Travel and Personal

Prague. Take Two

By Dweep Chanana ⋅ April 21, 2006 ⋅  Email this post ⋅ Post a comment

Back in Prague, the weather has improved. And so has my impression of this city. There are still hordes of tourists outside, but now I know where to avoid them. The beergarden across the river and up the hill. Or the plateau next to it that once held Stalin and is now overrun by the city’s budding skateboarders.

Then there are the gems outside the city. An hour away, the city of Kutna Hora and its many churches. Of particular note is Kostnice, with its hundreds of skeletons. A good day trip from Prague, it has plenty of streets to walk around and many a relaxed cafe to stop at.

Up north, there was Adrspach and its stone massifs. Visited as much by the locals as by German and Polish tourists, another good way to spend a day.

There is plenty here to keep me occupied for a while. If nothing else, watching the Czech is fun. They come in all shapes, sizes, and hair colors. And they like to have fun. Late at night, many are habitually drunk yet so docile. And go into any bar and you’ll find several punching the jackpot machine mindlessly. People watching is fun here. Its clear this city was once the melting pot of travellers from east and west. Today, it is a melting pot of tourists, attracting not just Old Europe, but hordes of Russians and Poles. If there was any doubt, the bookshop in the center proved my point. It sold books not only in Czech and English, but also Russian, Polish, German and Italian.

Back to another melting pot - Geneva. Spring is in the air and it will be a different city when I return. Yet, not different enough it will still be a safe haven from another, very real world out there.