Prague; the melancholy city of the Vltava

« The Charles Bridge, saintly figures and the Prague Castle silhouetted in the fleeting sunset. A gallery of photos from 3 days in Prague. They aren't as lovely as the prints given my dying cheap scanner and different browsers being too 'helpful' in adjusting the colours, but the city still looks beautiful in spite of it all. »

Prague, the legendary city, with over 1000 years of history and home to the original Budweiser. It's the city of golden light and spires and of concrete ghettos from the communist era. Anyone who was anyone throughout history was in or through Prague at least once. It's a charming city in spite of the throngs of tourists and the bohemian flavour giving way to capitalism. Three days wasn't long enough and I hope to return someday in the off-season to see more of the people of Prague.

We arrived in time for sunset over the Charles Bridge and climed the Old Town Bridge Tower to watch the beautiful golden light bathe the city and the bridge in a warm glow. It's funny how it seems strange that it gets dark by 8.30pm when you come from a place where it doesn't until 10p or later. The bridge is constantly crowded with tourists and peddlers selling all sorts of touristy stuff and some reasonably good photographs of the city. Prague is one of those places that make you feel like every photo you even think of taking is a cliché considering how many other people with cameras are around you and how many photos already exist. I don't know that I've ever seen so many camera toting tourists in one place as I even saw another guy with a Leica. It's somewhat discouraging to try to take a photo of something only to have 20 people behind you or next to you with flash cameras who kill your exposure and your creative enthusiasm. I only shot a couple of rolls of film but I got a few nice photos and all of the black and white photography in local galleries made me think that B&W suits the city much better. I still think of Foto Skoda rather longingly as it had everything a photographer could ever want.

Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the trip was walking across the Most Legii, having a really lovely lunch on the island in the middle [they have a summer movie theatre on this island as well], taking the funicular railway up to the top of Petrin Hill, viewing the city from the top of the 62m tall 5:1 scale model of the Eiffel Tower, wandering through the mirror labyrinth and then making our way down the hill on foot through the giant, but steep, park in the Malá Strana. It's was cool on a hot day with few tourists leaving only the locals to walk their dogs, drink beer in the shade, play frisbee or read a book on the grass.

A curious feature of Prague is the apparent difficulty in finding Czech beer that is not the usual mainstream Budvar, etc. that you can buy in the local Alko. We ventured out one evening to a brewpub in the Nove Mesto called Pivovarsky Dum where it was crowded but well worth the wait. We had 6 beers, 2 aperitifs, 2 appetizers, 2 main courses, and 2 desserts all for a little less than 25 euro. I was disappointed that they were out of the nettle beer but the sour cherry was an interesting change of pace. I also had a near religious experience over the spaetzle which was something I've not had in ages and it was as good as my mother's. :) If you like Bavarian food then you'll love the Czech food in Prague, but there are a lot of other world cuisines available as well. Sadly, there are an abundance of McDonald's, KFC's and even TGI Friday's.

The Old Town Square, which features the astronomical clock that draws crowds of gaping tourists every hour, is a place to walk through, see the tourists, see the throngs of American students affecting a bohemian lifestyle by drinking cheap wine in a circle while one of them plays a guitar and look in the windows of the trinket shops wondering who buys all that crap. I did have some fun with an American guy selling candied almonds, like the ones you can buy in Tallinn, as he was convinced I was from Denmark and when I said "Finland", he replied that he was really good at picking out accents. Oh, the sweet torment of resisting the urge to muster my best Missouri drawl and say, "Really?! I'm originally from St. Louis! Where are you from?" I just left him with the feeling of being a fleamarket Prof. Higgens as his nuts were good. :)

The Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral were, of course, mobbed so we didn't linger too long fighting the crowds of various tour groups and happy snappers who would ask people to get out of their shot from 15m or more away in a square filled with people. I was crushed to find that the Leica Gallery Prague, on the grounds of the Castle, was inbetween shows as we had just missed what looked to be an excellent exhibit of Czech documentary photography and they were still setting up an exhibit of photos of Audrey Hepburn. We escaped the milling throngs by fleeing to the Royal Gardens next to the castle which were well tended and featured a falconer with his charges which included an eagle who looked pretty pissed off for being tethered.

