Praha aka: Prague

I really want to visit Praha before the Czech Republic changes to the Euro!

They’re announcing the adoption date on November 1, 2009.

Hello, I would like to offer you to guide you in Prague. I was born there and still live there. If you wish to have someone who speaks Czech and who will help you with public transport, tickets etc…you can contact me via e-mail: dankaaa@seznam.cz for further information. I donť want any money, just to improve my English. Hope to see you soon. Dana

24/6/09

I first went to Prague on a school trip in high school. This time, I found the city as beautiful as 10 years ago, the food much better than 10 yrs ago (I think this may have something to do with 7 years of eating cafeteria food in between) and the customer service as bad as 10 yrs ago.

Went there for a couple of days with my wife. Beatiful city well worth the trip. I would love to go back to explore the city in more depth.

A few notes for visitors:
1. The locals can be aloof. It’s just how they are until you get to know them. Don’t be put off by it.
2. Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske Namesti) is a giant tourist trap full of hustlers and pimps. They all want to sell you something. I’d recommend spending as little time there as possible.
3. Nothing is air conditioned.
4. The first two weeks in July are cold and rainy. That’s just a normal intro to Czech summers.
5. There are quite a few people here who don’t wear deodorant. You’ll get used to it.
6. If you get caught without a metro ticket, you can talk your way out of it. I do, however, recommend getting a three day pass.
7. If you’re intent on getting drugs while you’re here, be careful of who you buy from. There are clubs that are more reputable than others for the acquisition of such things. Ask around and you’ll find them fairly easily.
8. There are places, even in Old Town, where the food and beer are fairly cheap. They’re not in your guide books. Wander about the back streets and you’ll find them.
9. Don’t go to the Charles Bridge on Saturdays ever. It’s a nightmare. Go early or late, but definitely not at mid-day unless you want to deal with a throng of people just like you.
10. Don’t go to the National Museum at the top of Wencelas Square except to check out the bullet hole repairs in the facade (from the Prague Spring) and the memorial to Jan Palach. Unless you really like rocks and stuffed animals that have been dead for at least twice as long as you’ve been alive, in which case, knock yourself out.
11. Take the tram rather than the metro if you can figure it out. You get a much better view of the city that way.
12. Go to Vysehrad.
13. Be cautious of the myriad homeless people. Especially if you’re carrying a beer bottle. They will want it so they can collect the 3kc refund.
14. If you can, and you like football, try to see a match. Especially if it’s the Slavia/Sparta derby. It’s very cool—though be warned that it can escalate quickly…at the last one, we got shot at with rubber bullets.
15. There are new rules for the open liquor laws. The cops won’t likely care, but be aware of where you can and cannot drink.
16. Go to the beer garden in Letna one night. It has an amazing view of the city.
17. All of the Irish pubs in the city are overpriced—but the atmosphere is cool.
18. See Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre if you’re into opera. It was first staged on that stage.
19. The best time to see the Astronomical Clock is early in the morning before everyone else floods the old town.
20. Look for Cream and Dream ice cream. It’s genius!
21. If you’re a girl and you’re in Wenceslas Square in anything low-ish cut and without a guy, expect someone to grab your ass and/or comment on your tits. It just comes with the territory. This is not to say you can’t threaten bodily harm like I tend to do.
22. As a woman, I have never felt unsafe walking the streets alone at night, but if you don’t know the city well, it’s probably not the best choice.
23. The cops don’t care what you do unless you’re doing something to disrupt other people.
24. NEVER get your money changed at a place that charges a commission. You’ll be ripped off. Go to a bank if you can.
25. It’s not recommended (apparently,) but there are places where one can go swimming in the river and get out fairly easily. I tend to do it off the side of a boat, but it’s not the safest way to go about it. If you really want to swim, go to Zlute Lazne.
26. Always take either City Taxi or AAA Taxi. And never pay more than 400 kc to get anywhere from the centre. You might have to haggle, but the cabbies will rip you off if you don’t know how much you should pay.

As I neared the touristy area of Prague, I could sense that some things weren’t right. At a newstand, someone offered me a city map for on 140 Kč, I sat down at a random cafe in Václavské náměstí and ordered a glass of Pilsner Urquell for 95 Kč. However, just last night at U Sama I drank a glass of beer for only 25 Kč and bought a city map from a newstand near Karlovo Náměstí for 40 Kč. So I warn you all, think twice before you buy stuff along the tourist routes.

As for the talk about Praha being sketchy, part of this I think is that it’s blatantly obvious if you are a tourist in Praha with your phanny packs, 3 foot long camera lenses, and boisterous conversation. And really, in any big city being alone at night if you’re a woman isn’t a good idea.

So aside from the whole touristy part of Praha, there is much else to see that are perhaps too subtle to be noticed by many tourists. First off, perhaps due to some countrywide business code, or the fact that Czechs are one of the highest per capita consumers of beer, there are countless little restaurants and cafes that almost always serve beer.

Secondly, due to the socialistic government that offers a variety of services to people with mental health problems, there were almost no bums in Praha – I saw 2 during the 5 or so visits to Praha and one was being approached by two Police officers.

Third, the transit system in Prague is fantastic. There are 3 subway lines, about 30 streetcar lines and frequent (typically every 10 minutes or less) bus service going everywhere else. I’d highly recommend taking transit to whereever you need to go if it’s too far to walk.

And finally, the urban form of Praha is perhaps a perfect model of what a highly functional city looks like. There are hundreds of huge apartment buildings almost always within walking distance of a metro station. And once you pass the ring road surrounding Praha, the city just completely ends. It seriously goes from 20 story apartment complexes to vast wheat fields. Also, at each end of the B-line subway there are huge shopping complexes and big box stores that do consume a lot of land, but they have all the cheap large volume stuff. I didn’t feel guilty shopping at these places since I realized that their impact on the city was probably fairly minimal and they were the only big box stores in the whole town.

Prague was really lovely as I’m sure you’ve heard. The ELF Hostel was fabulous too!

How can anyone resist seeing somewhere known as the “city of a hundred spires”?

to say the least, naomi and i had a moment (a few cities later) where we had to ask each other what we did in prague? when neither of us could really answer the question, we looked back into our journals. we covered a lot of the city on foot, but mostly.. we went on a massive absinthe binge with our ‘caravan’ of australians.

Me and my family took a ride in a horsecarriage, good times and great memory..