Praha!

Since GP is just about the last taste of freedom I'll have until the end of final med exams, I've taken it upon myself to travel around Europe a bit. What good is it going to med school in the EU if you don't take in the sights, right? So last weekend, Mary and I took a random trip to Prague. When I say random, I mean it was on the list of about 20 different cities that neither of us has been to, and we both wanted to see... and the flights were cheap. (woot!)


I had no idea what to expect from Prague, save for what little I'd skimmed out of a travel book picked up at the last minute (in case I wanted a map of the underground... it was a good idea). Most of my preconceived notions came from imagined former eastern block type photos I'd seen... I don't know why, but that's what I was expecting. To be honest, after landing and hopping on a bus into the city, I wasn't really disappointed. Between the airport and the subway lies a bus ride through the concrete of state constructed housing, clearly meant to be functional, solid and warm, but not pretty. This was further reinforced as multiple billboards of a woman, scantily clad in all cameo and armed to the teeth advertising a local military supply store, zipped past the bus windows. And while, thankfully, everyone in the service industry seemed to speak English (as I know exactly zero Czech), absolutely everyone was serious. The people came off as quite dour actually. Much like the first buildings I encountered, I figured they were functional... but not all that pretty.

The airport bus dropped us off at the distant reaches of the subway system. This made me wonder why Prague had multiple layers of fully functional and efficient public transport, and Dublin was still trying to figure out the buses. So, down into the subway we went. At the airport, we had obtained 3-day travel tickets that allowed use of the subway, buses, and street cars (which sadly we never risked the journey on) and those tickets more than paid their way. After a minor detour and coffee and food, we managed to find our hotel. Now, the hotel was very nice. We had found a great deal on expedia and the location alone would have made the price, but the inside was lovely and the staff very friendly. I rarely see hotels where you leave the key at the front desk when you leave, but this was one of them. By the second day, they knew who we were and what room we were staying in. And breakfast was included (any economical traveler knows the value of an included breakfast) and was a lovely spread.

I think the first thing that struck me about city centre Prague was the architecture, the old and beautiful buildings that had clearly been around for centuries housing stores like H&M, Lacost, Sunglasses Hut, and KFC (yes... there were a lot of KFCs). It was such a strange juxtaposition that I did double takes just about every corner I turned. This is the first real thing I learned about Prague: It had been spared the massive bombings of WWII leaving the original city design and architecture untouched. And it was pretty.


We wandered around for the first day, taking in Old Town and Josefov (the Jewish Quarter), mostly gaining our bearings and trying to figure out what Prague was all about. For the evening, we found a nice little Italian place (great gnocci) and headed out for a ghost tour. Now, I know what you're thinking... what an effing tourist. But I've come to find that tours like this are a great way to learn a little something about a city (and in a way that I personally will remember it). Where else do you hear about famous defenistrations? According to the map provided by our hotel, there was a ghost tour leaving the town square at 8pm. Great! ... Then there was no tour guide... we were a little confused. Then we noticed a fellow leading a small pack of lost souls while carrying a lantern and umbrella. This screams ghost tour. I pop over and find out that he's actually just finishing the tour. (Massive disappointment!). But the next one starts at 9. Obviously, that means it's time for a drink.

I was told I had to drink the beer in Prague. I figured, hey, why not. And I will say that the beer is quite good. Now, I'm not particularly partial to beer and when I do drink beer, I tend to like the stouts and laggers rather than ale. But Czech beer is good. If you're there, try some. Even the Irish bar in town (there's one in every town) serves Czech beer... Go figure.


After our soul warming beer, we returned to the square to partake in the ghost tour. Now, for a bit of a shameless plug. If you're in Prague and you want to do a ghost tour, do McGee's Ghost Tours. There are a few good reasons for it. 1) Tyler is hilarious and brilliant. He makes the tour fun, even when you're dodging a Czech police car, furniture cart, and compact while trying to take a picture. Plus, you won't spend your time trying to figure out his accent. 2) You're going to have a good and interesting tour that skeptic and believer alike can enjoy. There is plenty of history and architecture discussion involved... and a little American College Football too. 3) You're not paying 350kr to have someone in a mask jump out and say boo. And while McGee has a bit of a flair for the dramatic (and a great evil laugh), you're not going to get a cheap scare. It's totally worth it.

(my sufficiently creepy picture of our guide)

(and a nice picture)

By the end of the tour, we were both pretty beat and kinda wet and cold (the temp was hovering just around freezing), so we headed in for the night. It only took a little while to figure out the heating in the hotel room, and I basically fell right to sleep.

The second day was spent on the opposite side of the Vltava touring the castle and surrounding neighborhood. The castle in Prague is beautiful, and a good portion of history in the castle is contained within the Cathedral. Mary and I traipsed around the grounds of the castle listening to oversized tv-remotes (audio guides) and trying not to let our fingers freeze. It was quite cold, and at one point, I actually tried to punch the buttons with my mittens on to save my fingers from the temperature.

(check out those buttresses)

We took our time taking in the sights of Hradcany and Mala Strana before crossing the Charles Bridge yet again to head back to the hotel. We changed into something "fancy" and headed out to the Opera. Now I have to give Mary all the credit here. It was her idea to take in a show while in Prague. It turns out that the government subsidises most of the arts to make them affordable to the masses. As a result, we took in Carmen for about €2. Can't argue with that. Granted, we were up in the nose-bleeds, but it was in the beautiful Narodni Divadlo so even the heights couldn't take away from that. Besides... I think Mary had wanted to take in some culture ever since Eddie and Aidan nixed the idea in Paris. Boys... (shakes head).


We set out early the next morning to get to the airport on time. We were way ahead of schedule, so camped out in a Starbucks (it's really weird to see Starbucks in places like Prague) and waited for Ryan Air to be ready for us to board.

You can see a heck of a lot in Prague over a weekend, but it's one of those cities that I'd love to go back to. I definitely don't feel like I had my fill of it in the two days. So... go see Prague. Great place.