Report from Prague (Praha, Ceska Republika)

After two sunny but zero-temperature days, today in Prague is all clouds. Just as I was getting hopeful!

Prague is heaving with tourists this time of the year (maybe it's an all-year thing?). Many Americans, English, Italians, French, Germans and Japanese. Quite a few Aussies too. You get all sorts - teenage backpackers, middle-age tour groups, to thirty-something stag night blokes. I am glad that I stuck to my relatively isolated boathouse hostel by the River Vltava. It's 20 minutes by tram from the centre but I am enjoying the daily tram commute. It's quiet this time of the year (apparently it gets busy as the temperature rises) so I got a whole room to myself for the price of one bed! *wink*

The city is really pretty and rich in history, culture and art. I spent some time at the Prague Baroque and Mannerism (neo-Renaissance) Gallery, which exhibits paintings and sculptures collected by the eccentric and art-loving Habsburg King (who is also King of Bohemia), Rudolf II. It puts a lot of Prague's architecture in their respective context, e.g. a Baroque church reconstructed during the Counter-Reformation years compared to a Gothic church built a century earlier. By the way, the Catholics here won the war against the Protestants, although now, Czech Republic is one of the most secular countries in Europe.

I booked myself a ticket to a short ballet sketch before my trip. While cultural performances are relatively cheap here, I know of my less 'cultured' character that will prevent me from enjoying a full length opera, concert or ballet *wink*. So, I purposely selected a one-hour performance at the delightful 18th century Estates Theatre, where Mozart happened to premier his famous Don Giovanni opera.

Czechs on the streets have been friendly. Less so those who are actually in the service sector, maybe all these pesky tourists are starting to annoy them, hehe. There is a big Christmas market in the middle of the old town square. Like Germans, they like their pork sausages and beer a lot. Generally, prices here are not as cheap as they used to be (I call this 'Westernisation') although it is still cheap when compared with other West European capital/tourist cities. E.g. you get a grilled sausage and bun on the street for 1 euro, pay two euros extra and you get a warm meal in a cafeteria.

There are many crystal shops here, apparently Bohemian glass and crystal are world renowned. Garnets too, (at exorbitant tourist prices!). Slavonic souvenirs like matrioshka (nesting dolls) and Kafka-related memorabilia make up the standard souvenir shop.

Predictably, I brought a Kafka novel with me (The Trial). Halfway through, I am wondering if a full length Kafka novel is stretching the surreal context and mundane descriptions a bit. I've read shorter works of his that were enjoyable at that length. We will see...

Plans for today? Well, I have covered the main attractions: the castle and surrounding area, and old town plus the old Jewish Quarter. I will probably walk along the river today, take an extended tram ride around the city before going for my film at 5pm. Fortunately, films here are not dubbed like in Germany while cinema tickets are half the price of those in Luxembourg. Then it's back to my hostel to retrieve my big backpack before leaving for my Budapest bus at 10.30pm. I should arrive tomorrow morning at 6am.

Alright, that is all for now. Take care and will write soon.

lots of love
cheng