A Week in Prague

A week in Prague ferny Forner

13 May: it's raining; we take the tram along the river to go to Vysehrad. I note that public transport in Prague is excellent; trams, buses and metro work very well and take you to every part of the city, but the tickets, especially those valid for one or more days, are not easy to find; the points of sale generally only have tickets valid for 20 minutes or 5 stops. I also note that the trams travel at very high speeds, even when running on unprotected lanes; few vehicles dare to drive on the tracks.

We reach the castle rock, but it's raining too much; we turn back, and again by tram, which runs along the riverbank, we decide to go to an outlying district to see how the people of Prague live, also because the city we have seen seems to us excessively tidy, well-kept facades, no graffiti on the walls, trams and buses always shiny, street cleaners at all hours (including at night), never seen a piece of paper on the ground; all this seemed too good to be true. But the outskirts too appeared well cared for; obviously the buildings were not from the nineteenth century, but even in the outskirts the streets were clean and the traffic orderly. We return to Charles Bridge, and take a stroll along the riverbank, then lunch at a restaurant nearby.

In the afternoon we visit the characteristic surroundings that lead to Prague Castle, Mala Strana square, Nerudova Street, the eighteenth-century church of St Nicholas. In the evening dinner at the Novomestsky pivovar beer hall, very popular with tourists; on the ground floor is the large hall, where they also play the accordion, and the diners sing along in chorus (I even heard them singing Modugno's Volare); better to go downstairs, where there is no music or singing and the atmosphere is young. The menu is less rich than at the Kolkovna, but it is cheaper; with 7-10 euros you eat abundantly, well-prepared food; we had garlic soup, mushroom soup, Prague-style chicken with vegetables and mushrooms, beer, all for a total of 18 euros for two. I forgot to mention that the menus of all the restaurants we visited can be found on the web; just search for them with google or yahoo.

Since we are near Wenceslas Square we take a stroll, have a coffee, there are quite a few people.

14 May: finally the Castle (Prazsky hrad); a detailed visit of the castle, the cathedral, the Golden Lane; I liked St George's Basilica very much; I won't dwell on it since all the guides have ample descriptions, as the site is known throughout the world. Lunch near Charles Bridge. In the afternoon we go by tram to Vysehrad; we visit the church of St Peter and Paul, the cemetery with Dvorak's tomb, the rotunda of St Martin, the citadel.

15 May: detailed visit of the Jewish quarter, the Pinkas, Staronova and Klausova synagogues, Visit of the thirteenth-century cloister of St Agnes and the picture gallery (which I recommend) where you can admire important works by German and Czech artists from 1300 to 1600, and you can see the originals of works that are found in copy in the churches of Prague. Lunch at the Italian restaurant Ambiente (rather expensive); afternoon on the riverbank, Kampa island, and at the old mill. Dinner at the Kolkovna.

16 May: morning dedicated to visiting unusual sites, buying souvenirs, flannel in Mala Strana square, Stare Mesto and Wenceslas Square until night.. 17 May: departure for Turin Ferny Forner