Final thoughts on Prague

 

I became very fond of Prague by the end of my three weeks there. The above photo was taken on the Charles Bridge. The city consistently surprised me (and not just through hot air balloons.) The prevalence of fascinating stories, second hand stores, interesting music venues, friendly acquaintances, and vegetarian restaurants was far superior to what I had expected. Having my boyfriend there as company during my last week in the Czech Republic was also a lovely change of pace.

The above image was taken in the cathedral near Prague Castle. I enjoyed the Tibetan restaurant affiliated with the monastery next to the castle more than the castle itself. If you go to enough European countries, all of the castles start to bleed together. (This may be a European royal lineage pun.)

These shoes hang next to the Prague metronome (that took the place of an enormous statue of Stalin) in the park in the northern part of town. The metronome is a little anticlimactic (but not in terms of elevation! Ha!) but the shoes were fantastic. They remind me of the film Big Fish, in that they are whimsical and indicative of a different era.

This cathedral was in Kutna Hora (the town.) For a non-Christian, I really enjoy visiting old churches. But only if I have enough time to just sit for a while and listen to their insides tick and thrum and whirl (and creak. Creek! If they are really compelling, that is. If they flow.)

Nonsequitur: Julian and I tried absinthe the French way: with water, and the Czech way: with fire. I prefer it with fire (like Robert Frost would.)

And of course, we frequented a number of beer gardens. Riegrovy Sady, above, turned out to be the best. I will certainly miss the view.

Another view that I will miss is that of the underground--we went on a ghost tour of the space under the town hall/astronomical clock, and while nothing particularly supernatural happened, it was beautiful. One of the rooms circa 1300 was completely unaltered, and full of candles for some sort of ceremony (or sacrifice, by the look of it.) While a lot of horrible things happened there (it was a prison for a number of centuries), it was a very peaceful way to spend an evening. And then we stumbled upon a fantastic bar near the Old Town, Al Capone's, and I tried my first (several) gin fizz(es.) And this was all following a Strauss/Mozart concert in the Municipal House by members of the Royal Orchestra, of course.

Prague: Highly Endorsed.