At one point when we were crossing the Old Town Square, we looked north and saw something that I jokingly suggested was a metronome since it was something that had a tick-tock kind of motion. Later I read something that mentioned that a metronome had been installed on a site where a Stalinist statue once stood. Of course, I had to go see that so, before dinner I thought we could walk by there, have a look and maybe take a photo of the city from the hill it sits on. On the way there we were walking along the river and felt a bit of spider web across my face and pawed it off. A little further on I suddenly became aware of the wrought iron metal grates that form the barrier along the river alive with more spiders than I've ever seen in one place. Some of them were big spiders. I'm not fond of spiders so I moved to the far edge of the sidewalk and started walking a little faster. When we arrived at the bridge it was like the set of a horror movie; billions of spiders all over the bridge railings and the lights were encased in cobwebs and spiders, some of them big and furry. I closed my eyes and we hurried across the bridge as fast as possible but there was no refuge from arachnids on the other side as all of the lights leading up to the metronome were encased in webs and spiders. There were enough of them to trap a human in their webs and suck them dry! I lost all interest in the metronome and simply wanted to escape to the non-spidery part of town as fast as possible. I don't know where their predators are but they could be fat and happy in Prague.

A real highlight of the usual tourist attractions is the Municipal House which has been recently renovated and restored to its original splendour and features a room by Alphonse Mucha that made me wish I could move in tomorrow. It is nothing short of a monument to Art Nouveau. Czech independence was declared here as well as hosting many heads of state and diplomatic talks. The Powder Tower, so named because it used to store gunpowder, is adjacent to the Municipal House and, aside from the disconcertingly narrow and vertical spiral staircase, makes for a beautiful view of the Staré Mesto and Prague Castle. There's also a collection of gorgeous photographs by Ladislav Sitensky on the top before you venture out onto the roof.

Wenceslas Square and the high street at the northern end form a large shopping district. We found out after we returned to Helsinki that there was a car bomb on the day we were enjoying Petrin Park which was a bit of a shock considering that we sat and watched people go by for a while not terribly far from where the bomb was detonated in Wenceslas Square. I guess it didn't make the news since it wasn't deemed a terrorist act. In the middle of this shrine to capitalism, next to a McDonald's and above a casino there is a Museum of Communism which is a small, but nicely curated collection of artifacts of communism. There is a video which shows the history of communism in Prague/Czech Republic and has moving footage of the Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution. Their gift shop has some retro posters, postcards and Lenin bust candles which I would have bought had the very grumpy lady at the desk not informed me that the gift shop was closed. On our way out, we noticed other people buying postcards so, I dunno, maybe she thought I was a Russian since I had my Lomo camera with me.

So, what can I say, there's too much to go on about with Prague even after having spent only three days there. It's cheap, clean and safe along with some of the most amazing architecture and history in Europe. Believe the warnings about the Taxis since we had one guy at a stand who wanted to charge us 60kr per km for a ride to the airport which we declined only to have the guy behind him quote us a flat 600kr price which was far more reasonable. We accepted and the car lurched and lurched and lurched and once we were across the bridge the driver said that 'das auto ist kaput' and let us out on the side of the road with no other cabs in sight. We managed to hop the metro out to the last stop and get a cab for only 350kr to the airport and made the flight home. It just serves to make you appreciate the Helsinki taxis and public transport even if they are more expensive since they are maintained, they work and they rip everyone off equally. :) Highly recommended, just be prepared for massive crowds during the high season. You don't have to walk too far outside the tourist zone to find the density of tourists dramatically decreasing.

My only regret was not brushing up on my history of Prague a bit more before we arrived. The LP Best of Prague proved to be invaluable for such a short visit and Prague Pictures, by the incomparable John Banville, is an absolutely wonderful little book about his own experiences of the city before and after the fall of communism. Now that I'm even more curious about Prague, Prague in Black and Gold looks like an excellent book on the history of the city. When it's published in November, Time's Magpie, also promises to be a good book. Prague i Guide, and Prague Information Service seem to offer a reasonable amount of useful information as well.