It was time to pack my bags and travel to Prague. In case it wasn’t obvious from my earlier blogposts, I loved the two cities I had visited so far. I had read and heard so much about Prague and its old-world charm that I couldn’t wait to see if it would meet and beat my imagination.
As promised in my previous blog post, here is my Bratislava local train adventure. I was going to take the local train to the bus station and I just couldn’t find the nearest stop from the hotel from which I was just a couple of minutes away as per google maps. After many failed attempts to locate it, I walked to the next stop which was more straightforward to find. I got on the train only to realize that I was going in the opposite direction. The next stop which, to my ill luck, was the presidential palace stop was on a wide busy road with heavy traffic where I couldn’t find a way to cross to the other side. A friendly person who saw me walking aimlessly and frantically told me to cross over from the underground station. As you can imagine, it was quite an adventure to take the stairs and escalator to the other side. Despite the cool weather, I was sweating and panting as I finally managed to cross over with some help from a kind lady who helped me with my suitcase on the climb up. After a less than 5-minute wait, I got on the right train, got off at the right stop and reached the bus station, which was next to a mall, with more than 45 minutes to spare. I felt as if I had done an entire day of back breaking work.I learnt the hard way that in the grand scheme of things, it is better to take a taxi or uber considering my heavy suitcase was not easy to lug around.
At the bus station, I couldn’t find departure information displays anywhere and went to the FlixBus counter to find out the platform details. There was no place to sit at the platform. So, it was a perfect excuse to go window shopping in the mall. The bus departed on time. I met a Kannadiga couple traveling from Budapest who were hosting a guru visiting Europe for a sermon. We exchanged pleasantries and we pretty much kept to ourselves for the rest of the trip. The guruji was constantly on the phone discussing the share market, which was shocking as one expects gurus to have given up worldly things for spirituality, and showing the beautiful views on the way to the persons on the other end of the calls. The views along the journey were fantastic and this being my second bus journey of the trip, I enthusiastically drank in the scenery. It was a pleasant trip and while my eyes were feasting on the views, my ears were enjoying the entertaining guruji’s numerous phone conversations.
I reached Prague in the afternoon and having learnt my lesson, I booked an uber to the hotel. I learnt another lesson this time – to figure out the uber pick-up point before confirming the ride. I thought how hard can it be to find the pick-up spot and as it turned out, I couldn’t find my uber driver who, as per the app, was just 600 feet away. He cancelled the ride and this time, I rebooked from a hostel near the station and was able to locate my uber ride. After a short ride, I reached the hotel, checked in, dropped my bags, and walked to the old town.
Prague is a vibrant and charming city full of life and buzzing with energy. The old town square is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe where you can find the old town hall including the astronomical clock, Church of our Lady before Tyn, Jan Hus memorial, St. Nicholas church and the Prague Meridian. The square is steeped in history in every corner and at every turn with historic buildings and monuments everywhere around it. It was packed with tourists, some taking pictures, some who had climbed the old town hall to enjoy the views of the city and some enjoying a leisurely drink in one of the many restaurants at the square.
At the square, I looked around eagerly for the astronomical clock. The old town hall has a clock on top of its tower. It had a simple display with hour markings and minute and second hands, and I was puzzled as to why the clock is so famous and why a regular clock such as this one is called the astronomical clock. There was a small tower like structure with windows underneath the clock which I thought would have the much-famed apostles’ procession when the clock struck the hour and might also reveal the astronomical aspects. Anyway, it was 15 minutes before the clock would strike the hour and I sat on the steps in front of the town hall waiting for the hour to strike. Strangely, people were standing around the town hall with their backs to it taking pictures or were generally busy with other things. I found that a bit strange but dismissed it thinking they may have already seen the famous procession. The clock struck the hour, but nothing happened. I gave it few minutes late and 10 more minutes and still nothing happened. I was perplexed and concluded that the procession may be only at particular times during the day. Also, my stomach was protesting as I hadn’t eaten since my morning breakfast. So, I got up and with single-minded purpose walked to an Indian restaurant, that I had found on my way to the square, to have dinner. It was only the next morning when I went back to the square and saw a huge crowd at one of the sides of the old town hall building that I saw the beautiful and ornate astronomical clock with 2 big dials and many mini displays and realized that the one I had seen earlier was just a regular clock and understood why everyone waxes lyrical about the astronomical clock.
It was time to head to the Clementinum to visit another library, the national library of Czech Republic and the astronomical tower. A set of narrow steps lead to the floor containing the library. The guide opened the door to let each of us take a look and it is simply beautiful with decorated ceilings, wooden cabinets holding a collection of rare books and astronomical globes. Another flight of stairs lead to the meridian room where there are astronomical tools to determine noon and other instruments.
There are a couple of statues scattered around the old town that I wanted to check out, but it was time for some lunch first. After the 2 tours, I had worked up a good appetite and wolfed down a burger with fries at a restaurant on the way to the statues. The first statue I saw was that of umbrella man hanging from a pole on the first floor of a corner café. It is called the Statue of slight uncertainty. The rotating Kafka head statue was unfortunately under renovation. I had to be satisfied with pictures from Frank Kafka’s life in the McDonalds café in the mall located in the square. The last statue I saw is that of hanging man which is close to the old town hall square.
After a stop to see the interior of the St. Nicholas church in the old town square and watching the apostles procession as the clock struck the hour, I headed back towards the hotel. I went past the municipal house on the way. It is a beautiful building and houses concert hall and cafes. I had seen a café very close to the hotel in the morning and decided to stop there for a cup of coffee. It was a small and cozy café selling stationery and coffee. Everything was neatly arranged, and the café owner was very friendly although she didn’t speak much English and I can’t speak a word of Czech. I spent an hour there drinking coffee, checking out the pictures I had taken that day, booking travel for the next destination and plan for the next day. I returned to the hotel to unwind and rest after a long day.
The next day was my last day in Prague. I had booked the castle tour for a little after noon. I woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast and made my way to the meeting point at the Charles IV statue in Křižovnické square near Vltava River bank. It was a cold overcast day and started raining soon after I reached the square. A couple of people decided to move their tour to the next day. Given this was my last day, I decided to go ahead with the tour, come rain or shine. We started walking towards the lesser town on the Charles bridge. The statue of St. John of Nepomuk on the bridge is very popular and there was a crowd gathered there. It is believed that rubbing on the plaque will bring good luck and safety for travelers. We proceeded to the castle complex. The first stop was at St. Vitus cathedral built in gothic architecture style with a beautiful façade, high ceiling with characteristic arches of the gothic style and stained-glass windows. The Prague castle is now the office of the President of Czech Republic and has beautiful gardens. The St. George’s Basilica in the complex is from the 12th century and has a chapel dedicated to St. Ludmila, who is the founder of the ruling dynasty. The golden lane near one of the castle’s walls used to house alchemists and the dwellings are now converted into museums. Franz Kafka lived in house 22 for a brief period from where he wrote one of his books.
It was continuing to rain as I headed to the Lennon wall filled with John Lennon, Beatles, and other social causes related graffiti. Walking to the old town hall square, I sat on one of the benches behind the old town hall for a while as tourists and locals alike sat there to enjoy the late afternoon with pastries and drinks from nearby shops.
With a heavy heart, I headed back to the hotel. Three days were over in the blink of an eye and every moment was fun. The beauty of Prague is imprinted in my mind’s eye. I left the city the next morning hoping to go back soon and spend a longer time experiencing its splendor and charm at a relaxed pace.
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