Magical Prague

Prague really is a magical city... architecturally and for the atmosphere you find there, closer and closer to Paris (the European city I love more than any other)... tourists aside! I saw it the first time to spend New Year's there, so in winter: by car from Milan with a group of friends with whom we rented two apartments: a few mishaps on some roads that weren't in perfect condition and were icy, but everything was overcome without damage. The holiday cost very little indeed; the Praguers are very hospitable and at the time (with the Iron Curtain still in place) they would rent out their homes to top up their meagre wages, having relatives put them up in turn.

I went back 13 years later with my husband and the charm was intact (always the too-many tourists aside): unlike in '91, when we were in the centre, this time we stayed on one of the seven hills on which the city rests, because although a bit out of the way (the metro works very well), the hotel cost considerably less than in the centre. Lots to see: - the most evocative square in Prague is Old Town Square, also known as the Clock Square. Around the central monument to the religious reformer Jan Hus, Baroque and Gothic churches follow one another; the symbol of the square is the Astronomical Clock that stands out on the tower of the Town Hall; astounding tourists for four centuries is the procession of Apostles that emerges every hour from the blue and gold dials and offers itself to the square; - the Castle (Pražský hrad) stands on a height on the left bank of the Vltava.

The majestic fortress — remodelled by Maria Theresa of Austria at the end of the eighteenth century — is practically a city within a city, comprising numerous buildings, among them the Royal Palace, residence of the rulers of the city, and the majestic St. Vitus Cathedral, which holds the remains of the rulers; - another emblem of Prague is Charles Bridge, which joins the two banks of the Vltava and is always crowded with vendors and tourists: along its whole length there are about thirty statues, and it ends on one side and the other with two mighty towers; - the Malá Strana district; - Kampa Island, a small strip of land surrounded by the waters of the Devil's Stream and those of the Vltava, with an old mill still working. A lively and culturally very active city, Prague is beautiful in every season: don't miss the chance to escape there even for a weekend.