czech republic: prague

I got really lucky this year when it came to holidays during the school year. We had our 'spring break' at the end of February and beginning of March, (when it was not yet spring,) AND I got to have a short work week the next week. International Women's Day takes place every year on 8 March, this year it was a Thursday. I asked my director ahead of time if we got the Friday off school as well, and as soon as she said yes I booked tickets for another trip. In other words, I got a week off for spring break, then a 4.5 day weekend right afterward. YAY!

My schedule at school this year had Wednesday afternoons off, so I was able to head to the airport at lunchtime in time for a mid afternoon flight. Several hours later I landed in Prague, one of my all time favourite cities. Even though I've never lived in Prague, every time I arrive there it feels like I'm coming home.

My host sent an Uber taxi to pick me up, it didn't take long to get to the home of my host. I met Katarina when I lived in Kyiv, we became good friends during those years. I was thrilled when she moved to Prague with her daughter, I knew I'd come visit. Katarina and I stayed up late talking, catching up about our lives.

The next morning I woke up pretty early, as my body was totally confused about what time it was. (Keep in mind that less than a week earlier I was in Uzbekistan, which is a couple hours ahead of Moscow, and Prague is an hour behind Moscow in winter.)

Before flying Katarina had asked if there were any foods in particular that I wanted, so I told her about my all time favourite yogurt. She hadn't been positive with what she'd bought, and when I first saw it, I wasn't sure either. 

Howeva, when I opened the jar I realized the company had changed its packaging but the yogurt was the same goodness I remembered from before. Best yogurt ever.

That morning I went with Katarina as she dropped her daughter off at school. There was some sort of reception before class started, so I got to meet her teacher and see her classroom. It was nice to see that she fit in well with her classmates, and was doing well academically.

Then Katarina dropped me off in the city center, we arranged a time for me to be home later in the evening. She dropped me off near an area of the city called Mala Strana, which is basically at the bottom of Castle Hill. I walked through the neighborhood, making my way slowly up the hill. I looked in a lot of souvenir shops, looking for a specific keychain, and finally found it.

After the successful keychain shopping miracle, I walked back down the hill, and made my way over to the so called Lennon Wall. It isn't any great shakes, it's just a wall covered in grafitti. The wall became a thing when young Czechs decided to use it as a way to express themselves when the government was still very repressive. The current grafitti is painted over quite regularly, as far as I know there are no rules about it. Visitors love to take heaps of photos, Czechs in general don't think anything of it. (According to Mom, who had never even heard of the wall until I took her to see it during one of my visits.)

I walked across the Charles bridge and through part of the old town area, making my way toward one of David Czerny's works, a man hanging from a pole over a street. It's not immediately obvious, but you can always tell when people spot it for the first time, as they are quite concerned that a real person is hanging on for dear life.

Obviously, I looked into every church I passed along the way, as I always do. Churches in Prague are fancy, glorious, and numerous.

I walked through the old town square, it was crowded as always. I noticed there was scaffolding over the astronomical clock, which must've been a huge disappointment to many visitors. The clock was first installed in 1410, and is the oldest still operating clock in the world. During a previous visit to the city I climbed up the clock tower, the views around the area are lovely.

From there I walked to a mall to see another work by David Czerny, a guy sitting on an upside down horse. It hangs from the ceiling, eye catching to say the least.

I was hungry by that point, and instead of eating real food, I went for one of my favourites: a filled chimney. It's basically dough wrapped around a form and cooked to form a cone of sorts. I have no idea where the name came from. My favourite flavour is called berries, it is whipped cream and berries. So good.

I decided to walk along the river, to another iconic sight of the city: the so called Dancing House. It is actually a couple buildings designed to look as if they are a couple dancing. Very cute.

There is a bridge close to the dancing house, so I crossed the river and started walking home. On the way I stopped by yet another of David Czerny's works: the babies. They are huge, crawling babies with funny looking heads.

My walk took me out the back side of Castle Hill, I don't think I've ever walked that way previously. Then the most embarassing thing ever happened to me. I slipped and fell, ON A BANANA PEEL!!! I thought that only happened in movies, but I was wrong. It's a good thing I can laugh at myself.

I met Katarina and her daughter at a grocery store, where we picked up dinner ingrediants. We walked home through the campus of a technical university, another part of Prague I hadn't seen previously.

The next day was Friday, the daughter had to go to school again. She was up as early as I was, and was happy to spend some time reading while eating breakfast. My breakfast was another double serving of the best yogurt ever.

