Getting to Know Prague

I woke up Tuesday morning a little tired but excited to get my first real look at Prague. I decided to go for a run and told Keegan that I would only be gone for 20 minutes. My plan was to go 10 minutes out along some of the winding and confusing streets with the goal of staying parallel to the river. On the way back, I would actually run along the river to get my bearings back to the hotel. The ten minutes out flew by as I saw all sorts of cool areas and storefronts that I wanted to check out later. When it came time to turn back, I ended up conveniently near the river so I could choose to simply run along it back.

A view of the city from above, its beauty made runs fly by.

Instead, I decided I wanted to see even more of the city so I thought I would try other back streets to get back. Approximately 15 minutes later, I realized I was nowhere near where I should be. Finally, I gave up and wandered into a hotel. I approached the desk, praying for an English speaker, and was met with someone who was able to barely communicate. They pointed me in the right direction and I began making my way again. Finally I broke out to the river only to realize that I recognized nothing. Luckily, I had ended up near a European Union building so there were many young and presumably multilingual people going by. I walked up to the first one I saw and when I told him where I needed to go he laughed, telling me how far I was, and pointed the way back. These directions set me right and I finally ended up back at the hotel to meet slightly worried Keegan.

We both got ready and headed down to breakfast. The hotel includes a simple but good breakfast so we were able to get a bite to eat before we set out exploring. I won’t bore you with all the details of the day (instead I will show pictures). In the afternoon we had to come back to the room to get a nap as we were both still fighting jet-lag but we did recover nicely for dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant in a quiet neighborhood that was way down in an old cellar.

After dinner, we made our way towards the center of old town to see if there was any nightlife on this Tuesday night. The downtown area has three major landmarks which basically provide the axis that everything else flows out from. Furthest west is the Old Town Square. This is a classic European Square that is one of the very few to survive perfectly from World War II. There are a bunch of cafes and restaurants in it as well as a fantastic fountain and some amazing buildings. The center of downtown is Charles Bridge. The bridge connects one side of the city to the other across the river and it is ancient. It is all cobblestone and pedestrian only. There are many merchants and street performers all along it. The western section is dominated by Prague Castle. This “castle” is actually a huge complex that houses all of the old royal properties including a stunning cathedral.

Just a small part of Old Town Square

Charles Bridge at night (known as Karluv Most in Prague)

The Prague Castle Complex from a distance

We started on the East side of Charles Bridge and looked for crowds to get an idea of where to go. We saw a large group of people our age walking down the street so we fell into step behind them and entered a club about one block away. The club’s entrance is on the street but immediately upon entering you begin a descent. The complex is made up of a series of subterranean layers full of old brick rooms. It was huge and very cool looking. As expected it was also pretty quite on a Tuesday night. There was one room which was popular though which contained a bar with professional dancers on top of it. I knew enough about eastern Europe to realize that their modesty standards were different than ours but I was nevertheless surprised that they were dancing topless.

Contrary to what it sounds like, it was not a strip club. Prague is actually well known for that type of establishment (as well as brothels) so this was quite a step down. Most people in the club just went on having their drinks like nothing was happening. I spent most of the time trying not to laugh when I looked at Keegan. We eventually finished our drink and went to look elsewhere. The second place we found was a huge club complex right on the water. There was a decent amount of people there but we ended up leaving after only a short time.

Wednesday morning, Keegan and I had agreed to split up so we could pursue some separate interests. I woke up early and walked to the Jewish quarter. This portion of Prague is where the Jewish ghetto existed since approximately the 11th century. For many, that year may sound surprising. In many parts of Europe, hatred towards Jews was common beginning around the time of the first crusade. Prague isolated the Jews in a section of town far too small for their population. They existed as a largely self-sufficient community until the late 1800’s when more tolerant attitudes became common and the ghetto was broken apart.

Because of the overcrowding, the Jewish community had to bury bodies on top of one another for hundreds of years. This caused tombstones to be EVERYWHERE in the old Jewish cemetery.

Old Jewish Synagogue 

Of course, that was far from the end of the Jew’s Struggle. Hitler conquered the Czech Republic and began cleansing it of Jews immediately. Most were exported to a Ghetto in the Czech Republic for holding until they could be sent along to the concentration camps. When the Nazi’s entered Prague, there were 110,000 Jews. Around 21,000 managed to escape around the time of the invasion (realizing what they would face if they did not). Out of the 89,000 who stayed, only about 10,000 would make it to the end of the war and far fewer would ever return to Prague.

Written on every wall so small it is hard to see here is the names of all of the Prague Jews lost in WWII

The Jewish quarter exists today as a living museum. It contains many of the old synagogues and community centers as well as those that are still active. I was able to walk through many of these areas and explore for about $15. All men had to wear Yamakas out of respect which I was able to purchase for 50 cents. When I finished there, I headed to Prague Castle to begin exploring. On my walk, I saw a whole new area of Prague that I had not yet seen. It was dominated by a large park not much different than Central Park in New York. I had to make a huge trip around it to find a place to cross the old moat which surrounded the castle complex.

View before I cross the moat onto the grounds

Soldiers on guard at the Castle's entrance

The inside of the castle complex was huge and really impossible to fully grasp. The castle itself was more modern than old and medieval. It was mostly just a huge mansion with a large courtyard. The cathedral on the other hand was as grand and medieval as it gets. The only way to begin to grasp it is by looking at pictures.

Outside of the Cathedral

Inside of the Cathedral

As I left the cathedral to begin heading down the hill to meet Keegan for lunch, I saw quite a commotion going on in the other direction. I decided I better take a look so I headed over. I found myself looking onto a military spectacle from the back side. I was literally facing out towards thousands of people who had not made it inside the castle. I believe what was happening was a sort of “changing of the guard ceremony.” 

Changing of the guard - complete with great revelry and music

When this was over I headed back down the hill to meet Keegan who had spent the morning checking out some of Prague’s stores. By the time we got back to our room and relaxed for a bit, it was dinner time. We went to a new area of Prague and ate at a Brazilian steak house. For those of you have been, you know that in the United States, these tend to be very expensive, somewhere in the range of $50 per person. It cost only $35 for each of us and included an unlimited selection of meats and a salad bar.

The meal went very late and we were so full we decided to head back to our room for the night. On the way, we saw one of the many old-style casino’s that line the main streets. These are not Vegasesque at all. They are more like the small fancy ones you may see in some movies. This one seemed fancy from the outside but was a little spooky when we entered. Luckily, when we got to the top of a grand staircase, there was a more familiar casino scene with only a couple of slot machine and single tables of some of the more popular games. Keegan played black jack for a while and managed to win 700 CZK (not as cool as it sounds - $35).

From there we went home and went to sleep so we would be prepared for our final full day in Prague. Quick update on beer quest, Prague invented the Pilsner and Pilsner Urquell is EVERYWHERE. This is their national drink and usually quite a bit cheaper than water. It is a surprisingly bitter taste and very foamy.