Prague, Czech Republic

Back home, I heard so many raving reviews of Prague that I had expectations of a city where every building was sculpted of marble and magic oozed out of the cracks in the cobblestone walkways. It is a cool city. But how different is it from other European capitals like Budapest, Paris, Madrid, Vienna, etc? The truth is that that it's a little cheaper but the city itself is not that unique. But regardless, I had a great time enjoying the great beer and good times with the fun people I met. Luckily, since I wasn't staying in the center, I found some truly delicious places to eat for cheap right by my hostel. The day I went to town and explored all that Prague had to offer, I just walked past the Powder Tower into the city (shown below at night)

and stopped at a church that I can't figure out the name for but had an amazing interior full of carvings

before hanging out in Old Town Square for a bit. Left is Tyn Church, center is a view of the large open part of the square, and right is a horde of tourists gathered to watch the hourly astronomical clock do its thing. I never watched it, so don't ask me what the big deal is.

Like Krakow and Budapest, there is the Prague Castle on the river which is rather un-castleish with a massive cathedral sitting in the middle of the complex. Above left is a view of the castle complex from the river, above center is a tomb in the cathedral, above right is the cathedral in the castle, below left is a stained glass window in the cathedral, and below right is the gates to the royal section of the castle with some pretty gruesome statues posted there.

The nightlife is quite remarkable, though. Whether you find clubs full of (mostly male) tourists or the legit bars, it's pretty easy to have a good time. And like I mentioned, the beer is amazing and cheap. Below is the biggest club in town, referred to as "Five Stories" because it has five levels of clubs, each with its own music and decor. It looks pretty cool, but it's filled with tourists, has barely passable music on most of the floors, and the drinks are expensive. Though I should say that I did make it to some really good ones in Prague as well, usually led there by the hostel employees.

Here are more pictures of Prague (left is Wenceslas Square, center is the view from Prague Castle of the Castle District, and right is Charles Bridge):

Since I saw all I wanted in Prague and had three other days there, I found some really interesting daytrips to do. One was to Karlstejn, a town dominated by the castle of the same name and once the seat of Emperor Charles IV, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire from there. While it isn't the largest I've seen, it is nonetheless impressive and in great condition. To see the inside, they force you into tours and although I don't like being herded around, it gave a pretty good look at castle life and how Charles IV ruled from there. Center is the town which follows a line along the road up to the castle.

The second trip I did was to Kutná Hora. Once a prosperous silver mining town that had wealth and power to rival Prague, Kutná Hora has since transformed into a sleepy little medieval town complete with cobblestone streets and a large Gothic cathedral. While it's nice enough, I never would have come here but for the ossuary. The place is bizarre, eerie, and one of a kind. Its graveyard became so popular, especially among plague victims, that they started accumulating bones and bones and bones. Now they have the bones of over 40,000 people, arranged in formations from pyramids to coats of arms to chandeliers. It's pretty impressive to see a chandelier made with every bone in the human body. They have little info sheets that this place is supposed to remind us of our eternal life through god and that our bodies are just fleshly vessels, or something like that. It seemed a bit of a stretch, my guess is that some guy who was both creative and incredibly morbid got tired of seeing the bones piled about. Check it out (center below is a view of Kutná Hora):


Beer of Czech Republic: The best in the world. Grade: A+.

Ice Cream of Czech Republic: Big disappointment here, you really can't find much worth eating and they give you horrible little half scoops reminiscent of Hungary and charge you a dollar for each one. Grade: D.
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Details:
There are two daily direct trains from Krakow to Prague, one at 6:53 and a night train that leaves around nine. It takes 7 hours and the fares change daily, seemingly without cause. It was $82 for me, which I thought was ludicrous but I had no other option at the time, though I think there must be a cheaper way. I stayed at Clown and Bard, a cheaper option with a rowdy and fun clientele ($14/250Kč). To get there from the main train station, go out, turn right, walk through the park until the path dead ends on a street. From there, take any tram on the same side of the street as the park just one stop (or just turn right when you get to the stop, then take your first left, then your first right and follow this road around for a few blocks to Krasova St, this is the "first right" mentioned in the next sentence. Get off and keep walking to the first right. Go uphill two blocks and make a right turn, it is on the right. Walking around the city is the best way to sightsee in Prague. The cathedrals are all free, so go ahead and go in. For a great view of Prague, go to the tower in the Old Town Square, the entrance is in the tourist office the next building over ($5/100Kč normal, $2.50/50czk student). For going anywhere in Czech, check out this site: http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz. To get out to Karlstejn, it is pretty straightforward. Trains direct to Karlstejn leave hourly from Prague's main train station ($6/85Kč return, 45 min.) and they'll announce the arrival, plus everyone will get off then. When you leave the train station, you'll see signs pointing to the Hvad; this means castle in Czech. It takes a few minutes to get up to the castle. They only allow entrance as part of a guided tour, of which they offer two types, but one must be booked in advance so for most people, it will be Tour 1 ($13/Kč250 or $8/Kč150 student). No photos are allowed. Getting to Kutna Hora from Prague is likewise no big deal (direct trains every two hours, $5/Kč95 one way, they leave from the main station, Hlavni Nadrazi). About 10 min walk from the train station is the ossuary and then 3km after that is the rest of the town. Honestly, the town isn't that cool, just a nice little place for a stroll and checking out the cathedral, which is rather cool from the outside but rather like every other cathedral inside. Getting to the airport is simple as well: take the green line north to its terminus, Dejvická, then follow the signs that say airport bus to the stop, it is bus 119 and you can get the ticket on the bus for $1.50/Kč30 or Kč26 from somewhere I couldn't find. Terminal 1 and 2, the last two stops are what you want, 1 goes to international and 2 goes to international Schengen countries. If you don't know, no worries, the terminals are connected by a five minute walk.