by Brian Byrne.
The central part of Prague is eminently walkable. With a caveat. It is all cobbled. Big cobbles, medium cobbles, small cobbles on the footpaths often in intricate designs.
Cobbles are hard on the feet. Even if you have the appropriate strong, broad-soled shoes. Half a day on them and you know all about it. So do muscles you might not have known you had.
But it's all part of the charm of this very, very old east European city. A city where history has very many layers. Punctuated by a reputed hundred spires.
Prague is a bustling tourist-oriented city with a strong commercial, educational, and industrial hinterland. Its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has literally hundreds of museums, galleries, concert halls and churches. The city's architecture makes it a major location for movies, music videos and video games.
For tourists, everything revolves around the Old Town Square. So it makes sense to pick lodgings close to there. There's a wide range of reasonably-priced hotels inside the Old Town. They are likely to be old buildings. There's also a network of deep basements in the area, which are used as bars, small theatres, and restaurants.
The square is dominated by the Old Town Hall. Its foyer has rich roof frescoes, and interior doors of note mark the Praesidium and Senatus of the former councils. The Hall's rooms are still used for international conferences.
There's a spiral ramp culminating in a narrow stairway to get to the viewing area in the tower. A central lift is much easier. Access to the tower is €8 and it's well worth it on a clear day, as everything of note in the city can be seen from on high.
On one side of the tower, the oldest working astronomical clock in the world is the focus for every walking tour on one hour-strike of their visit. As the bells ring, a parade of Apostles peer out from two windows above the attraction. A number of other edifices around the square include the Church of Our Lady before Týn, which at one stage became the primary centre for the city's royalty rather than the St Vitus Cathedral.
From one corner, the shopping street Korlova leads the way to Charles Bridge, a pedestrian-only crossing of the river bult in the reign of King Charles IV to replace a previous one destroyed by floods. A variety of statuary includes one of a pastor, John, being thrown into the river by soldiers of King Wenceslas — not the 'good' one of the 10th century, but one in the Middle Ages who was miffed because Fr John wouldn't tell him what the king's wife said in confession.
While the rest of the bronze statue is black, the section showing Fr John being dumped is shiny from being touched 'for luck'. A similarly bright section of a dog is a more recent touching phenomenon.
Through the tower at the other end of the bridge and you're in an area under the brooding complex of Prague Castle. It's a pleasant street with lots of cafes and restaurants, and also Trdlo outlets selling 'chimney cake' treats, a feature throughout the city. Also a good spot for lunch. Among the options there's an Italian restaurant decorated in very old frescoes, restored in recent years, which has a special atmosphere. And as always, Italian food is good.
From there it is a short walk to the Church of Our Lady Victorious and the globally fabled Child of Prague statue. The exterior of the church is much more understated than most others in the city. The actual statue itself is a small and unassuming piece, just sitting on a side altar. That replicas of it have their heads knocked off and are put out in hedges all over the Catholic world, to ensure a fine wedding day, would no doubt bemuse its creator.
It is tempting to head up towards the looming Prague Castle, the city’s foundation, after lunch in the lower city. Best not to do so. It’s quite an uphill hike, and the Castle complex really needs a whole day. If you are on a short visit of a couple of days, best advice is to opt out.
If you do have the time, and want to delve through the history of Prague from its earliest days, the Castle is well worth the day it will need. It isn’t like the kind of medieval castle we're used to in Ireland, more a living set of buildings where are housed offices of the modern state. There’s a Changing of the Guard every midday, the pair selected for duty having to endure a shift of standing outside or, in bad rain, inside boxes. The more modern soldiers in the gateway behind them are armed to mean business.
Inside the Castle is St Vitus's Cathedral, its spires dominating the city from even within the castle complex.
You sometimes get a sense of a militaristic instinct in Prague, notably in signs on cars. Like on this not your regular Range Rover Evoque. The Merkava Mk IV on the bonnet air scoop refers to the current edition of the main battle tank used by the Israeli Defence Forces.
The label 'Tavor in the Car' — the Tavor is an Israeli bullpup assault rifle. The gun might not be actually in the car. Or it might be. In the Czech Republic, people can buy most kinds of guns after a health and criminal record check, and carry them concealed.
There's a defined Jewish Quarter. Apart from being a shopping area for the well-heeled, there's a substantial museum of the Jewish experience down the centuries. During WW2 the city was occupied by the Germans and most of the Jewish population of the city was deported and killed. An old Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and one of the most important Jewish historical monuments in Prague, with thousands of graves, and is administered by the Jewish Museum of Prague.
Three days in Prague is enough to see whatever needs to be seen. It's interesting, steeped in history, and with the slightly edgy flavour of a place that has been for centuries a crossroads between cultures and power blocs. It's bustling, and has a busy nightlife.
Worth the trip. Maybe not worth a return.
Written, photographed and produced by Brian Byrne, Kilcullen, IRL
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Photos and text by Brian Byrne