Tags
architecture, becoming madame, mucha, prague, Travel, vacations
Tyn Church, Old Town Square
Old Town Baroque buildings
One of the truly wonderful perks of living in Europe is being able to zip off to one fabulous ancient city or another in a moment’s notice. Within the time it used to take me to commute from my office downtown to home, I can now be in Vienna, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Brussels, London, Prague… the list is practically endless.
St Nicolas Church, Old Town
Over the last five days, we took a jaunt over to Prague to celebrate my parents-in-law’s 40th wedding anniversary. I had never been to the Czech Republic before. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Was it going to be like Vienna, given its 400 years under the Habsburg Empire, or something like post-communist Poland since the demise of its own communist government in the early 1990s. What ever I may have expected, I was in for a treat.
Arriving on Friday morning, we spent four packed days absorbing everything we possibly could in Prague’s five main quarters:
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Kinsky Palace
Old Town is where you will find the lively Old Town Square which is the perfect enclave of Baroque architecture, a functioning astronomic clock dating to the 15th century from the top of which you have a picture-perfect panorama of the entire city, the magnificent Tyn Church and the Kinsky Palace. (For those of you up on British cultural history – this was the family home of Lady Randolph Churchill’s – Winston’s mom – great love.);
New Town, just to the south of Old Town is home of the museum of turn-of-the-century publicity artist Mucha (much loved in Paris) and the National Theatre;- Little Quarter just over the famous statued Charles bridge is where you will find a charming canal tracing its way from the river where you can enjoy a wonderful lunch at one of the terraced restaurants, and visit the exquisite Church of Saint Nicolas;
- Prague Castle is home to the Golden Lane of picturesque cottages the size of enlarged doll houses and St. Vitus Cathedral, as well as the Jewish Quarter where the oldest synagogue in Europe still stands.
Prague was a favorite haunt of Mozart, and in his spirit classical concerts are ubiquitous. On practically every corner you have a person handing out fliers for performances at the many churches and concert halls. My father-in-law is a fan of really good music so we had the pleasure of enjoying two such shows. One surrounded by the gorgeous frescoes of Saint Nicolas Church and the other in the mirrored chapel in Clementinium hall. Entertainment is everywhere. You certainly get the impression after only a few moments in the city that Prague knows how to show their tourists a good time.
oldest synagogue in Europe
Even though the Czech Republic is part of Europe (the EU) it is not in the Euro zone. The exchange rate from Euros to the Cz is about 22 Cz to the Euro, that being about 1000 Cz for 50€. A typical dinner for four is about 1500 Cz (about 80€ or 100 dollars) and the fancy dinner we took my husband’s parents to for their anniversary evening was about double that. Compared to eating out in Paris, this is a real bargain, almost a third the price we’d pay at home. This makes Prague a very attractive vacation spot for Europeans.
Many more photos:
Horse drawn carriage rides like those around Central Park are abundant in the Old Town Square. But the real treat is a company offering tours of the city in 1929 Model A convertible Fords. We arranged for one to pick us up at the hotel and whirl us around the city on our last evening in Prague. It was wonderful way to cap off the four-day weekend.
1929 Model A Ford
Like any highly touristic metropolitan city, you can find extremely friendly locals and services, as well as those who would rather be anywhere else. Most local people in the touristic areas speak English well, some even spoke French to us. On the whole, we encountered helpful and charming people almost everywhere we went. Our tour guide in the Model Ford was exceptional.
Prague is a romantic city as fresh and yet as understood as a budding blossom in springtime. It’s Goulash for lunch overlooking the Charles Bridge with gondolas passing by on the canal below. It’s candle-lit dinners on a terrace in Old Town Square with the notes of a one man orchestra playing Pachelbel in 
the near distance. It’s exquisite Baroque architecture with pastel blue, pink and yellow buildings, elaborate frescoes. Prague is tiny titled streets, opulent gilded churches with a nice cold amber beer to wash it all down.
