Impressions of Prague
Why do European woman tour guides like to dye their hair and unnatural shade of red? Was true in Germany. Is true here.
This place is really clean! There’s hardly any trash on the streets. One morning we found a crew literally vacuuming the street. On a midnight walk over the Charles Bridge, there were several people out sweeping. Near the monastery on the top of the hill, someone was sweeping with a twig broom. Guess that’s the Dominican way.
Do NOT come to Prague without having a trdelnik. It’s bread dough formed into a long, thin roll and then wrapped around a fat skewer. The skewers fit into a contraption that slowly rolls them up an incline over a heat source and slowly cooks the dough. It’s then rolled in sugar or cinnamon or chocolate or whatever. It comes to you as a cylinder of hot bread that peels off in a spiral. We had to have one every day. Could even get it filled with ice cream if wanted.
Surprisingly, we didn’t see too much of the Soviet influence left in the city. One day when we wandered a little farther afield, we got into a non-tourist area. There were some big block buildings reminiscent of Stalinist construction, but for the most part, you don’t see it. Of course, we were confined mostly to the central city.
The central part of the city is incredibly easy to get around. We walked everywhere. Could have taken trams or taxis, but nothing was more than a half hour walk, and most things were less than that. Besides, after being on a small ship for nearly a month, walking a few miles felt good.
There’s something about being in a place that draws such a large international crowd. Everyone here is so happy, so thrilled to be enjoying this city. It’s easy to talk to people and share the experience. Also, thankfully, English is the language most have in common, so there’s absolutely no difficulty in communicating.
In the old parts of the city, there are really narrow winding alleys and streets. Signs are hard to come by, and when you do find them, they’re mostly not understandable. So, navigating by landmarks is definitely the way to go.
Yes, the Charles Bridge gets quite crowded, especially during the day in nice weather. However, in the mornings and late at night you can have it almost to yourself. And with the lighting at those times, it’s better to be there then anyway.
A cruise on the river is marvelous. We did a dinner cruise with great food and watched the lights of the city come on.
It really is as cheap to eat and drink here as people say. We had a full lunch at a monastery on a hillside today with several beers. Bill was less than $20.
Good weather in the Spring also brings out the brides. The hill of Prague Castle is the in-place to get your photos done. We saw three within about 5 minutes.
So where did this whole issue of being bothered by heights come from? Climbed the Town Hall tower, excited to see the view of the square and the rooftops and spires of Prague. As soon as I got outside on the rail, I was backing away, not wanted to look over. I miss the good old days.
The Czechs are really nice people.
I hadn’t expected that there would be a “Thai Massage” shop every few blocks all over the old parts of the city. Some even included some poor Eastern European sap dressed up in a neon-colored Chinese outfit trying to bring in customers. But, all featured big fish tanks in the windows with customers getting their feet nibbled on by little ravenous fish.
