CZECH REPUBLIC: Part One – The City of Prague

By: MJ + PJ

Heading north from Austria, we planted ourselves for another nine day stay. It is an ideal period of time – we knew we had plenty of options and things to see, and yet time to slow down and take some easy days. Prague didn’t disappoint! Take a look at our BUCKETED: Month Eleven list to see all the things we did. There were far too many to discuss them all in detail! You can also check out our Prague photos HERE and regional Czech Republic photos HERE.

CHANGING TRAINS AND CULTURE

The train ride from Salzburg started with the first class lounge. Yeah! Once we got to Linz we changed to an older international train, where we shared a cabin with some other travelers. We were all a bit surprised when we were told that we would be transferring to a bus about halfway to Prague, to bypass a part of the line which was under repair. 

This next part of the transit story cannot remain untold. 

We hauled our luggage outside the station and were instructed to give it to this guy with a black van, who would take the bigger luggage ahead. This was communicated through gestures, as we did not have any grasp of the challenging Czech language. Everything was a bit abrupt. Our fellow travelers were willingly doing the same with their luggage… but MJ got a photo of the van because this was just plain odd. Why not use the bus undercarriage space? Why did this all of a sudden feel like Cold War Europe?

The only three seats left were at the very front of the bus. Did the other passengers know something about Czech bus drivers that we didn’t? Row two passengers told MJ and AJ that they could not sit in the front, but the bus driver dismissed their instructions and nodded towards the seats. PJ on the other hand, found out that she got to sit next to a gentleman who had consumed a few too many drinks. It was an uncomfortable half hour drive for all three of us.

Getting on the adjoining train was satisfyingly boring after we collected our luggage from the black van.

This little episode led to a longer than expected transit day, but the end was in sight. Exiting the Praha Station, we walked for about 30 minutes across the city to our Airbnb. This Airbnb had a strong theme – it was a force to be reckoned with!

Back to the old arrival drill of unpacking, testing WiFi and refrigeration, and checking things out on a map of the immediate area. After getting too many photos in our excitement at the reality of being guarded in our sleep by the entire Star Wars cast, we decided that we’d better head to the grocery store. Always an adventure, this time we had fun trying to work out why the Euro was not in use! 

WALKING TOUR of PRAGUE

Our first full day started with a rushed walk into the old city area to find our walking Sandeman’s tour guide. We learned a lot about the volatile history of the region, the Prague Spring, and the more recent turning point for a stoic people who are not afraid to face difficult situations. We came to realize there was much to see and do in Prague – yet unbeknownst to us, there was still far more than we expected and far more than we could fit in nine days.

The Czech people loved Michael Jackson, and also The Rolling Stones. The giant metronome across the river was replaced with a figure of Michael Jackson when he stayed in a hotel which faced that direction on one of his world tours. If you consider the size of the metronome, you’ll know how impressive this must have been to construct him overnight.

The Rolling Stones paid for the lighting at the Prague Castle. The Czech President, a leader in the Velvet Revolution break from communism, was a huge fan of the band. This led to the Rolling Stones’ lighting designer working on the grand halls’ lighting in the palace and a ceremonious handing over of a remote control for the lights. We were beginning to understand that, refreshingly, the unpretentious Czech people roll however they want.

During the half time break of the tour we got busy trying to schedule what additional tours we could do. We were in this city for nine days and while moving through Europe we had been on enough Sandemans free walking tours to have earned a few free paid ones. The company has a loyalty card that they stamp in each city with quite a list of rewards. We realized, arriving in Prague, that we had reached the reward threshold and could take some extra tours. Hooray!

Our Prague Sandeman’s guide had recommended doing the river cruise, so we did that on discounted tickets late on what was a cold afternoon. In the interim to that cruise, we walked around Old Town Square and explored the Easter Market which was in full swing. Doing what all tourists do, we watched the hour turn over on the Prague Astronomical Clock. The rest of the afternoon we tried to get our bearings a little for the coming days. 

We headed back to our Airbnb in the late afternoon light since we had an early departing tour the following day for the regional town of Kutna Hora.

