Until about 5 days ago, I had no idea where Prague was. I knew it was somewhere east of Germany, but that’s about it. Now, Prague stands as one of my favorite cities in the world.
After getting ripped off by the cab/bus drivers when going to the airport in Rome, it was a welcomed change to arrive in a place where everybody spoke English. Not only that, but we got rid of our Euros and picked up a stack of 1000 koruna bills. Unfortunately the multiplication table for 17 was left out of my middle school curriculum so the exchange rate was a little hard to compute, but the 1USD = 17.5 CZK was much welcomed. We got a full meal for the price of an appetizer in Rome and all the locally brewed beers were cheaper than water.
I’ll continue the beer train of thought… They are great in Prague. The internationally famous beer brewed in the Czech Republic is the Pilsner Urquell however it was only served in a few of the pubs and restaurants. There were several microbreweries that served exclusively their own beer and other restaurants served a variety of other small Czech beers like Kozel. In a country that drinks the most liters of beer per capita in the world, it’s fitting that there is a wide variety for them to choose from. On our last night in Prague, Jorge and I went on a beer tasting tour where we visited on pub and two microbreweries. We tried 5 different beers, from light lagers (light, not lite) to darker ales.
The beer was a great treat that the city had to offer, but it was not the only one. The first few days we did a city tour and a castle tour. When looking at Prague from a distance, there are few buildings that jump out and grab your attention like the castle on top of the hill, the cathedral and clock tower in the city center, and the Charles. Especially when compared to the Western European architecture that I’m used to, the tall towers on these buildings look like Disneyland. I was surprised when the city/castle tour showed us so much more than that – they were just small stops. The most interesting part was the old Jewish quarter. Jews in Prague have a long history of injustice. They lived in a small ghetto that always got flooded when the river rose. However, over the years, their old neighborhood has built a rich history. Prague is home of the 2 oldest synagogues in East Europe. The most haunting reminder of their persecution is the old cemetery. They were only allotted a tiny plot of land on a city corner to bury their dead. In order to offer a proper burial for hundreds of years of people, they began burying really deep. As a result, the small piece of property is filled with headstones (at least 12,000 headstones for up to 100,000 people).
When we split off on our own, we went up to a beer garden at a park on the top of the hill by the metronome monument. The monument replaced the giant stone statue of Stalin that once overlooked Prague. Symbolically, the metronome represents time lost during communism as it ticks back and times moving forward with democracy as it ticks ahead. Physically, it offers an incredible panorama of the city. Under the monument was the Lennon wall, a wall on which it is legal to graffiti and is littered with Beatles quotes. It started as an anti-communism protest but over the years the layers of paint represent the youth voice and free speech.
We felt like we did a pretty good job seeing Prague 3 days. To celebrate our country’s independence, we found the next best foreign place to celebrate other than London: Amsterdam.
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