Travel Note: We used the Eye Witness Travel Guide and it was truly fantastic. Highly recommended.
Did you visit the “Baby Eiffel” tower ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet%C5%99%C3%ADn_Lookout_Tower
It’s worth the walk although you need a head for heights as the lift is for disabled people only. Superb views of a lovely city.
As you say, the food is cheap compared to most European Cities too. Good as well, I had the best Chinese meal I’ve ever eaten there.
Hi Phil, We didn’t get a chance to visit the baby Eiffel tower, no. We only saw it from the terrace where we ate lunch before visiting the castle. We only had four days and there was so much to see! The view from the castle and from the various towers (Old Town Hall, etc) are also fabulous. We didn’t go for Chinese, but we did have some great Italian and of course the local food. I really couldn’t believe how reasonably it was priced.
There is so much to do in the city. I’ve a fascination with towers like this (Did Eiffel & the London Eye in one weekend once) so as soon as I saw it I couldn’t resisit. To be honest I could have just wandered around for a couple of days looking at random things. As you say, it can be a bit touristy but there are quieter areas off the beaten track that retain a certain communist charm (well we have a lot of historic buldings and the communist blocks are part of history too).
Sadly, Prague has a bit of a reputation in the UK as being an ideal destination for Stag parties because of the cheap drink and dubious nightlife. It’s a great shame.
What beautiful photos! Prague is on my “someday” list. Thanks for giving me a sneak peek. It sounds lovely.
I do highly recommend it. It has a certain old world charm that is even more pronouced than in any other European city I’ve visited. I hope you get there soon!
Wow, thanks for this wonderful stroll through a city that has always intrigued me for some reason. Can’t wait to see it one day! Good to know the conversion is good for us Euro users as well.
I would think that Spring would be even more lovely, but as with most European cities Spring would probably mean even more tourists. It was quite crowded last weekend when we were there. The Friday was the music festival though, so maybe that had something to do with it.
Beautiful
Enjoying it as I plan to make London to Paris next weekend 
without any word of French 
I can speak or understand – would be some challenge but lets see 
By the way, beautiful article n pics
thanks for sharing.
I hope you have a great time in Paris!
Thank you Madame
I am going to try and have a great time too. I would be happy to invite you for a coffee if you happen to be free sometime on Sunday, th 14th.
Lovely photos! Was it very crowdeed?
It was a little crowded actually. You can maybe tell from the video that there were lots of people in the town hall square and on the Charles bridge. But we didn’t have to wait to get into the castle or for a restaurant. And the Czech people know how to cater to tourists! It all runs rather smoothly.
100% agree. I love living in Europe because of the access you have to the rest of Europe. And the fact that cheap travel actually exists make it so easy. Glad you enjoyed Prague. Wonderful city!
Do you find that the trains are quite expensive, though? There are tons of charter type, smaller airlines that keep the prices of tickets reasonable, but the trains I find to be quite expensive. I could fly to Vienna for less than I can take the train down to visit my in-laws in southern France. Is it like that in England too?
I could BUY Vienna for less than the cost of a train ticket in the UK from the Midlands to the south. That’s what happens when you elect people who hate the idea of public transport. There are loads of cheap airlines though – I just wish the greener option was cheaper.
That’s hilarious! I often feel that way about the trains in France. It is often even cheaper to rent a car and buy the gas rather than take the train. Our problem is that there is no competition in French railroads. One company, the government run SNCF, has a monopoly so we’re stuck with rather expensive tickets! I wish someone would recreate the old tradition of train travel… but that’s a whole other story.
Yes, the price of trains in England is ridiculous. I always fly to Scotland because it takes the same amount of time and it’s like a quarter the price. I do think train travel is so much nicer though.
The price will be much more reasonable if you book in advance.
Have you read the info on buying cheap train tickets for the UK and Europe at http://www.seat61.com/index.html ?
http://speakingabouttravel.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/162/
Prague is my favorite. You did a great job posting the photos and video. I went to the same church for a concert. I posted a number of art nouveau in Prague pix in this blog.