CATS LIKE THAT

After two consecutive day-long tours (See our post titled Outside of Prague), we had an easy morning on our fourth day. This included visiting the cat cafe Kavarna Kocici, around the corner from our Airbnb.

AJ was particularly excited to hang with some cats. He has this life plan to own two cats, and he has quite detailed ideas about how he is going to name and train and exist with them. We had two cats who shared their lives with us in California and Colorado – luckily for them AJ did not pursue trying to train them in their last years.

The cafe was, of course, was filled with cosy spots to sit and it even had some varied seating for the humans. This provided for some quiet and passive co-existence between species, and AJ took advantage of the variety of cats and their relaxed state to take numerous photos. We had a coffee and tea, and some menu item that we can’t recall… look – it’s about the cats not the cafe!

There are more than five such cafes in Prague, so do yourself a kitty-favor when you go to Prague, and find yourself a seat near a cat. We may have to visit Tokyo where there are 10x that number.

JEWISH QUARTER

The afternoon was spent walking around the Jewish Quarter, which is contextually fascinating – not just from the World Wars perspective, but from the older history of Prague and Europe itself. To visit the various buildings and exhibits and the graveyard, you obtain a pass which is good for visiting over the space of a few days. 

The most impactful aspects of the Pinkas Synagogue were the names covering all the walls, the children’s artwork, and the old leather suitcases with numbers. Outside, the graveyard seemed to reflect the chaos of the history of the people and the area – almost too many headstones, and almost too many stories begging to be told. 

As we had visited the Terazin concentration camp, we had a stronger context for what the Jewish Community faced in the war years. The Jewish Quarter holds the history of what preceded and followed that point in history. To read about our visit to Terezin, check out our CZECH REPUBLIC: Part Two – Outside of Prague post. To read more about taking children on tours of concentration camps, visit our Concentration Camps: Insights Into Vulnerability post.

CHARLES BRIDGE and RIVER WALK

We finally walked the Charles Bridge. Within a year of us visiting, it was to be closed for repairs for at least a few decades, starting in 2020. It presents as a formidable and sturdy structure, even in the current state of aging. Over 500m (1/4 mile) long, it joins the old city area to Prague castle. Being over 500 years old, it is similar in age to St Barbara’s Church in Kutna Hora.

The bridge is quite busy, and the foot traffic did not seem to have a strict pattern. There were street vendors and buskers and plenty of tourists, but we were on the lookout for one person in particular. Actually, it was his statue we were looking for amongst the 30 lining the bridge. St John of Nepomuk (aka. Johnny 5 Stars) is the patron saint of Bohemia. We had learned about him, his story, and his fate while visiting Kutna Hora a few days earlier. He was thrown off the bridge into the Vltava River and drowned (Read more about him in our other post). Legend has it that if you place one finger on each of the five stars and make a wish, your wish is supposed to come true in the next year. His statue is well loved and worn, and of course we got some photos! (For instructions on how to have your wish granted, read here.)

On what was quite a cold afternoon, we continued our walk to the south west along the river. It took some time to find the Lennon Wall after getting lost in the back streets. We briefly stopped at a cold riverside playground, then crossed back over the Vltava on the Jiráskův Bridge where we saw the Dancing House (inspired by Fed Astaire and Ginger Rogers), taking plenty of photos along the way! We were tired and getting hungry.

There are several very old pubs in Prague, and as the timing was right and we were mere blocks away, we stopped at one on our way home in the fading light. The pub we walked into that evening was U Fleků, and our experience there was worthy of a HUMANITY post. 

NEED HEALTHCARE?

Getting healthcare in a different country brings with it all sorts of questions. A spot on MJ’s cheek needed an opinion, as did a wart on AJ’s finger. Booking a dermatology appointment a week beforehand, we took a train across the city to a large clinic where our international insurance was taken, and the staff spoke (some) English. Environment is important, but it can be confounding: The multi-service clinic was quite large and dated (Cold War era-ish), but the healthcare provider was adept and procedural. Although there was nothing complicated about our visit, it was a good insight into how healthcare looked in Central Europe.

After those appointments, day five got some momentum back in the city center. 

