Prague was what inspired me to travel to Eastern Europe last summer and was the catalyst for my roadtrip through Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Cesky Krumlov, and Meissen Germany. I read so many articles about how Prague was one of the best cities in the world. Everyone I talked to seem to be in love with Prague. So I thought, Prague is somewhere I have to visit. But I’m going to be very honest—I kinda hated Prague. It was the last stop on my roadtrip and that last week I kept thinking, can I just go back to Budapest? Can I stay in Meissen instead? I am perfectly fine to accept the old “It's not you, it's me” situation when it comes to Prague since every other human I met cannot get enough of it. I really tried though. I do want to focus on the things I liked about Prague but feel like I should get out of the way, first, why I just wasn’t feeling it.
First was the rudeness—while trying to park next to our Airbnb apartment, a local rudely stole the spot. We patiently waited for a car to leave the parking spot and then had literally driven in front of the spot to parallel park and while backing into the spot, the local shot in there and refused to move. That was after a restaurant owner wouldn’t let us use the rest room even after we said we would buy a coffee. Then we went to dinner in old town. The table was at a weird angle so I stood up to shift it a couple of inches and the server ran over to me and told me that I was not to touch the table and that I would have to replace it for thousands of dollars if anything was wrong with it. Then when we were driving in Prague we made a wrong turn by accident and the police officer screamed at us and wanted to give us a ticket when we were genuinely lost. Additionally, the cab drivers all charged extremely different fares on the same routes.To go along with rudeness, when booking my Airbnb, I experienced a bait and switch tactic where the “owner” told me that one was no longer available but we can communicate outside of Airbnb and he will find me something similar (definitely a scam). So I found someone else to book an Airbnb through and that was also I bad experience. The apartment was nothing like it was pictured, there wasn’t air condition like the posting stated (and it was 95 degrees while we were there), the “owner” would not help us find a fan or anything and then he somehow had my review deleted from Airbnb. So there’s that. I’ve traveled to 30 other countries and have not experienced that much rudeness, basically in one day.
The other big thing was that I felt like I was in an open-air museum in the famous “old town.” While sitting at dinner, the servers would take photos of you and try to sell them to you like you’re at Disney World. While sitting and eating lunch, you can expect at least five bachelor party groups to walk by dressed in various theme-wear (for example there was a group dressed like Borat and a “Baywatch” group). Prague is a very big European bachelor party destination. Then you have the swarms of tour groups touring through that are so large you can’t move. I was aware that “old town” was touristy but I have never experienced tourism to that degree. So I did try to go to other areas in Prague. But the things that people seem to love in Prague, I had already seen it done better in the places I had just come from—the notion Prague is known as the city of spires, Cesky Krumlov does that better. The Prague castle, Meissen and Budapest had better castles. The beer, better in Budapest. The clock, better in Vienna. The bridge… okay I will give Prague that one. The bridge was nice. Maybe I had high expectations but I really did want to love it like everyone else. There were some good things, though, so let’s focus on that!
The Bridge
Yes, the bridge is impressive. The Charles Bridge is one of several bridges in Prague, but the only one that is a pedestrian-only bridge, so that makes it unique and it does make it better than the one in Budapest. The bridge was completed in 1402 and was the only way to cross the Vltava River without taking to the water for 460 years. It offers gorgeous views of the Prague Castle and the river. You can also climb up one of the towers to get a good view, but it was under construction while I was there.
2. The Library
The Strahov Monastery Library is no longer open to the public, but we were able to get a private tour. It was nice having the whole library to ourselves while other tourists could only peek in and try to avoid getting us in their pictures. The library has two basic rooms, the Theological Hall and the Philosophical Hall, one of which feels like it is straight out of the library from Beauty and the Beast. There is a door hidden and painted to look like books so to go to the second floor of books, you have to go through there and climb up some narrow steps. The ceiling of the library is a huge amazing mural. The books kept in the library include about 200,000 old prints between the 16th and 18th centuries. Swedish troops invaded Prague in 1648 and stole many of the books to take to Sweden with them.
3. Petrin Hill
The Stahov Monastery Library is located on Petrin Hill and right outside of the library is the Stahov Monastic Brewery. The beer was originally made by monks starting in the 13th century and the brewery has gorgeous views of Prague.
4. Letna Beer Garden
What do you do after visiting the brewery? Find more beer of course. The Letna Beer Garden was my favorite place to hang out in Prague. It is located in a park, away from the main tourist stretch. This park is really popular to come hang out in the Summer. They have restaurants and of course beer. A lot of people brought their own food. It’s a really pretty area and has some great views overlooking Staré Město (“Old Town”). Loved this place!
5. The Prague Castle
So “the Prague Castle” is pretty much a huge complex . It’s actually the largest castle complex in the world. It has gardens, cathedrals, what is called “the golden lane” (a row of miniature houses where a lot of goldsmiths lived) and yes, an actual castle. I didn’t find the inside of the castle very impressive to be honest, but walking around the complex is a lot of fun. The St. Vitus Cathedral and Golden Lane were the highlights to me. Food is expensive around that area and surrounding the complex, so pay attention to prices when you find somewhere you want to eat. There are also a bunch of shops in the surrounding areas. The Changing of the Guards ceremony happens at the Prague Castle as well. We didn’t end up seeing it though.
6. The Jewish Quarter
During the centuries, the Jewish population were only allowed to live in one area in Prague known as the Jewish Quarter. Hitler wanted to preserve the Jewish Quarter as a history and museum of “an extinct race.” There are six synagogues including the Spanish Synagogue and Old-New Synagogue. A unique feature at the Old-New Synagogue is the "ladder to golem attic," the bottom part of the ladder was cut off so that people couldn't trespass. Personally I liked the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest better. But the Jewish Quarter is most known for the Old Jewish Cemetery. In this small area, 100,000 bodies are buried below the headstones, many bodies being buried on top of each other. It’s a really surreal site to see.
7. The Opera House
Finally, a really cool thing to do is to see Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the original opera house it was performed! There are several opera houses in Prague and this one is the Estates Theatre. You can get really cheap tickets to the opera. I never saw an opera before this trip but actually found it enjoyable. It is one of the most beautiful and oldest operating theatres in Europe (since 1783) so its worth at least buying a cheap ticket and taking a look around.
So there were some unique things about Prague that were enjoyable. Notably missing from my list was the Astronomical Clock. In the middle ages it was considered one of the wonders of the world. I liked the Anker Clock in Vienna better. I know most people love Prague, but I was just blown away by Budapest and Vienna and Cesky Krumlov and I just didn’t feel that way about Prague, but definitely did have some good experiences.
I am finally finished writing about my Eastern Europe trip! I will make a post that shows my itinerary in all of these places and then do some pots about Australia, Iceland, New Mexico and maybe some of my other favorite places.
