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Poland & Prague-Part 2, Prague

After spending a thoroughly enjoyable 8 nights in Poland I took a 1.5 hr flight from Warsaw to Prague on a late Monday morning, $280 on LOT. Upon arrival at Vaclav Havel I went to the AAA Taxi kiosk and was immediately loaded and on my way into Prague--about 580 koruna, with a discount coupon for my return. The Iron Gate Hotel on Michalska was absolutely wonderful, it was once two houses and has been renovated many times in it's 600 or so year existence and it's just lovely with a big courtyard in the middle and I received excellent service while there. My room wasn't ready so I had a glass of wine and lunch and got in by 2--they upgraded me to a suite with a living room and bedroom, very spacious. By the time I ventured out to explore it had started to rain, of course. It was brief and then I was ready to tackle the insane maze of streets and passages. I pride myself on being really good with a map and having a great sense of direction, but Prague was hard for me to get a handle on. Fine if you're just wandering, but trying to find a particular place was maddening. My first afternoon I just wandered all over the old town square and into Wenceslas, marvelling at how much that area felt like San Francisco, more recent old architecture. Plenty of British dept stores and international shops, plus the usual bombardment of tourist crap shops.

I was immediately taken with the incredible beauty of Prague, a fairy tale medieval city unlike the others I've been to, BUT the sheer number of people was overwhelming--I can deal with crowds just fine, but everything became a battle, it seemed everywhere there were huge throngs of tourists, and loads of Americans. I like to be surrounded by European tourists, it seems. It made me just a wee bit crabby, to be honest. The next two days were very chilly and windy, about 55-58 degrees and I wore 3 light layers and a scarf. The weather kind of dampened my enthusiasm, but again, you get out and see regardless.

First order of Tuesday was the Mucha Museum--very enjoyable, I've loved Mucha since I was a teen so very happy to see so much more of his work. I decided to make the metro trip to Veletrzni to the National Gallery to see the Slav Epic that afternoon, their metro felt similar to Budapest's, though it seemed to be inhabited by lots of beggars. A nice Czech man helped me buy my tickets and I was off. Short ride, then armed with Rick's directions I walked about 15 minutes to the museum only to see the dreaded notice that the Slav Epic was temporarily closed--I fervently hoped that meant maybe just that day and there was still hope of seeing it, but no, falling plaster and maybe August-September re-opening. I had intended to see their other exhibits and in that I was not disappointed, lots of Czech artists and also plenty of my favorites like Klimt, Schiele and a whole wing of French art that made me very glad indeed.

That night I had a ticket to see The Marriage of Figaro at The Estates Theatre, just a 5 minute walk from my hotel. Small and charming, built in the 1770s and the opera nerd in me was gleeful to be seeing a Mozart opera in the last remaining theatre that he personally conducted his works in. For about $60 US I had an excellent box seat that would easily have cost $300+ at the SF Opera.

Wednesday I had tentatively planned a day trip by train to Kutna Hora but I could tell 3 1/2 days in Prague weren't enough and I needed to stay put and enjoy the city. Weather was still crummy, too. My favourite souvenirs from my travels are something old and I'd not found any antique shops with anything suitable--lots of big, breakable, expensive stuff. Finally I wandered into Muchovo Antik off Karlova and found a little 1930s Czech pottery match holder in the shape of a Scottie dog--bingo! He's now sitting happily with my other antique souvenirs. At 890 koruna he was about $35 US, decent if not very good price.

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I finally made it over the Charles Bridge--what a conglomeration of people! Lots of vendors, selling a lot of stuff I actually liked, some enjoyable music, too. I headed straight for the Castle and spent about 4 hours seeing that area, St Vitus (had to see that Mucha window, spectacular) and I was especially taken with the houses on Golden Lane. I had coffee and a trdelnik round pastry for a snack and then back down the hill to explore the Mala Strana area for a bit. Back over the bridge and spent some time in the old town square and environs before finding a restaurant on Cehelna and having pasta for dinner.

Last day dawned bright and sunny, and I set out to visit the Jewish district and see the beautiful synagogues, and photograph the gorgeous buildings. My favourite things are the ornamentation over the doorways. Somehow I ended up again at the Charles Bridge so back over it I went for more of Mala Strana and a visit to the Kafka Museum, very unique museum that I liked a lot, being a Kafka fan it was a must-see, perhaps not for others. Sat by the water's edge and watched the swans and ducks, a rare peaceful public respite in my time in Prague. Later in the afternoon I went to the Museum of Communism, really well-done and fascinating exhibits. Since visiting Tallinn, Budapest, Gdansk and now Prague I've gotten quite a feeling for what happened in Europe during the Communist era, what the people endured and what led them to finally challenge it and break free.

Dinner that night was at Blatnicka at the lower end of Michalska. Even at 5:30 they were full for reservations so I sat outside and had a great meal of Esterhazy pot roast with roasted potatoes and an enormous Pilsener Urquell. The waiter brought a sort of pork bits in lard dip--sounds awful but it was quite tasty--and I wasn't sure if it was on the house or not--it wasn't--but it was fine since I was very hungry. Even with that added to my bill the whole meal was 304 koruna, about $13 US.

As my flight home was at 6 am I asked at the front desk about airport timing and was told if I left there at 4 am I'd be fine. To be safe I came down at 3:45, called AAA and when it got to be 4:10 I was getting nervous so front desk called--taxi stuck behind garbage truck, arrived about 5 minutes later and all was fine. The streets there are particularly narrow and twisty so I could see this happening a lot, word to the wise.

While I loved the various charming areas of Prague and its beauty is incomparable, I didn't feel quite as comfy as I did in Poland. Prague felt more fast-paced, the people not quite as friendly and the tourists--LOTS of groups that exhibit the herd mentality-- were just exhausting. Impossible to find anywhere to walk down a street without being surrounded, and a big part of what I love is just walking peacefully and observing. So many Americans, felt like I was home! This was mid-May, I can only imagine what high season is like. Could be because it was the second part of my trip and energy levels were waning, coupled with the less than clement weather, who knows. Am I glad I went there? Absolutely. Am I likely to return? Perhaps not.