(Another non-proof-reading warning).
After taking off from the glory and amazingness that is Berlin/Germany in general, we found ourselves on a convenient train ride to Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
Prague/Praga/Praha/call it whatever you want is called the "City of 100 Spires" amongst other things. I called it a fantasy land. Why, you may ask? Because of a little known fact I discovered while visiting: The Czech Republic consumes more beer per capita than any other country in the world.
To wit, consider the following photograph (below):
What you see are 500ml bottles (a little more than one pint, which is about 475ml) of Pilsner Urquell (the Czech beer) for 18.90 Czech Crowns (Koruny). While I was in Prague (the dollar has since weakened), this equated to about 75 United States cents. Yeah, that's right, you can get a pint of Pilsner for $0.75. By comparison, a litre of water usually costs about 35-40 Czech Crowns. So, interpret that however you'd like, but the rumors that I heard about "beer is cheaper than water" in Prague were for the most part confirmed (I took a picture of the cost of water as well but it didn't come out great, so I apologize for the lack of evidence. You just have to believe me).So if I can't really remember a lot about my time in Prague, you now know why.
Everyone that I had spoken with prior to my arrival in Prague would not stop talking about how beautiful Prague is, that Prague is gorgeous, that it's just amazingly pretty, et cetera, et cetera ad nauseam...
...well, they were right. There is a particularly unique charm about Prague that defies description. It's hard to imagine that you are in a big, modern city when you look up all around you and see nothing but relentlessy medieval architecture. The city plan as well is medieval. If you're talking about city planning and on one side of the spectrum you have the grid system (modern, efficient, easy, San Francisco) then the polar opposite doesn't need a descriptor, you can just call it "Prague." It is nothing short of madness, but it's actually quite fun to get lost there. You can be travelling north for half a kilometer, make one left turn and all of a sudden be traveling southeast. I swear, we were one turn away from ending up in Slovakia at one point we got so lost.
Anyway, in the Old Town Square (Staré Město) there is no shortage of beautiful things to wander by and explore. Above is a picture of St. Nicholas Church, the scale isn't noticeable but I assure you it is big, which houses one of the biggest chandeliers I've ever laid eyes on:
Again, no scale to help you, but that thing has to be at least 12 feet across. When it comes to showing off, there is just absolutely nothing like the Catholic church.
I'm beginning to realize that the images I decided to post really aren't helping you at all in understanding the size of things... that's a big clock face you're looking at. It shows the cycles of the sun and moon, an "Apostle position" (whatever the hell that is), and a calendar dial. There are at any given point in time no less than 500 tourists within a ten-foot radius of the clock.
Prague also has an extensive Jewish quarter/Jewish ghetto (Josefov). We visited the Jewish Ceremonial Hall and saw a number of the synagogues as well. But by far and away the most impressive piece in the ghetto is the cemetery:
It is Europe's oldest Jewish cemetery, and it's a bit hard for me to put in to words, really. It's not very big space wise, but when you walk around through it you feel as if you're walking forever. The exact number of tombstones is uncertain, but it's estimated at around 12,000. It's nothing short of mind boggling. If you recall from an earlier post of mine, this cemetery was the inspiration for the memorial in Berlin.
...well, they were right. There is a particularly unique charm about Prague that defies description. It's hard to imagine that you are in a big, modern city when you look up all around you and see nothing but relentlessy medieval architecture. The city plan as well is medieval. If you're talking about city planning and on one side of the spectrum you have the grid system (modern, efficient, easy, San Francisco) then the polar opposite doesn't need a descriptor, you can just call it "Prague." It is nothing short of madness, but it's actually quite fun to get lost there. You can be travelling north for half a kilometer, make one left turn and all of a sudden be traveling southeast. I swear, we were one turn away from ending up in Slovakia at one point we got so lost.
Anyway, in the Old Town Square (Staré Město) there is no shortage of beautiful things to wander by and explore. Above is a picture of St. Nicholas Church, the scale isn't noticeable but I assure you it is big, which houses one of the biggest chandeliers I've ever laid eyes on:
Again, no scale to help you, but that thing has to be at least 12 feet across. When it comes to showing off, there is just absolutely nothing like the Catholic church.On the southern wall of the Old City town hall is the famous Astronomical Clock (below):
I'm beginning to realize that the images I decided to post really aren't helping you at all in understanding the size of things... that's a big clock face you're looking at. It shows the cycles of the sun and moon, an "Apostle position" (whatever the hell that is), and a calendar dial. There are at any given point in time no less than 500 tourists within a ten-foot radius of the clock.In any event, any direction that you look at the Old Town square you just want to pinch yourself. I did, and I was happy that I was still in Prague.
