Just spent the weekend in Prague, because “you have to go!” People seem to love the place, and I had countless recommendations to go. So I went! Now I say: you have to go.

The train ride from Munich is a little over 6 hours, including quite a few stops. It was a regional train, so there were quite a few characters on board. Are dogs allowed? Seemingly. Huge dogs? Apparently. The scenery along the way is nice – green rolling hills with occasional little towns.

The Czech Republic uses the koruna, not the Euro, so I needed to get some money. At the train station I found an ATM and had to do some mental math. I wasn’t sure what my needs would be, so I calculated what about $100 would be in korunas: 2,000. So I pushed the 2,000 button (which just feels like a lot) and out pops a single bill. I guess I was expected to get it in… 200s? When at the hotel I asked for change, and when I pulled that bad boy out the clerk’s eyes got big before saying they didn’t have the money to break it. That turned out to be my only ATM withdrawal, and after meals, transportation, various snacks and whatnots, I left with close to 400 korunas left over. No wonder the tourists like it.

I think another big draw is how accessible it is. Old Town and the major attractions have been modified to cater to tourists – American tourists in particular. The major areas were full of tourists. I really hadn’t seen a lot of tourists in Munich. They seem to blend in more with the locals, even in the hot spots. But Prague seemed like all tourist. And I was never too far from a Subway, McDonalds or KFC. I think the change is unfortunate. While the architecture has remained (likely through great restoration), the culture was really absent. You could hear the language, but people there spoke better English than those in Munich. Still, with all the tourist adaptations, it still had a different feel than the other parts of Europe I’ve been. The impact of communism has been reduced with time, but there are still shadows of it there.

In only 2 days (just a little over 24 hours) I took more than 1,000 pictures. I usually take way too many, but this time I felt like I didn’t take enough. The weather was beautiful, and with a clear blue sky the colorful buildings really caught my eye. I regret I wasn’t able to get any shots at night (my battery had run out), particularly of the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. I felt a little better when we were treated to an up-close-and-personal firework show on the river, just off the bridge where we were standing. It was the 650th anniversary of the Charles Bridge – who knew?

I really hope to return some day. Two days of walking around let me see much of the architecture, but I’d like to be able to go inside a few places. The food was nothing remarkable, except that it was really cheap. The places I went all seemed really safe, though I got the impression that venturing too far from Old Town wouldn’t be too pleasant. And for the real story of what makes Prague great, check out my pictures.

 

 

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