Prague, Czech Republic

I was up at 4 and by 11 I had bused to Warclow, which is a city in Poland (until this week I had thought it was the Polish spelling for Warsaw). From Warclow I took the bus another three hours to Prague.

I have been looking foreward to Prague and had delegated 3.5 days to the city. It is, however, the beginning of western Europe. The swarming tourists in Prague are of a different sort than you find in the Baltic states and everything is far more expensive. In Lithuania the tourists seem to be adventurous and travel savvy, here they are tour groups making noise and asking what city they are in now. Here, for the first time since England, I heard American and Canadian accents. I had to walk a long way to get away from tourist traps. One place wanted five dollars for a toothbrush!

Anyway, beneath the milling crowds of foreign nitwits Prague is gorgeous. And I mean that literally. Most of the cities I have been through have had beautiful gothic, renaisannce and neo-whatsit buildings, but what struck me about Prague was the wonderful paving. Everywhere--sidewalks and roads--are cobbled in beautiful colors and designs. And these aren't remnants from the past: more than once I saw them installing new cobblestones.

Prague has some very notable architectural icons. The Charles bridge spans the river and is lined with statues. The man square has the original astronomical clock. Prague castle is the largest castle in Europe, containing St. Virus cathedral, one of the iconic gothic cathedrals.

Prague also has many parks, some of which are well-kept and crowded and others which are a little more run-down but mercifully empty. I spend whole lot of time reading in parks and perched on the castle wall overlooking the city. (I re-read The Man Who Was Thursday). I also went to the Strahov Monastary which houses one of the moat beautiful libraries I have ever seen.

At the end of my second day in Prague I had walked everywhere in the city and didn't know what to do (that's why I spend so much time in parks). The city is just too tourist infested. Come Thursday I was ready to go, and I boarded an overnight train to Vienna. 

I think I woukd have enjoyed Prague more if I had made a friend there, but the hostel I stayed in did not have a good mingling space and outside the the hostel was bedlam.