Prague: A Fairy-Tale, Wonderful European Capital

Flight and arrival - settling in at Ariston Hotel

I set off on this eight-day trip with Stefania, between 27 October and 2 November 2001, leaving with a package of flight + transfers + hotel organised by Futurviaggi. Flight from Cagliari to Prague with a stopover in Rome. Arrival at Prague airport around 17:00, where a car waits for us to take us to the hotel. During the journey we can begin to admire the Castle area and the impressive greenery (mainly forest) that surrounds the city. Our hotel is the Ariston, really nice, comfortable, clean, super heated, with very comfortable rooms fully equipped with every service, close to the centre and in a strategic position East of the historic centre. From there, a 20-minute walk gets you to Wenceslas Square or to Staremesto, or you can take one of the many buses that pass in front to reach any point of the city.

Between one thing and another, dinner time arrives, and we head out quickly in search of a restaurant nearby called Quido (on the good advice of a friend of mine who has already stayed at our same hotel and in the same restaurant). The place is really cute, the service impeccable. We eat very well considering that we have no idea about the dishes of the place (the menus are only in the incomprehensible Czech or in English) and we spend a ridiculous amount (the same for two as I spend by myself going to get a pizza and a beer). Our satisfaction is therefore enormous, considering that we Italians are very demanding when it comes to food and finding a foreign country where you eat well cheaply is a very difficult thing...

Staremesto; Charles Bridge; Old Town

Our real first day in Prague we dedicate to a tour of the city entirely on foot. We want to immediately immerse ourselves in the life of the place and breathe the atmosphere of this city. It's a day of constant rain from morning to evening. Luckily not heavy rain but only light, at times a bit annoying and at times instead suggestive, because it creates a particular halo around the incredibly beautiful little streets of the centre. We reach Republic Square, with the splendid Obecnì building that hosts concerts and events, and continue to Staremesto.

The central square is marvellous with the Gothic jewel of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, whose spires have characterised the Prague skyline for centuries, the Kinsky Palace, built in Rococo style in the 17th century, the Church of St Nicholas, the Astronomical Clock Tower, built in the 15th century, famous for its very complicated mechanisms and for the little show it gives at every stroke of the hour. For being late October there are quite a few tourists, but we don't experience that oppressive crowd you find in the critical months in these so touristy cities. We have something in one of the many bars in the square, which offer outdoor chairs and tables galore, and we wander around the pretty souvenir shops that all of Staremesto is full of.

Especially abundant are those of Bohemian Crystal, where you find crafted objects of every kind and price, and those of marionettes of every size as well as really cute toys. A real treat to become a bit of a child again... We emerge near the Vltava, walking along a beautiful little street, and at a certain point it really feels like we've gone back in time. There's not a living soul in this corner of perfect Middle Ages, with the impeccably paved road, the old-style street lamps, the little squares around with trees and flowers, the river in front with the backdrop of Charles Bridge and the wooded Petrin Park: an atmosphere that is nothing short of marvellous! And you have to consider that the whole area is practically pedestrian only, so it's really pleasant to stroll without the bustle of car traffic.

Continuing further we reach Charles Bridge, fascinating for its statues and the various street artists that colour and liven up the crossing, playing and selling picturesque paintings of Prague views. Further on we see the old National Theatre, a beautiful structure that strikes you for its truly arduous contrast with the new one, in radically modern style with the shape of a big cube. Back at the hotel quite tired, we go out at dinner time to some place nearby to eat, and certainly here in Prague you can say there's a vast choice! We pick one at random, finding it excellent and spending incredibly even less than the evening before!

Wenceslas Square; National Museum; Petrin Park, House of Mirrors

After a wonderful and more than substantial first breakfast at the hotel, in a nice room set up as a buffet with every kind of food and drink, we head towards Wenceslas Square, glimpsed the evening before during the trip back to the hotel. This is the biggest square in all of Prague, but it looks more like an avenue to be honest, given its long stretch. It's also one of the main meeting points for nightlife, given the numerous venues and kiosks. At one end of the square (the one towards the East), there's the National Museum, with various interesting sections (from history to zoology to botany), where we make sure to go in for a good visit. Once out of the museum we cross all of Wenceslas Square to the end, taking a quick look at the shops of every kind that often continue into the covered inner streets of the neighbourhood and emerge into other parallel streets beyond the block.

