In the summer of 2018, my wife and I traveled to Prague to meet our daughter, who was finishing a study abroad program. We planned a trip with her to travel from Prague to Vienna, then Budapest, Ljubljana, Trieste, Venice, and finally to Milan. I don’t know how much has changed in the intervening years since our visit. Sadly, I have not been back to any of the locations since. I have been fortunate to travel to many other places, though. The journey taught me how I wanted to travel.
Nonetheless, I am writing about it. It may be the worst type of writing: with the author as the intended audience. I am writing for myself. So I can relive the journey and capture it in writing before it is all forgotten. Though I do hope you will be inspired to visit some of the places in this story. The first stop was the historic city of Prague.
Old Town
We started our trip with a few days in Prague. Neither my wife nor I had been there before. Now that I think about it, every city on the journey was somewhere we had never been before. It was an adventure. All mysterious and new.
We arrived in Prague late in the morning after an overnight flight from the US. I was not able to find public transport from the airport to the center of Prague; perhaps it exists now. We gave our taxi driver the address of the apartment we had booked. After a pleasant drive through the suburbs around the city, we arrived in town and greeted our daughter at the dorm where she was checking out.
The premise for the entire trip was to meet her and then go on this trip together. She was a knowledgeable tour guide. Like most visitors, we started in the Old Town, the historic heart of the city. One of the first buildings we visited was the NC State European Center, remarkably located in the middle of Old Town, among the medieval buildings and tourists. It was an unexpected and lovely place to go to school, I thought, even if it was a highlight only for me.
The Old Town is a remarkably well-preserved, historical European city center. This is even though Prague had the unfortunate luck of being bombed both by the Allies and then the Germans, within a span of several months in World War 2. During the bombing of Dresden in 1945, some Allied bombers got off course and mistook the Vltava River in Prague for the Elbe in Dresden. The resulting bombing killed hundreds. Shortly after, on the very same day, the German army was surrendering in Berlin, and Luftwaffe bombers attempting to put down the Prague Uprising damaged many of the city’s historical buildings. It’s a sad reminder that people who choose to support a dictator don’t come around until the bitter end, when everything is burning down around them. History always repeats itself.
Today, its narrow cobblestone streets are more benign. The Old Town is host to a myriad of shops and restaurants. As the heart of the tourist center, it can get quite busy. We made a point of getting up early one morning to walk through it in a more peaceful time. The city was still and quiet, filled with the warm light and shadows of sunrise. The only other people taking advantage of this time were shop owners getting deliveries, before the pedestrian streets filled up, and young couples taking wedding pictures. We were impressed by the varied collection of medieval-looking doors on many of the old buildings.
Prague is a scenic, old, picturesque city. It seems the about-to-be or newlywed travel there to take advantage of the backdrop for their photos. It’s not clear to me whether or not they were actually getting married there, though. Regardless, early morning was a good time for them to be out as well, with the good photographic light and the lack of tourists in the background.
Later in the day, or as soon as it was appropriate for a drink, we took advantage of the outdoor seating in many of Old Town’s establishments and enjoyed a Spritz or two. In addition to being scenic, for a tourist, Prague is a very affordable city compared to others in Europe. This is due to the relatively low cost of a beer at the bar or dinner at a restaurant. Both of which were generally very good and substantial. An enormous Pilsner Urquell (or even a Budweiser Budvar, which bears no resemblance to its namesake) along with a hearty plate of Czech Goulash and Bread Dumplings was delicious and affordable, even if I needed a nap afterwards. I preferred the Czech version of goulash to the Hungarian, as it was more of a stew rather than a soup.
Though most restaurants, at least the Czech ones, featured very “meaty” menus, it was possible to find good vegetarian food there. A vegan Svíčková was one of the better meals we ate there.
Affordability for a resident is a different story, unfortunately. Skyrocketing rents, in part driven up by investors taking apartments off the market and turning them into Airbnb rentals, contribute to the high cost of living for locals. I grew to regret my decision to stay in an Airbnb while I was there. Now I only stay in hotels when I visit large cities.
The main feature in the expansive Old Town Square is the Astronomical Clock. And although it was undergoing a major restoration in 2018 when I visited, it still drew large crowds of tourists. Installed in 1410, it is the oldest astronomical clock in the world. On the hour, it puts on a mechanical show that I was only able to see reproduced on a video screen. I hope it is in good working order when I go back someday.
Charles Bridge
Leading out of Old Town, on the way to Prague Castle, we walked over the Vltava River on the historic Charles Bridge. The Old Town Bridge Tower still guards the entrance to the bridge, and for a great view of the city, you can (for a fee) climb the stairs to the top.
