Destination 7 – Prague, Czech Republic
Where? Holiday Inn Prague Airport and Prague Trendy Apartments
When? Friday 26 June – Tuesday 30 June
Official language? Czech
Interesting facts I’ve learnt about Prague:
- Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and is nestled between Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.
- Prague is up there with London, Paris and Rome as one of the most visited cities in Europe. Among many other draw cards, Prague is a tourist hot spot because of it’s beautiful and varied historical buildings. Many of which still stand, having survived the destruction of World War II.
- Prague Castle, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is the largest ancient castle in the world and is unfathomably old too dating back to the year 870!
- Within Prague Castle is an ancient street known as ‘Zlata Ulicka’ (Golden Lane). Legend has it that this street was home to Alchemists that were secretly producing gold using special powers!
Prague Castle in the distance taken from Charles Bridge
A snapshot of thoughts and insights I have gained over the past few days in Prague:
- The Czech language seems to be a tough one. Lots of unfamiliar sounds and combinations of letters that I’d have no idea how to pronounce. Thankfully, ‘hello’ in Czech is ‘ahoy’!
- This city soars to the top of the list in the looks department! It really is so breathtakingly beautiful. As Prague remained mostly untouched during the war (some say it was because Hitler wished to retire in Prague), it really puts on a show in terms of architecture. The building facades are intricately decorated and painted with pretty pastel colours.
- It appears this is the place to come for Europeans who want a fun and cheap weekend away. There are bundles of merry groups of men and women in fancy dress getting about town.
- Prague is absolutely brimming with buskers, particularly along the famous Charles Bridge. They really add a joyous holiday feel to the city as you wander around.
- There seems to be a great deal of homelessness in Prague. I’ve read that the number of men and women on the streets is growing quite drastically year by year. There is a social enterprise here called ‘Pragulic’ that offers city tours run by the homeless.
- Segway’s are the bomb in Prague. There are people zipping around on them everywhere you look.
- Got to pee? That will be 10 Czech Korunas. It’s costs you to use a public toilet here, as it does in most European cities. We’re constantly scrapping our purses for coins!
While I was really keen to get to Prague during this trip, I initially hadn’t worked it into my travel plans. Thankfully, Julia and Kai, our friends from Germany, had let me know they were keen for a little trip away so we brainstormed and made a list of some of the nearby cities we all wanted to visit. Amsterdam and Bruges were in the mix but, in looking into last minute transport and accommodation options, (we had less than 2 weeks to plan) Prague came out as the winner.
I chose to fly into Prague the night before Julia and Kai were arriving because the next cheap flight from Bristol the following day arrived too late, cutting away at the few days that we had to explore. Walking into my room at the Holiday Inn, this is the first time during the trip that I feel quite alone. Here I am, in a country I’ve never been to before, not knowing a word of the language besides ahoy! I’ve got so used to having people around me so being on my own, I feel at a loss as to what to do! So I head to bed excited to see Julia and Kai the next day.
We meet each other on the Saturday and walk, with a few wrong turns along the way, to our apartment. Prague “Trendy” Apartments nonetheless. We’re located perfectly in the Old Town of Prague. Many of the cities I’ve been to so far have had an Old Town and a New Town. The Old Towns tend to be far more pretty and rich in history.
So where do we start with exploring Prague? A quick shop at H&M of course! There’s a sale on so it would be wrong not to.
We have a massive lunch at a sushi place – it’s become a tradition when I see Julia and Kai. There’s a Chihuahua eating at a table not far from us. It doesn’t look like the first time it’s been a customer here either. He’s sitting there, so well-mannered sipping on soup. I wish I’d got a photo. There’s a sweet young Czech girl waitressing that asks us where we’re from and how we all became friends. She’s from a smaller town of the Czech Republic but nonetheless she gives us some suggestions of things to see while we’re here in the capital.
We head back to the apartment to put something warmer on as it’s become a bit chilly. I come over really tired and lie on the end of my bed insisting that I wasn’t going to sleep, just “resting my eyes”. Typically though I doze off! I’m not getting a good reputation in this regard, particularly when I’m with Julia and Kai. They must think I’m a major sloth! We laugh when I wake up because I’d slept with my coat and shoes on and everything! We call it the “Sleeping Coat”. Sleeping in style!
Feeling refreshed after the nanna nap, we head out for an evening walk over Charles Bridge. It’s speckled with lively buskers and heaving with tourists. It’s a lovely place to be, particularly as the sun starts to set.
Waking up the next morning and taking the first few steps of a new day, I feel really on top of the world. I don’t think there’s anything like the exhilaration you feel when you’re exploring a new country. You hear a new language, you’re constantly seeing new things, the currency is different, the people are different. It’s this sort of feeling, this thrill I get from traveling, that is absolute gold to me. If only you could bottle it!
We venture out to Prague Castle expertly navigating the Prague metro and tram network (thanks Julia!) We arrive to the castle thankful we hadn’t tried to walk it as it’s perched on a steep hilltop. There’s an exquisite cathedral here, one of, if not the best, cathedrals I’ve ever seen.
There’s a queue out the front entrance and all the way around the inside walls as people snap away at the colourful stain glass windows.
After walking down from the hilltop, we enjoy a freshly squeezed juice and sit on a park bench watching the world go by. We then stumble across some food markets where we all eat a hot dog and try out a ‘Trdelnik’ which is a traditional sweet pastry made from rolled dough and covered in sugar and walnut mix!
That night, after a lazy afternoon of shopping and listening to a busker called ‘Mr G’ sing for what must have been hours, we decide to eat dinner at a restaurant just next door to our apartment. We walk in and stand for a few minutes with no one realising we’re there. Eventually a waitress emerges and hands us some menus. We all sit down, a little confused because the food is so incredibly cheap but there’s not another soul in the place! Not a good sign! For 3 meals and 3 drinks the bill comes to a total of only $35! While the food was cheap, the service was pretty terrible! The waitress even turned the lights off on us to get us out of there!
The next day we make a trip to the New Town to see a modern monument called the ‘Dancing House’, fondly referred to as ‘Fred and Ginger’. It was designed by a Croatian-Czech architect, Vlado Milunic and a Canadian-American architect, Fred Gehry. Coincidentally, I had stumbled upon a documentary (sounds so sophisticated!) about Gehry on TV only a few nights before. In watching the documentary I learnt that Gehry is 86 years old and still working. How’s that for loving what you do!
We spend the rest of our day at the Prague Zoo (always a good move for big kids at heart!) which is really impressive and deservedly ranked the 4th best zoo in the world on TripAdviser.
We end up back on the Charles Bridge for our last night to watch the sun set. Julia and I chat away listening to some jazz musicians while Kai wrestles for a spot amongst the other photographers with his tripod.
We have a laugh joking that I should be a permanent addition to Kai and Julia’s holidays so that I can keep Julia company while Kai snaps away with his camera. I wish that could be possible! These guys live too far away from Perth. I desperately wish we lived closer to one another.
I find myself thinking about distance quite a lot lately. Many of my closest friends no longer live in Perth. How lucky I was to have them in Perth for the time that I did. In a way, it makes me feel that maybe I should set sail too and try living somewhere other than WA while I’m still young and free from big commitments. Well that’s another blog for another time…
Prague is pretty beyond words. The people are friendly, the food won’t break the bank and the atmosphere of the city just completely takes you over. If you haven’t been to Prague, you absolutely need to put it on your travel wishlist.
To take a squizz at more of Kai’s amazing photos he captured while in Prague, check out Praha 2015
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