Prague started on a rough note as you can imagine. We basically spent the first day and a half in our apartment since I was grieving (which I will continue to be for a while) and Al picked up a head cold. Our Airbnb was a godsend and exactly what we needed given the circumstances, especially since I was feeling a little down and homesick and Al had a fever. We stayed up by Prague Castle in a studio apartment and had our own kitchen and washer. There were two restaurants directly below our place and there was a lady by the stairs leading up to our apartment who sat and peeled potatoes all day. Our AirBnB host told us this apartment building was a “family building”. She lives in an apartment with her husband and kids, her uncle and aunt live in one, and her parents live in one, side by side, all in the same building which we thought was cool. We were staying in her old studio prior to her starting a family (she now lives right next to it). It was nice being able to have privacy, spread out our belongings, cook, and just relax. It was what we needed. But Al was a champ and recovered quickly and we still managed to push ourselves to explore Prague. This was the first place we have visited thus far where we kind of came in “blind” not really knowing much about the city, country, culture, etc. Although we didn’t do as much touring as in other cities, we still managed to see a lot and learned Prague is a nice city, with lots of hills, trees, and tourists! It was much more touristy than anywhere else we have been so far and we think this is because it is much cheaper to visit than other European cities. We managed to eat all our meals for around $15 (although we cooked for most of them).
Some of the highlights included walking along the famous and crowded St. Charles Bridge, exploring Prague Castle which is the largest medieval castle complex in all of Europe - the gardens and views were stunning and the St. Vitnus Cathedral is unreal looking! It is so old - it dates back to the 9th century. The neighborhood of Mala Strana was very cute and charming with lots of restaurants & cafes, souvenir shops, Bohemia Crystal stores, Trdlo shops (a popular dessert here that consisted of a swirled doughnut/churro like pastry with ice cream in it - although we later learned this is Hungarian not Czech - I guess I have to try one in Hungary too!). We enjoyed walking around Old Town Square, the Jewish quarter, (here they have the oldest still active synagogue in all of Europe) and climbing the Petrin Tower (Czech version of the Eiffel Tower). We visited the “Lennon Wall” on our way to Old Town and quickly learned it’s a tourist trap. Our last day we did a free walking tour where we learned more about the history of Prague and the meaning behind most of the monuments we had visited prior on our own. Some of the interesting facts from the tour:
- Prague is the heart of the Czech Republic, which here they consider to be part of Central Europe, not Eastern Europe (they will be quick to correct you)
- In the last 99 years, Czech Republic has been 8 different countries (under different leadership, splitting from Slovakia, etc.)
- Prague was the first city to be occupied by the Nazis and the last to be liberated
- They were under a Communist regime from shortly after the end of WWII until the early 90s - and this is why the people here may come off as “cold.” During the Communist era people kept to themselves because they didn’t know who they could trust.
- The Czech Republic is the 5th least religious country in the world although they love to celebrate Christmas and Easter
- The Jewish Synagogue, cemetery and some other buildings in the Jewish quarter which were very important to the Jewish community here, were kept in tact because they think Hitler wanted them to be a museum dedicated to an “extinct race”
- The Jewish people were confined in the “Jewish Ghetto” and had to spend their entire lives there. The cemetery started getting so crowded that they started to bury people on top of each other. They’re said to have gotten up to twelve layers! Creepy!
- The Prague castle is lit up at night thanks to The Rolling Stones who actually financed the lighting after performing a concert in Prague and realizing the beauty of the Castle, which then was not lit up at night in the 90s because they couldn’t afford it.
- Czech people, up until recently, were limited in what they can name newborns - all names are aligned with days of the year so they only have a handful to choose from. And thus Czechs have a birthday and then their “name” day to celebrate.
Overall, our experience in Prague was positive. We noticed people spoke a little less English here and the signage was more confusing at the train station and tram stops, but we managed to find our way. We took our first international Uber ride for $3, went to a Pharmacy for the first time to buy medicine, tried Goulash (a Czech dish which is like a stew with meat in it and potatoes), cooked dinner 3⁄4 nights, and drank 2 bottles of $2 wine.
The more cities we visit, the more I continue to realize how lucky I am to be living such a free life as a Jewish female in the US. Each city we visit seems to have some kind of quarter, memorial, museum, etc. dedicated to Jewish people. We aren’t necessarily seeking them out, they just happen to be part of the main tourist attractions to visit.
On to Budapest!