After meandering around the Old Town for a bit, we went exploring the labyrinthine complex that is Prague and ended up across a bridge in the district of Prague I. Here, we came across the famous Lennon Wall. As much as I hate graffiti, it's actually a pretty cool wall. It's filled with a bunch of lyrics from Beatles songs and John Lennon (obviously) inspired graffiti (below):
As we kept walking about, it became increasingly harder to miss the inevitable: the Prague Castle, also known as the largest castle in the world, with the sky scraping spire of St. Vitus Cathedral (below):
To be brief, it is simply gothic architecture at its finest. And as a gothic architecture expert, I'm qualified to make such a statement (I actually overheard a tour guide lady say that). The picture I posted above only shows about a quarter of the whole cathedral. You can seriously only see the whole thing if you're in a helicopter. It's just too big to capture in a single frame.
To be brief, it is simply gothic architecture at its finest. And as a gothic architecture expert, I'm qualified to make such a statement (I actually overheard a tour guide lady say that). The picture I posted above only shows about a quarter of the whole cathedral. You can seriously only see the whole thing if you're in a helicopter. It's just too big to capture in a single frame. The Prague Castle is located on top of a hill, so needless to say it provides some excellent panoramas of the city:
The castle in and of itself feels like it could be a city (size wise). It's even where some Holy Roman Emperors held office (and Czechoslovakian presidents. Yeah. Czechoslovakia...?).
Anyhow, from across the other side of the bridge, you can maybe get an idea of the size of St. Vitus and the castle (below):
So I could go on and on confirming all of the suspicions you might have heard about how pretty Prague is, but I hope you get the point. This pic (below) is from the top of the Astronomical Tower and is another piece of evidence that I will use to again to further develop my point on Prague's beauty, in the event that I failed to deliver such a point thus far:
So I could go on and on confirming all of the suspicions you might have heard about how pretty Prague is, but I hope you get the point. This pic (below) is from the top of the Astronomical Tower and is another piece of evidence that I will use to again to further develop my point on Prague's beauty, in the event that I failed to deliver such a point thus far:
Prague also has an extensive Jewish quarter/Jewish ghetto (Josefov). We visited the Jewish Ceremonial Hall and saw a number of the synagogues as well. But by far and away the most impressive piece in the ghetto is the cemetery:
It is Europe's oldest Jewish cemetery, and it's a bit hard for me to put in to words, really. It's not very big space wise, but when you walk around through it you feel as if you're walking forever. The exact number of tombstones is uncertain, but it's estimated at around 12,000. It's nothing short of mind boggling. If you recall from an earlier post of mine, this cemetery was the inspiration for the memorial in Berlin.Altogether, Prague was a completely surreal experience in just so many ways. It has such a remarkable medieval feel to it that makes it so beautiful yet so foreign at the same time (still, I assure you, Amsterdam is unsurpassed in beauty). One thing I will note that Czech goulash is delicious. I had it served in a big bread bowl and it was just meaty and stewy and unbelievably good. A stuffing meal, that is, garlic soup and then enough goulash for three people (which I ate for myself), with two beers cost me a wallet-breaking $5...
A very unique note about Prague and I suppose the Czech Republic in general: the people, especially in the service industry, are just totally different than what we are accustomed to (as Americans). I assume it's because so many of the people are still under a communist mentality of keeping to yourself, as most everyone is quiet, reserved, and not particularly talkative or curious. That is, people do not smile. It was just a very foreign experience relative to the other countries I visited where the people have been remarkably kind and cheerful.
No matter. When you see a street sign like this, it doesn't matter who the people are, it should always put a smile on your face:
...and America wins again.
Absolutely loved Prague. It was the first leg of "the three cities" (you'll learn the other two soon) that I wanted to visit and it did not disappoint. The second city is up next...
No comments:
Post a Comment