Still further on we see the National Theatre area again, and from here we walk along the river to cross a bridge that leads to a marvellous little island on the Vltava, which has the name Strecklov Ostrov on the map. It's accessible only from the staircase on the bridge and can be visited entirely on foot. To our enormous amazement we enter a marvellous park, a real wood surrounded by the splendid backdrop of the river and by the buildings and towers of Prague in the distance. The colours are nothing short of spectacular, typically autumnal, and a carpet of leaves with all the shades from green to brown and yellow completely covers the ground. Peace and tranquillity reign everywhere, you see no one beyond a few people walking their dogs, you hear no noise of civilisation but only the song of the birds and the flowing of the river water.

A few benches and a few tree trunks on the ground let you sit, relax wonderfully and fully enjoy the romantic backdrop around. It feels like being in a national park, and certainly not in a city! I can't help thinking that this is the perfect image of autumn, the one that only great poets and writers can describe so gloriously. After this splendid visit to the island, we finish crossing the bridge and reach the other side of the Vltava, near Petrin Park. This park is the biggest and most famous in Prague and there's certainly no shortage of things to see. There's also a cable car that lets you go up to the top without effort, but it's only open in summer.

We cross it all on foot and it's really worth it! As you go up the slope you glimpse spectacular views of Prague one after another, and the park is splendid in its wood, in its colours, perfectly kept with ample spaces and various paths running through it. Further inside the light is darkened by the majestic trees, the path gets entirely covered with leaves, Prague disappears and it feels like entering Little Red Riding Hood's wood. We finally arrive at the top following the signs, in a sort of vast square where the smaller photocopy of the Eiffel Tower stands and there are kiosks and services to refresh yourself. You obviously can't not go up the tower, the view is nothing short of exceptional and it's the best you can enjoy over Prague.

On the left the Castle area rises imposingly with the Cathedral dominating the whole city, you can see very clearly the Vltava river that divides Prague in two with its particular "U" path, you can count all the main monuments up to the opposite part of the city, where the other tower (the modern TV one with the shape of an elongated tube) rises very tall. Down there is also our hotel, on the opposite side of the city, and surely our legs are well aware of it... Once down from the tower we enter further on the house of mirrors, an unmissable attraction to have half an hour of laughter among magical mirror games really well built! At this point it starts getting dark and we have to go back, but we think we won't take the outward route and will continue towards the end of Petrin Park to see the castle area.

The path ends right in the castle district, beautiful with its paved streets full of little restaurants, little venues and beer halls, craft shops of every kind. During the descent we cross the whole district and reach a large square, very brightly lit and full of tourists. We're exhausted but we gladly walk all of Prague again in the dark, since the illuminations of the monuments, of the Cathedral and the reflections on the river make the atmosphere of this city truly magical!

Tour: Konopiste and Karlstejn Castles

For today we've booked directly from the Hotel the guided tour to Konopiste and Karlstejn Castles, and it's also the last day to do it since in the winter period the castles stay closed. The trip to the castles is one of the most beautiful organised excursions you can do in Prague, you find the leaflets everywhere and it's an unforgettable experience. A car comes to pick us up directly at the Hotel to take us to the central square where the coach leaves. As soon as we get off we meet our guide, a very friendly elderly lady with an impressive knowledge of languages. She speaks Czech, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian fluently (during the tour she explains things in turn in the various languages). Konopiste isn't very far from Prague and after about an hour of travel we arrive at the car park.

From here to the castle there's a good stretch to do on foot which lets us appreciate the splendid fairy-tale scenery of the surrounding wood. Once at the castle proper, a local boy shows beautiful specimens of birds such as an eagle, a condor and an owl. The visit inside lets you observe instead the perfect condition in which the castle is kept, and the stuffed trophies of the owner, considered one of the greatest hunters of all time. An entire corridor is strewn with hundreds of birds, heads of rare animals such as a polar bear, an American moose and so on, all prey of the hunter who did nothing in life but travel the world with his team to hunt.

