Praha (aka Prague)

Interesting enough, the city we Americans know as Prague is actually called Praha.  I "heart" Praha shirts are one of the must have kitschy souvenirs.  It has always intrigued me how the names of places change in different languages ... to me it seems that a place should be a place - no alternatives.  Nueva York?  No, its New York.  We can all say it.  Likewise, Praha ... I can say that ... why did we change it to Prague?  Anyway, I digress ...

This past weekend I spent two lovely days in Praha (wink).  To be honest, if two years ago someone asked me if I wanted to go, I would have reluctantly said "sure" only for the adventure, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.  However, now that I have a bit more experience ... well, let's be honest, it wasn't all that different. A Groupon offer later and I was booked.

Prague is a city that if you ask people who have travelled Europe, they all say, "ooooh, I looooooove Prague.". Which was a good start.  I put it on what I call my winter cities list, as when it gets warm I really just want to spend my travel budget on hot, beachy locations.  So, when its chilly I think its a good idea to book in city trips.

The small, ancient city is truly beautiful and although it is cliché, it certainly did feel like stepping back in time.  I overheard a father telling his young boy as we stood in the clock tower in the main square, "this clock was built before there was even one building in America".  Well, I won't debate the technicalities of that, but it did make me sense just how old this society was and I spent a lot of time imagining what life was like in this city nearly over 600 years ago (I mean, they needed a really big palace with lots of armour).

The astronomical clock in the Old Town square is the oldest operating clock of its kind.  Large dials representing the daylight hours, seasons, and astrological signs spin below detailed carvings (the skeleton was my favourite) and at each hour crowds gathered below to see the show of dancing saints that spin about.  After a good decision to climb the stairs to the top, we saw stunning views of the city (though I had to push through that nagging fear of heights to get up there onto that narrow walkway).

Throughout the remainder of the trip we wondered endlessly through winding streets, across numbers of beautiful bridges over the Vltava river, and into all the delightful shops along the way.  A few of the handicrafts, or more local items, for purchase in Prague include jewellery made from Garnets (which as we found out may or may not actually be from Prague), what I would consider to be Russian nesting dolls, wooden children's toys (someone special will get a treat for his birthday!), and marionettes.

I was visiting the home of a friend of mine in Florida, and I just love all her fun artefacts from her travels, and it reminded me that I need to be sure to pick up interesting items from the cities I visit.  It makes your home interesting for conversation and serves to remind you of experiences you have had.  So, on this trip I decided I was going to get a marionette.  As with anything, there are the good / bad quality, imposters and the real deal.  I am all about getting authentic and ended up with a cheeky little witch to share my home with.  So far, no spells cast.

Of course, food is always an important piece of my travels, and this trip was no different (despite my travel book's warning no one goes to Prague for good food).  The first day we ate goulash and dumplings on the Old Town square.  Did someone trick me into thinking goulash was tubular noodles with a ground beef / tomatoe sauce?  Chef Boyardee?  Anyway, it is not, at least not in Prague.  It was an interesting meat, with a paprika gravy, served with bready dumplings.  Not horrible, and the great beer helped to wash it down.

That evening we made reservations at a highly recommended spot, Kampa Park.  The location was superb, sitting at water level on the river, overlooking the most stunning, statue studded bridge in the city.  We opted for a Czech wine, which I thought was amazing, and I had a crab / caviar starter with a truffled fish main.  Quite pleasing indeed.

There are so many other highlights to cover, like the apple strudel and molten hot chocolate closer, the charcoal roasted pork and potatoes from the street vender, the fresh local Pilsner Urquell, taking the trams, the infinite number of amazing sculptures, how every house is named by their emblem, the stunning cathedral and palace (along with the ancient row of houses!), the street festival we lucked our way into with the pig roast, the wall of graffiti dedicated to John Lennon, being graded as "frozen" on the love tester ... but I have already winded on too long.  It was a wonderful weekend.

<>