Prague

After a long bus ride, I arrived in the center of Prague.  Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic, with a population of around 1.3 million.  The city contains architecture from a variety of European styles, with some of the most notable structures being built during the reign of Charles IV during the mid 14th century.  Charles made Prague into a proper imperial capital, and at the time it was the third largest capital in Europe.  Today, Prague is better known for tourism and the turbulent events it experienced during the 20th century, including a takeover by the Nazis and the painful rule of Communism.  Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Prague has seen a swift rise economically, and is quickly getting more expensive.  For the time being, it is still a lovely city to visit, though quite touristy.

After arriving in Prague, I took a winding walk through the city to take pictures.  The city is full of beautiful curved streets with cobblestones.  In the evening, I joined my hostel mates for a group dinner.

The next day, I went out for a walking tour.  We moved through various sights that highlight the city’s history.  Notable moments included the invention of the Pilsner style beer (apparently the beer that came before was quite disgusting), the history of the author Kafka, the abysmal treatment of Prague’s Jewish population (even before the holocaust), and the role of Charles IV in building some of Prague’s greatest landmarks (including the bridge that bears his name).

After the tour, I went out for lunch and some unpasteurized Pilsner Urquell (the main Czech Pilsner) with new friend Ari.  Ari is from South Africa and taught me a great deal about the history and politics of the country, which are quite rough at the moment.

We then went for a visit through some of the sights in the Jewish quarter.  This first began with a large synagogue built in style of a mosque.  This also included a small exhibit on the history of the Jews in Prague and the artifacts left behind from when they were most populous.

After this museum, we headed to the Jewish memorial, which contains the names of all the Jews from Prague that were killed during the Holocaust.  It was simple, but stirring.  This is attached to the old Jewish cemetery that was reminiscent of the spooky cemetery in Harry Potter.  The cemetery actually holds many more people than it seems, as it is composed of vertical layers of graves.

In the evening, I relaxed in the hostel and played some drinking games in the common room.  I’ve enjoyed taking more time to read recently, and have been cruising through the Harry Potter series!

The next day, I went for a trip up to the city’s main castle with an English brother and sister from my hostel.  We walked through the main Cathedral (in the castle), though it was quite crowded as you had to wait in line to enter the nave.  Rather than wait, we chose to move on.  We stopped for a coffee and a snack, before walking out of the castle through the “gardens,” which were actually just some bushes in a line.

After leaving the castle, we went through a small museum detailing the history of the Czech nation.  I found the part covering the Nazi occupation to be the most interesting, as it contained various artifacts like a full SS uniform and a decorative knife.  There was a (creepy) sample of real human skin with tattoos on it.  I wasn’t sure why this was included, but it was so strange that I had to take a picture of it.

After lunch, we went for a quick stop at a church that had been the final showdown of the men who assassinated Nazi commander Reinhard Heydrich, most known for penning the original plan for the Nazi’s infamous “Final Solution to the Jewish Question.”  While the assassination was felt to be a triumph at the time, the Czech peopled found that it brought on worse treatment by the Nazi’s and had little value in weakening the Nazi’s power overall. 

In the evening I met up with Ari and some friends from his hostel.  We went to a beer museum/bar with live Bluegrass music (wasn’t expecting that), and then out to a few more bars and a quite lame, touristy club.  Ari’s friends were very nice, with many of them being native Spanish speakers that I could practice what I’d been learning with.

The next day I went for a bit of a change of pace—a shooting experience at a gun range outside of the city.  This is not a thing I’m usually up for, but in Prague you can shoot a wide range of firearms that would cost a fortune to shoot in the US.  I am not a big fan of guns (and instruments of death in general), but I will admit I found particular models to be true feats of engineering, including the Uzi, AK-47, and the Remington sniper rifle.  The gun from China was of the lowest quality, which the instructor said was not surprising.

In the afternoon I went out for to sample some local breweries with a couple of the hostel’s staff (I was the only person to show up for a beer garden tour, but they were nice enough to take me along anyways!).  We went to a variety of nice spots, finishing at a quiet place for local residents along a river.  It was a lovely way to spend my last evening in Prague.

Next stop, Krakow!