I love your post. I wish I had seen it before I left. You must have really loved the art and buildings? My father-in-law enjoyed that part of the city immensely.
hi, it’s great to hear from you. I do love art and beautiful architecture. i met a fellow blogger who is a real art nouveau fan. i have reblogged some of her posts here.
hi, it’s great to hear from you. I do love art and beautiful architecture. i met a fellow blogger who is a real art nouveau fan. i have reblogged some of her posts here.
i just made some changes to this blog, and re-posted these pix in the new tiled galleries style. please check this out. They look nicer now.
http://speakingabouttravel.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/art-nouveau-in-prague/
That looks like such a fantastic trip and I love all of the details you have put into your post, I always find your blog full of interesting facts and leave feeling a little smarter! I love how beautiful the buildings are in European cities too.
Thank you! That’s very kind of you! I just came across this article on the world’s most beautiful cities. Prague is number 3, just after Venice and Paris. But Bruges is on there too. That is one city I’d love to see. http://www.ucityguides.com/cities/top-10-most-beautiful-cities.html
Kari: Wow, Prague is totally on my travel wishlist!
The next two on my list are St Petersbourg and Bruges. Someday…
Prague has long been on my list. Thanks for the beautiful reminder.
It won’t disappoint! A truly lovely city and I found it perfectly organized for the ease of the tourist.
#1 son visited Prague in the summer of 2000. He loved it! The grace & beauty everywhere he looked.
No 1 son, I like that!
I had heard that Budapest was a great adventure too, but was recently told it isn’t anything to Prague. We’ll see.
Nonsense! I found Prague too crowded and preferred Budapest, although it, too, has now been discovered. But lots to see there.
Good to know! But isn’t that always the problem – places get popular and then lost a bit of their natural charm. I now find it almost impossible to coax myself into going to the touristy parts of Paris, when not that long ago I was in a dream walking through Saint Germain or up the Champs Elysee. Thanks for the info!!
Prague est sans conteste une des plus belle ville d,Europe .J,y ai été une fois ,c,était superbe, c,est une ville ou l,on sent l,histoire .Dans ce genre de ville on se rend compte qu,il y a eu des gens qui ont vécue là avant nous.les Français et les européens ne se rendent pas compte de la chance qu,ils ont de pouvoirs se rendre dans pratiquement tous les pays Européens .La vielle Europe a encore quelque chose a apporter au reste du monde n,en déplaise a certains
Vous avez raison. C’est tout à fait vrai que les français ne rendent pas compte de leur chance. Mais c’est probablement vrai pour tout le monde. On voit non seulement “l’herbe est plus vert autre-part…” mais aussi nous sommes aveugles à nos propres cadeaux. Il y a beaucoup de très belles villes en Amerique du Nord, mais on voyage en Europe ou en Asie. C’est pour l’aventure, j’imagine, ou bien le changement. L’histoire et l’Europe ont, en effet, un rôle important à jouer, surtout savoir-vivre!
Touring in a vintage convertible sounded fun — a unique way to see the sights! I’m amazed at how close all the “travel wish list” cities are to you and I hope you’ll have opportunities to experience every one of them. (With a blog post re-cap, of course.)
Me too! Thank you!!
Me too! Thank you!! Next on the list is Saint Petersbourg or somewhere in the Bavarian mountains.
Glad you enjoyed Prague! One of my top favorite cities. I lived there for a summer in 2007, up near the castle. I think one of my favorites was to head over to Vsyehrad and look back over the Vlatva to the Prague Castle.
Did you have a hot chocolate at the Louvre cafe? If not…put it on your list for when you go back. Absolutely divine.
Beautifully constructed blog. Thanks!
interesting pictures
regards
robert
My partner and I had our first “date” in Prague – it’s even more beautiful in the snow… Great post and great pictures!