Written by Kim
We arrived after an 8 hour train ride from Warsaw to Prague at 2 pm. The train station was quite crowded but we found our way out to the street and ordered an Uber. We noticed immediately that more people smoke here than either Poland or US. Our chubby Uber driver was from Ukraine but migrated to Czech Republic about 5 months ago. He offered us some recommendation on restaurants and breweries remarking that he loves food and beer so we can trust him. Lol.
As we checked into our hotel, Unitas, we were told we were upgraded to a suite. Alex books on Hotels.com and we are evidently VIP status which was a nice surprise.
After freshening up we were ready for some lunch so walked down to the Czech Lion. Food and beer is quite cheap – beer was 45 Czech Koruny or about $2. Our lunch was tasty. Photos below
We were pretty tired from a short night last night so we took a nap, had a delicious simple Thai dinner and watched a movie in our room. We have a HDMI cable to hook our phone to the tv and use a VPN, Surfshark, to access our Netflix because streaming services are often blocked when you are outside the US. We had a full day tour booked for Saturday so took it easy.
First a little history. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic which was historically known as Bohemia. Czechoslovakia was the only eastern block country to remain a parliamentary democracy during early 1900s. In 1938, Nazis took control. Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became part of communist Eastern block. In 1989, the Velvet revolution ended communism and restored democracy. In 1992, Czechoslovakia peacefully split to form Czech Republic (Austrian influence) and Slovakia (Hungarian influence). There are several quarters of Prague – Old town, new town, lesser town, Jewish district.
Old Town overlooks the Vltava river. The Charles Bridge is a big attraction. King Charles was the first king of Bohemia to become Holy Roman Emperor. Charles bridge is a medieval stone bridge built in 14th century to enable travel between Prague Castle and Old Town. The bridge was open on 1357 9th jul at 531 – a palendrome 135797531.
Charles IV died in 1378. During the reign of his son, King Wenceslaus (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. Jews were killed because they killed Jesus. John of Nepomuk was the patron saint of Bohemia who was drowned in the Vltava river by King Wenceslaus because he wouldn’t tell the king the secrets of the queen but probably was more likely due to religious dispute.
Our first stop once we crossed the bridge was Campo Island. It was an island inhabited by artists who make pottery, etc, There was a building there that marked levels of floods over the years in Prague. There was a big flood in 1794 but the largest & last flood was 2002
We entered Lesser Town next. The John Lennon wall is located in Lesser town. It was created as a symbol of freedom against communism in the 1960s but became more popular in the 80s after Lennon death. There are also many embassies here
We took the tram up to the Prague Castle & St. Vitus Cathedral. The Czech president works here.
There are lots of churches and cathedrals in Prague despite the fact that 60% people are atheist due to lots of corruption in church, pushing out of Protestants and communism. While there are lots of Catholic Churches the Catholic Church us not part of identity of most Czechs.
The Jewish quarter was our next stop. Even though the Nazis occupied Prague for several years and killed most Jews there are a few original synagogues left. It is told that Hitler preserved part of the Jewish quarter to show people a “place that no longer exists”. Monumental stones are placed in the sidewalk in front of homes of executed Jews and continue to be placed today as more research is conducted.
We had a traditional Czech lunch
The astronomical clock which is supposed a highlight of Prague was quite a disappointment. It was packed with people waiting for it to go off at the top of the hour and was a silly little cuckoo type effect.
We finished our tour with a boat ride on the Venice of Prague and got a view of many sights we had seen from the river.
We enjoyed our visit to Prague but don’t expect we will come back again, We found it similar to many cities in Europe – much older than anything in the US but it was a bit dirtier than Warsaw. We didn’t see the charm that others might see but this is why we love to travel to compare and contrast different places and cultures. Tomorrow we’re off to Vienna. Until then….
