to see – the Havelské tržištĕ. This market has been in existence for over 800 years! It’s an open-air market with permanent wooden stalls where you can buy fresh produce, souvenirs, homemade crafts, and grab a bite to eat. We were feeling a bit peckish, so of course we stopped to grab something.

After easing our hunger, we made a point of checking out the Astronomical Clock. We had seen it in several videos while doing our research on Prague. It is one of the main tourist draws in the city. The clock was built in 1410. There is a false legend that says that Master Hanuš was the maker of the clock and was blinded by Prague councillors when they found out that he was making an even better clock for another city. This however, as stated, is a false legend. The real original clockmakers were Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel. If you visit Prague, you will find the Astronomical Clock on the southern wall of the Old Town City Hall (civitatis Prague).

It is an incredible piece of craftsmanship which does its thing every hour on the hour between – 8 in the morning (or possibly 9, depending on the source) and 11 p.m. As you can imagine, the crowds – made up of hundreds of people - gather in anticipation to watch the event. What do you actually see? Well, windows open and the 12 Apostles rotate around. A skeleton (representing Death) rings a bell, figures of Vanity (a mirror), a Miser (represented by a bag of money), and a Turk (to represent leisure) appear. For the big finale, a rooster crows. All of this happens in about 45 seconds. I looked over at some tourists we had chatted with from the States, and we both gave a shrug. I thought, that’s it? It didn’t seem like it was worth the hype.

Once I started researching the clock, however, I found out about the various pieces of information the clock conveys. It really is remarkable! If you know how to read it, the clock tells Central European Time, Old Bohemian Time and Star Time - also known as Sidereal Time. Star Time measures Earth’s rotation in relation to fixed stars. Believe it or not, the clock also tracks the positions of the sun and moon, as well as the phases of the moon. Further, the Astronomical Clock tracks sunset & sunrise, seasons, and which Zodiac constellation the sun is currently in.

Below the clock is another face. It is a calendar. On it, there is a section divided into 365 boxes, each box containing the name of a saint. Another section is for the months of the year. Here, images show seasonal activities and symbols. Yet another section, marks each month’s zodiac sign. See what I mean! There is so much information is provided by this clock (and calendar)!

The entire Old Town of Prague, which is where we spent most of our time, is cobblestone. You really have to watch where you place your feet. Randy was bounced around like popcorn getting ready to pop. He said that if he “ate marbles he’d sh*t sand”. That made me belly laugh.

Franze Kafke is clearly an important figure in Czech history. For those of you who don’t know, and I didn’t even though I had heard his name before, Franz Kafke was an influential Austrian-Czech writer and novelist. During our time in Prague, we saw a couple of Kafke…how can I accurately describe what we saw…art installations??? First, there was the rotating head (which was really cool), then, in the Jewish Quarter, there was the statue with a large hollow suit with a small body on top that is Franz Kafke. This statue is a memorial inspired by his short story Description of a Struggle. There was also a Kafke museum, which we did not take in.

On one of our last days in Prague I ventured out on my own and went to the Prague Castle and the Petřín Tower. At Prague Castle, I met Miguel from Mexico. He was there by himself too, so we decided to roam the castle together. The cathedral on the property had some stunning elements. The sun shone through the stained glass painting its colours on the walls. It was eye-catching. We also saw a bunch of armour that was worn over the years. It was fascinating to see how the metal work evolved. In amongst the collection was the armour that Heath Ledger wore in the movie A Knight’s Tale. I thought that was pretty cool!

When finished at the castle, I walked down through a garden. I’m not sure if it was part of the castle or not. Anyway, it was a long walk down. I then went to the Petřín Tower. To get there I had to walk up, up, up. It was an 800-metre climb, mostly of stairs, just to get there. Then of course, I paid to climb up the actual tower so I could take in the view from the tippy-top. The tower was built in 1891 and is a loose copy of the Eiffel Tower. The ratio of Petřín Tower to the Eiffel Tower is 1:5 and it stretches 58.7 m. high with 299 steps to the top.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t had anything to eat that morning and only a few sips of water before leaving the hotel. Let me tell you, that was a big mistake. I had just finished the climb to get to the tower and at that point I was still feeling okay. Even as I began my climb, I was alright. However, as I neared the top I began to feel lightheaded. My face got cold, I began to sweat, and there was a slight ringing in my ears. I honestly thought I was going to vomit. I pushed through as long as I could, until I couldn’t go any further. I finally had to sit down on the narrow spiral staircase. People passed me by as if I wasn’t even there. At this point, I was doing a lot, and I mean a lot of self talk to get myself through without either a) passing out, or b) throwing up. I knew that I needed water but had none with me. I was truly surprised how many people went by me without thinking to ask if I was okay because clearly I was not. It was interesting to me, and I remember thinking this at the time, that it was two men who checked in with me. I was able to voice that I needed water. The first didn’t have any, but thankfully the second man did. I was completely dehydrated and my blood sugar had plummeted. The gentleman kindly gave me his nearly full water bottle. I took my time consuming it and about 15 or so minutes later started to feel like I’d be able to continue. I heard someone from above call down to me that I was almost at the top. Taking that as encouragement, I was finally able to stand up and cautiously navigated my way up the last 12 steps. That’s how close I had got when all of this happened. Craziness! I took my time looking around once I got to the top taking pictures and video of the city. It’s hard to imagine the rough shape I was in only minutes before taking the photos you see below. It was worth it and in the end I’m glad I did it, but man, I didn’t need the experience to be THAT memorable. Once I got down, I immediately went to a food vendor and got myself something to eat. It’s amazing how quickly I felt better once I was hydrated and fed.

Another memorable experience I had in Prague was visiting a Banksy exhibit. Randy noticed the exhibit first and encouraged me to go and take a look. Banksy, whose real name and identity are unknown, is known for his street art through which he expresses his social and political views. His art melds dark humor with graffiti, using a unique stenciling technique. Banksy’s work has appeared around the world on various streets, walls, and bridges. I had seen a couple of Banksy’s pieces before going into the exhibit, like the Girl with the Red Balloon, but being that I’m not into art, I wasn’t aware who Banksy was or that it was one of his pieces.

I mentioned earlier that we had to take the metro from our hotel to get to Prague’s Old Town. Something I feel compelled to share about Prague’s metro before wrapping things up, is how challenging their corresponding elevators were to find when above ground. They were tucked away as if they were a local secret not to be shared. Honestly, the metro elevators were so far removed from the stairs down to the stations, that we felt like we were on a treasure hunt. Take a look at the picture below. The elevator feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere; there’s no evidence of a metro station in sight. It was so weird.

One last note. We finally learned our lesson about booking assistance on the trains ahead of time. I guess because we had got away with it too many times, we just assumed that everyone would accommodate us. Not so. The train booking agents in Prague would not bend. We had to cancel our ticket to Vienna and book one for the following day. Luckily, we were able to get a full refund, and I was able to find us a boutique hotel right near the train station. Miss Sophie’s Downtown was its name. It was a quaint hotel that we both really liked. This meant we had one less day in Vienna, however, it gave us one more opportunity to enjoy the incredible city that is Prague.