The Charles Bridge is another of Prague’s renowned and highly visited attractions. Completed in 1402, and adorned with 30 statues along its flanks, it was for centuries the only way to cross from Old Town to Prague Castle. Its most notable statue is of St. John of Nepomuk.
St. John of Nepomuk was a prominent figure in the church during the 14th century. His statue on the Charles Bridge marks the location where, in 1393, he was thrown off the bridge and drowned, on orders from King Wenceslaus IV. Who should not be confused with Wenceslaus I, the Duke of Bohemia and subject of the Christmas carol. Better Wenceslaus, that one. Scholars differ on the exact reason for this, but legend has it that the vicar had heard confessions from the King’s wife, Queen Sophie, whom he suspected of infidelity. When the priest refused to betray these details to the King, he was thrown off the bridge. Today, tourists touch the statue (you will see the worn shiny parts; bring hand sanitizer) as they pass, hoping for good luck and a future return to Prague. This idea of throwing one’s enemies over bridges or out of windows will be revisited soon.
There are numerous churches in Prague, and on the way to the castle, we stopped in St. Nicholas Church to get out of the rain. It was ornately decorated with frescoes, and we were able to tour the interior for a small entrance fee. It wasn’t on the radar map of attractions, but it was worth touring, especially climbing the stairs for a better view of the ceilings. There were baroque music concerts advertised; had we more time, we’d have gone to one. We felt like we were the only visitors there. Some of the best landmarks are the unexpected ones.
Prague Castle
We climbed up a cobblestone street to Prague Castle, which presides over the city from high on a hill. The castle area is dominated by St. Vitus Cathedral. At the time of my visit, the enormous ornate Gothic cathedral’s exterior was dark and sooty, which added to its looming presence. It is worth the wait in line to see the interior. You won’t be able to miss the massive silver tomb of the previously discussed St. John of Nepomuk, as well as the less elaborate one of Good King Wenceslaus.
Also look out for the “Mucha Window”, the stained glass window designed by Prague’s favorite son, artist Alphonse Mucha.
Also within the castle walls is the Golden Lane, which inherits its name from its history of goldsmiths who lived there in the 17th century. It is a series of tiny buildings, of which number 22 was briefly the home of Franz Kafka.
My favorite spot in the castle grounds, however, was the Old Royal Palace. Not so much because of the building, but because of the story. And the story is the Defenestration of Prague. When you tour the palace, you can visit the very window from which angry Protestant nobles in 1618, believing Catholics were violating their religious rights, threw three of the Catholic officials they had been meeting with out of. The three survived the long fall, possibly (though not proven) due to landing in a large, presumably soft pile of manure and garbage piled high below. This act had severe repercussions, starting the 30 Years’ War.
I don’t know why the Defenestration story seems so interesting to me. Possibly it is because it is not the only noteworthy defenestration in Prague’s history, as I learned when I looked this up on Wikipedia. There were other significant tosses out of windows in 1483 as well as 1419. It makes me wonder how many more must there have been? History cannot possibly remember them all.
We also did our share of exploring outside of Old Town. Prague has a good network of trams, and with our daughter’s experience and guidance, we rode many of them during our visit. They are a very good way to get around.
We had a nice evening out on our second day in Prague. A traditional Czech dinner followed by the State Opera for a performance of Turandot. While I am not an opera fan, getting dressed up and visiting the stately opera house was a highlight of the trip to Prague. I had been warned about Prague’s occasional impatience with tourists, though up until now I hadn’t experienced anything other than very pleasant people. I went to the box office with a printed receipt for my tickets, as I was to pick them up there. There were two windows open, and both were occupied. When my turn came, I handed the woman my receipt. She looked at it in a puzzled and frustrated way for a minute, then muttered something and tossed it back at me through the window. Confused, I stepped to the right, to the other window, and handed this same receipt to the person sitting next to her, who gave me my tickets.
Other Things To See
We took the Petřín Funicular up the hill to the park at the top, which was pleasantly green and quiet. From there, we walked past the Observatory to the Strahov Monastery to visit its ancient library. Another nice, quiet outdoor spot was the Letna Beer Garden. It afforded a great view of the city and the river, hot dogs, and more great, inexpensive Czech beer. All enjoyed at a shady picnic table under the trees.
We also strolled through New Town, admiring the mixture of new and old architecture. The curve of the Fred and Ginger house, and the National Theater are a few of the notable buildings along the river. We finished our trip at a cafe along the river, with a few more spritzes (Aperol, Hugo, some others I can’t remember). My daughter decided she wanted to make one last visit to the kebab shop that she frequented during her stay. A quick check of Google maps told us we had very little time before they closed. A handy tram and a brisk walk brought us to the doner kebab shop, where we declared the trip a success and were ready to move on to Budapest.