After dropping the daughter off at school, Katarina dropped me in another part of central Prague, near Cafe Savoy. I first walked up the rest of the short street (it is a dead end,) to a memorial I've seen before. This memorial honours the victimes of Communism and Fascism, using guant human like sculptures. I don't know how to say it other than it is intense.

I walked up the street, toward the more touristy section, to see if my favourite place in the city was open. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Vrtba gardens has amazing views of the whole city, from the middle of the city.

Even though I wasn't terribly hungry, I went back to Cafe Savoy and very much enjoyed another breakfast and tea.

After stuffing myself, I walked back to a bridge and went back to the old town side of the river. I got to the tall tower on one side of Charles Bridge and paid to climb up the stairs. 

The views from the top are great, its fun to watch all the tourists scurry back and forth across the bridge. There is also a small museum up there, with history of the city.

I went back down the stairs and walked through the old town area. I've gotten quite good at moving quickly through crowds, a talent sorely needed in highly touristed cities. I walked all the way to a public transport stop, where I was able to catch a tram that took me to the neighborhood where my mom used to live. I love the neighborhood, I really wish she'd bought her apartment instead of renting. That way I would've been able to stay in the 'family apartment' each time I come to visit the city. Oh well.

I got off the tram and went into a mall, where I used wifi to download podcasts. I also spent time wandering through the grocery store in the basement of the mall. (I can never resist a grocery store, even if I've been there many times previously.)

I took the metro back to the home of my host, where I stayed up way too late (again,) chatting with Katarina. We don't see each other often, but clearly have plenty to say when we do.

The next morning I continued my streak of waking up early, and ate breakfast. Then, just because I could, I went back to sleep. Eventually I got up for real, and got dressed to go for a walk with Katarina and her daughter.

Our walk actually started with a drive, to a parking garage closer to the city center. We made our way out of the parking garage and walked down the street that has the memorial I'd seen the day before, to the victims of communism and fascism.

Since we were in the area, I asked Katarina and her daughter if they'd seen Czerny's babies. It turned out they hadn't, so that's where we went. It was a fun chance for the two of them to have a photo together :)

We also took a look at the yellow penguins (modern art,) lined up along the edge of the river, because I think they're cute.

Then the three of us crossed Charles Bridge. The city/country is slowly cleaning all the statues on the side of the bridge, removing each one as they do so. There is a HUGE difference in how the clean statues look versus the 'dirty' statues look. I wonder how long it will take for the whole project to be finished.

Considering the number of people on that bridge on a Saturday afternoon, I'm pretty proud that all three of us made it off the other side of the bridge, together.

Katarina needed to exchange money, so we went looking for an exchange bureau that used a reasonable exchange rate, and didn't charge a huge commission. I had no idea how hard it would be to find a decent place! Some places charged a commission as high as 25%, others used a rate that was about 60% of the value a US dollar. Crazy.

We found a good exchange desk next to a mall. After getting the money she wanted, we went in the mall, to visit a toy store. Katarina's daughter had fun picking out a toy she had been promised.

We went to eat at a place in the old town that had good food and decent prices. It's been a while since I've had handmade Italian noodles. Yum. Even though I didn't need it, I got a chimney for dessert as we walked back to the car. Before getting in the car we went grocery shopping, who am I to say no to my favourite activity?

The next morning I finally woke up at a reasonable time, just in time for my last day of the trip. I got dressed and packed up, then took advantage of the good weather to go for a walk.

I started by going back through the campus of the technical university, appreciating the architecture. I practically grew up on a university campus, I love seeing how they differ around the world. 

Even though it was a university campus, I also spotted a religious statue on the grounds. Faith is never very far away.

I wound my way through the streets to a newish looking park with a pond in a corner. There was a playground which had some nifty looking jungle gym equipment for kids.

I kept going, walking to the very tippy top of castle hill. I made my way down the hill by using small alleys in between buildings. Some of the stairs were pretty steep, I'm happy I didn't trip over my clumsy feet.

I walked across the Charles bridge for one reason: my last chance to have a chimney. It was worth every step :)

I kept going, through the Jewish Quarter, across another bridge and up to Letna Park, where I took a few minutes to enjoy the view of the city. There is a giant metronome up there, replacing what used to be a statue of Stalin. 

I'd love to have a photo with the metronome, but it is always full of people, so the only way I'll get that is to get up super early during a future visit.

I followed the map on my phone, arriving back home in time to eat dinner, then catch a cab to the airport. It was a fantastic visit to a city I love, with people who mean the world to me. I'll definitely be back.