THE ELEVATOR

We visited an elevator. This sounds a bit weird, but it was on our bucket list for Prague. There are numerous such elevators in Prague, and the one we visited is in a building where the businesses carry on as normal and are probably not too keen about people loitering around staring at their elevator. We were a bit unsure about how this would pan out, but with a trio of other curious tourists beside us, we walked in to investigate.

A video tells a better story:

Watching this video, you probably have a few questions. So did we. 

No, it does not stop. You have to simply time it well. You don’t have to be very precise with timing as you have a bout a two second window (literally) to get on. This is not the type of elevator for those who have mobility or balance challenges, so there is also a set of wide concrete stairs…! Believe it, or not, your head scratching will be made worse by the fact that there is a medical office on one of the upper floors.

The elevator (as a loop system) has a sign which advises to not go up and over – you either are going up or down. We did not have the courage to do the whole loop for fear of being crushed to death in an imaginary scenario where the vestibule collapses or turns upside down to complete the loop. It doesn’t say… so you don’t know. We were obviously having fun in Prague and wanted to continue as a trio.

Pretty interesting right? You know that you want to go visit that elevator. You’re welcome!

TRAIN CAFE

After the risk-inducing buzz of experiencing the elevator, we headed to the Franciscan Garden, hidden away in the city center. There we ate our packed snacks (eating out all the time is an easy way to blow your budget) and it was quite cold. We then walked around looking at the art and sculpture around the streets. 

A late afternoon dinner was the order of the day, since lunch was pretty much a snack. It was a surprise place we had lined up for AJ (ok… we were just as excited!) called the Vytopna Railway Restaurant (aka. Train Cafe). Again, maybe a video is better than a description:

Only the drinks arrive via train. Food plates would not fare well in the tunnels or on the tighter turns. The trains leave empty, of their own accord… or so it seemed. It was very entertaining to be on the lookout for the next train going past – hoping it was a longer one for a larger table of guests. There was also the suspense of no knowing if the next train was for your drinks, or if it was going to take a diversion to some other thirsty table. This was quite the opposite of the drinks experience we had at U Fleků! 

INVISIBLE EXHIBITION

Ironically, we had a little trouble finding the Invisible Exhibition. The map showed where the exhibit should be, but the building was unorthodox and the entrance was via what appeared to be a parking-lot-courtyard. We had planned on doing their tour on this afternoon, but they book out days in advance. Instead, we booked a time for the days ahead and realized what we might be in for.

While we’d like to show you photos inside the exhibit, we can’t… you’ll have to go “see” for yourselves. All of the tour guides are vision impaired and they take you through the museum in pitch black darkness. You have to use your hands to “visualize” your surroundings. It was surreal and a bit scary at first because you obviously can’t even see your hand in front of your face. Should you ever find yourself in Prague, we HIGHLY recommend this exhibit. We had a late lunch/early dinner because by this time we were all starving with missing food opportunities in our rush back to Prague. AJ insisted we return to the Train Cafe, so we did. 

MEDIEVAL UNDERGROUND DINNER

The only thing left for Prague, was our evening underground Medieval dinner with entertainment. We took our last walk through the city and over the Charles Bridge to get to the restaurant, which is a few short blocks from the palace. Talk about chaos! In retrospect it added to the realism of the experience! Here’s a sample:

We caught the last bus back. This had it’s own drama with tickets and weird directions and racing to bus stops and switching to the tram, but we made it back. Did we pay the correct fare and have the right tickets? Maybe not, and maybe karma would catch up with us if we didn’t!*

Prague had been a mix of hectic activity, easy days, old Europe and new tourism, regional visits to interesting places, the uneasy and the exciting. You will certainly find something to do, and probably leave the city wondering how you can visit again to fit in all the things you couldn’t fit in. To read about what we did outside of Prague, click HERE.

*As an endnote: It must have been the wrong fare or tickets – karma delivered when we got our last Prague bus to the airport. We did not have the correct change nor the time to get it as the bus line was long and we realized late it was a cash-only-no-change-given transaction, so we ended up paying extra Crowns