In the corridor there are only a tiny part of the prey (which in total are thousands and thousands, I don't remember the exact number), and it's already an impressive sight, certainly appreciable by a hunter but certainly not advisable to a rabid animal rights activist like Ace Ventura. The rest of the visit then continues through the rooms and halls of the castle, very beautiful and bright, with a splendid view of the wood and the lake. Once out of the castle, the guide takes us behind the entrance to see a pair of enormous Siberian bears, which live freely where there was once the moat, and then leaves half an hour free to explore the gardens around the castle. Here the peacocks run around freely, you can feed them, you can stroll among splendid trees and statues, managing only to imagine what a good life the owner of all this had...

At lunchtime we get back on the coach which takes us to some village in the surroundings, where we stop to eat some decent typically Czech dishes in an inn. Right after we head to Karlstejn, which is about 50 km from Prague, while the friendly guide continues to explain along the way a bit of history and culture of the Czech Republic. Karlstejn is a splendid tourist town famous for its imposing castle, built on a hill and visible everywhere within kilometres. Again the car park is well away from the destination, but the long inevitable walk lets us fully appreciate the beauty of the place. We pass through the town in a succession of characteristic little shops and boutiques, with the typical wooden little houses with sloping roofs immersed in the surrounding wood.

The road climbs all the way around the hill with a certain steepness (especially in the final stretch!) and up to the entrance of the castle, which appears decidedly more imposing and majestic than Konopiste, with an enormous keep on one side. From the top of the castle the view is purely fairy-tale: the stone walls and the towers end sheer into the valley immersed in a very thick wood with marvellous autumnal colours! Inside a girl acts as guide and explains the complex and troubled history of the construction and the later owners of the territory and the castle. We begin a little tour among the various enormous rooms (many are however almost empty), imagining life of long ago. At the exit the usual little souvenir shop deserves a thorough stop, where I buy a very detailed map that summarises all the glory of Karlstejn in the different historical periods.

We just manage to make it back down the town around 17:00 when it's already dark, and the coach takes us back to the centre of Prague where we arrive around 18:30, also opting for a short alternative sightseeing tour given the heavy traffic conditions. It feels like we've come out of a beautiful fairy tale... Settled and refreshed at our Hotel, we go to dinner, this time in an Italian pizzeria-restaurant. The worry obviously of going to these places when you're abroad is to find anything but a real pizza and Italian cuisine worthy of the name. And I must say, not without surprise, we find that they "know how to make" pizza here too, decidedly more than decent! The same can't be said for the pasta, very well seasoned but unfortunately a little overcooked...

Anyway, since the impression is more than positive and the bill more than ridiculous, we go to sleep calm and satisfied with this beautiful day, already ready and charged up for tomorrow.

Prague Castle: Toy Museum; Golden Lane; Cathedral; Belvedere

After consuming yet another succulent and generous breakfast at the Ariston Hotel, we set off for the Hradcany district, that is, Prague Castle. The Castle is dominated by the splendid St Vitus Cathedral, from the top of which you enjoy an excellent view of the whole city, the most beautiful together with the one from Petrin. We enter the district from the classic tourist entrance, an uphill little street with a good steepness but which doesn't make you feel the tiredness, since you stop several times among the various stalls full of particular and interesting little objects, and during the walk the view of the city is magnificent. The district is enclosed by walls made up of real buildings of splendid architecture, and once inside we discover another Prague, a real city within the city.

Needless to say, the whole area is entirely pedestrian, perfectly paved and preserved and the glimpses of medieval corners follow one after another. A big map on display clearly illustrates our position, the streets and the things to see: lots of them, for a change! We start with the Toy Museum, laid out over three floors, two of which with every kind of toy, from the oldest to the most recent, and one (absolutely not to be missed) entirely dedicated to Barbies! All the collectible Barbies possible and imaginable, from the first releases to the most modern, with every accessory, dressed as famous characters like actresses and singers, a real delight and display of colours. After the museum we continue towards the centre of the district, where in a little side street is the well-known Golden Lane, now become one of the symbols of Prague.

