J/BLØG

It’s my first full-day in Prague and I have mixed feelings about the city. I’m really, really happy that I went to the Baltics prior to visiting Prague because I got to see the Old Towns of Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius without being overswamped by tourists. Of course, there were tourist groups with the leaders carrying a silly umbrella in front and there were opinionated Italian mammas everywhere I went to. In Tallinn and to a lesser extent Riga, there were silly drunken Brits who loved to be loud and stupid. Other than the Brits and the Italians, the Germans and the Russians were quite well-represented in the Baltics as well.

Now, let me tell you about Prague! Today I planned to dedicate the whole day to the sights in Malá Strana (Lesser Town) and Hradčany which are the areas on the other side of the river. I will spend the full day tomorrow exploring the Staré Město (Old Town), Nové Město (the New Town) and Josefov (the Jewish Quarter) tomorrow. My first stop was St Nicholas Church, which was beautifully decorated with frescoes and statues. I got in before the first group of Italian mammas came in, so I could took good pictures in peace. After St Nicholas, I walked along Nerudova Street, with its collection of pretty houses and shops. In the old times, rather than appointing numbers to each of the house, they put a symbol or a picture above the door, so you would find houses such as “The Red Lamb”, or “The Green Lobster”, or “The Three Fiddles”). At the end of the street, I walked up to the Royal Palace and to St Vitus’ Cathedral. By the time I arrived there, it was already about midday, and BOY, IT WAS PACKED WITH TOURISTS! I got in to the Cathedral, and it looked like a fairground on the inside – visitors were told not to take any pictures, but there were clicks of cameras, and chatters of the tourists. It didn’t feel like a Cathedral at all. It was FULL! Imagine a room full of noisy Italian mammas, Russian babushkas, guttural Germans and vocal Americans, complete with competing tour guides. I didn’t bother buying the ticket to the South Tower or to see the Royal Cript, as I have been to a royal cript in Berlin and I have climbed numerous towers in the Baltics.

Continue reading “Prague Headlines: “The Baltics Have Stolen Our Thunder””