Prague

Many cities boast on “old town”, an original section that dates back centuries.  They’re all pretty much in the minor leagues once you’ve seen Prague.

The old part of the city is built on either side of the Vlatava River.  On one side sitting on a hill is Prague Castle, founded in the 9th century.  On the other side is Old Town which started around the 1300’s.  Prague Castle may be a bit of a misnomer.  What started out as a castle developed into one palace after another, as succeeding royal families, foreign occupiers and liberators all tried to outdo their predecessors.  As a result, buildings range from Romanesque to Gothic to Baroque.  Influences range from German to Russian, French, Austria-Hungarian, Swedish and others.  Don’t ask me the order.  There’s been way too many comings and goings.

Old Town is a true maze of streets, designed either to make you walk in circles or to have you wind up a long way from where you thought you were going.  All streets are cobblestones, some with car traffic, some without, but full of restaurants, shops, bars and galleries.  Old Town Square hosts the famous astronomical clock in the tower of the Town Hall.  The clock has evolved over the years, but dates to the 1400’s and has been embellished in stages.  At the time of its construction, it was renown for its accuracy.  Now, at every hour, crowds gather in the square to watch the apostles parade by two open windows, the skeleton ring his bell, other figures react, and the rooster flap its wings.  The tower bell chimes the hour.  Then the crowd cheers.  And if you’re Italian students, you sing some strange Italian song.

The entire stretch from the Castle, across the river and to Old Town is a continuous sea of tile roofs and church spires.  Oh yes, the churches.  I can’t fail to mention the churches.  Prague is called the city of 1000 spires, or something like that, and it’s not an exaggeration.  You can hardly turn a corner without running into a church.  And they’re not your basic garden-variety churches – all of them ornate, all of them elaborate, most of them magnificent.  Some charge admissions, but many don’t.  They all seem to have regular performances of classical music on almost a daily basis.

In between the old buildings and the churches are numerous parks and plazas.  They range from small open spaces on street corners to a huge green park running up the steep hill beside Prague Castle.  As you work your way up the hill, the views become more and more stunning.

The best thing for me to do would be to insert some pictures here, but with a stunning view on every corner, it’s probably going to take me a little while to distill them down.  So, they’ll have to come in a later post.