This little lane is characterised by a series of tiny and brightly coloured little houses, where alchemists once lived, today used as boutiques and very particular little shops, and it probably owes its fame to the fact that Franz Kafka lived here at no. 22 for some time. It would take hours to visit all the little shops but we don't have that much time. We have lunch outdoors at a refreshment point right at the end of the Golden Lane, a suggestive and very cute fast-food place. We set off again towards St Vitus Cathedral, the biggest church in Prague. It rises majestic and very tall with its towers and it also becomes quite difficult to photograph it all without having a decent wide-angle lens. Inside, the Cathedral proves to be a real art gallery, with the beautiful Chapel of St Wenceslas and the imposing Gothic naves.

We go up to the top to enjoy a grandiose view of the city, which lets you appreciate it especially in its architectural aspect: the almost endless series of red roofs and white chimneys of the houses is the first thing that catches your eye, followed by that of the countless towers, which give a sort of truly enviable "homogeneity" to the Prague skyline (unthinkable in other big cities like London or Paris). In the central square there are still a great number of things to visit, we only go into a couple of places in passing, and we go out of the "walls" to end up in Prague Castle Square, truly very beautiful and spacious. In the background, Petrin Park and the view of the city, visible from the terrace, which slowly lights up as it starts getting dark.

At this point we take a road that leads to the other side of the castle and runs alongside it on the outside to pass among the gardens of the belvedere, where unfortunately we arrive in pitch darkness. We cross it all strolling in absolute tranquillity in the royal gardens among the trees, the lawns and the fountains, since there are no more tourists around, and meanwhile glimpsing the majestically illuminated cathedral. We stop on a bench for a well-deserved snack, appreciating the quiet and peace of this magnificent place, and afterwards we continue to go back to the hotel. In fact we get a bit lost further on in another series of immense gardens and parks (completely isolated, there's not a living soul and it's dark but luckily we have no "feeling" of danger), until we find one of the many bridges that cross the Vltava.

From here we pass again through Staremesto and return to the hotel, by now exhausted.

Prague Zoo

Since we were quite impressed by the photos of some pavilions of Prague Zoo that we saw at the National Museum in Wenceslas Square, we decide to spend a nice and relaxing day there, in the more northern part of Prague (on the border of zone 7), in the Troja district. We get on bus no. 5 which passes right in front of the hotel, crosses the river twice and leads to Trojska Square. From there we walk to the zoo, crossing the whole district from which you glimpse a Prague completely different from the centre. This is a residential area, history vanishes and gives way to beautiful little houses and more modern buildings, at times bizarre. The district is a marvel, anyone's dream. It's all very quiet, there's only one main road that cuts it in two and where no car passes, you hear no annoying noise but only birds singing and the background sound of the river water.

There are ample spaces with green squares, a school or two, and absolutely enviable and fantastic little villas, with an immense garden, made of wood with sloping roofs, immersed perfectly in the environment with the river on one side and the wood on the other. An indescribable harmony and peace, I can only say it's the most beautiful district I've ever seen (and I also spotted the house of my dreams), and all this just twenty minutes by bus from the very centre of the city. They could build an attraction out of it, a perfect example of the real everyday life of today's Prague and not just limiting itself to tourism dictated by the past history. Once we arrive at the zoo after about half an hour of walking, we buy the tickets complete with a tourist map of the pavilions to visit and the inner paths to follow.

Deciding where to start, which road to take and what to see is the most exciting part of every entry to the parks, and we think of starting from the upper part. The visit keeps us busy all day until closing time, and at 17:00 we're almost the only ones left desperately trying to see the last pavilions still open. The nicest impression is that of seeing the animals truly well looked after and more than in a state of good health, clean and if you like also nicely plump. Most are kept in ample open-air spaces and are completely free, limited only by a fence. To see them you pass through the fields on wooden platforms, also enjoying a beautiful view from above.

The zoo is also fully equipped, there's also a sort of buffet to refresh yourself at lunchtime (which we made use of, eating decently), and several kiosks, and it's divided by environments and by climates, offering ample spaces to walk, sit and relax amid nature. Among the most beautiful specimens we see: the Suricata suricatta, the felines (lions, tigers and panthers), the otters, the polar bear, the parrots, the giant tortoises, the pink flamingos, the penguins, the seals, the zebras, the kangaroos, the dromedaries and the moles. Unfortunately, to our great regret, we miss the visit to the gorillas for reasons of time. On the way back from the zoo, by now dark, we pass through the centre of Staremesto strolling among the shops of marionettes and the famous Bohemian crystals, and then we return to the hotel.

TV Tower; Jewish Quarter; Art Museum; Wenceslas Square

It's our last day in Prague and we realize we still have so many things to see, but we can't leave without visiting the ultra-modern Tv Tower building, just a stone's throw from our hotel and visible from almost every open space in Prague that offers even a minimum of a view (in fact, among other things, it's an excellent landmark). We'd already caught a glimpse of it a few days ago on our way to Quido's restaurant, and it struck us quite a bit. It's a truly strange structure, not marked in any of our guidebooks, and yet so majestic and eye-catching! It consists of just three tubes rising absolutely vertically upward, one of which is larger and serves to run the super-fast elevator. On the outer sides of these tubes are large statues of children climbing up and down, and from the middle of the structure three different stages branch out, each consisting of three square rooms.

We joyfully discover that the tower is open to tourists, but not only that, it's also the most expensive thing we've paid for! On the first stage there's a magnificent restaurant, with tables overlooking the large glass window offering an excellent view over Prague (although the position isn't ideal for making out the Castle area). On the second stage, 90 meters above the ground, you reach the actual tourist visit, which lets you move around the three different cubes and enjoy a 360° panorama, rather impressive considering you're suspended in the void hanging from just a tube! Going around the floor we observe documented photographs of other towers similar to this one built in various parts of the world, also very tall, ultra-modern and open to tourists.

After leaving the tower we reach the center and the Jewish quarter of Josefov, famous for its history, the old cemetery and the Synagogue. The huge line and the ticket price, incredibly disproportionate compared to anything else we've paid in Prague, make us give up on taking the classic tourist tour of the Synagogue and the cemetery, and since these are the last hours we have available to spend in this beautiful city, we prefer to take a nice walk around the area. The area is full of stalls with every kind of tourist souvenir (here we also find the most beautiful postcards, huge and panoramic), and artists improvising portraits and paintings of Prague (but surely not all of them are really handmade...). We spend the rest of the day strolling through the whole city, going down as far as Charles Square, which we hadn't seen yet.

By the time we get there it's already dark but everything is lit up, making a nice little rest in the beautiful gardens in the center of the square truly pleasant. To complete the tour we come back from Wenceslas Square, which in the evening becomes a display of lights with the National Museum extraordinarily illuminated. We venture into one of those covered cross streets full of shops, and we find a huge one, which unfolds with various branches going from narrow points to veritable indoor squares (extraordinary to think that it's all built inside a covered block, in the middle of and beneath inhabited buildings! Never seen anything like it, not even in Paris, where they're masters at building "covered" structures...).

In a corner there's even a huge upside-down statue of a knight with his steed hanging from the ceiling! Losing our sense of direction a bit we pop out into the open on some street parallel to Wenceslas Square, but without any trouble we find the right way back to our hotel.

Return

Up early in the morning, we pack our suitcases and wait for the transfer that takes us to the airport. Needless to say, we have no desire at all to go back: the magic of this beautiful city is very strong and hits you full-on! It's like living a beautiful fairy tale that unfortunately only lasted a week... we visited many things but there were really quite a few still to see and do! Everything was perfect: the trip, the organization, the hotel, the transfers, the flights: it was truly an ideal vacation. I happily thank the agency we booked the package with, Futurviaggi

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