Thoughts and Images of Prague

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Nov 13, 2024

We kinda ended up in Prague by accident, and it was a happy one. We were keen to spend time in Vienna and Budapest in Europe late this year and had planned to be in Barcelona for the America’s Cup in early October. That left a two-week gap to be somewhere in Europe, and after some discussion and a look at the logistics, we decided on Prague in the Czech Republic. Initially, I wasn’t sure how I would like it. This was the first ‘previously communist’ country we were visiting and our first move toward Eastern Europe. I was surprised by how much I loved it.

Firstly, in the area where we stayed (the Old Town), the atmosphere was very much of the 1700s and 1800s – big town squares, narrow laneways with 3-4 story buildings on either side. Perhaps the strongest motif, which had an Eastern European flavor, was the onion-shaped turrets on many of the churches. As we wandered towards the edges of the Old Town, there were some elements that looked like they were left over from the communist era (ugly grey blocky buildings), but they were in the minority.

Early morning on the famous Charles Bridge.

Living in Prague is not hard. In the areas we visited, English was very common. Many signs had English subtitles, and most shop attendants and restaurant workers had English skills that ranged from great to okay. It was just as well because my ability to pick up even a few words in Czech failed badly. In most European countries, I can understand and attempt greetings and simple requests in the local language, but Czech totally eluded me. I would sometimes listen carefully as two locals greeted each other in a shop or a café to see if I could catch the 4-5 Czech words I had memorized – but nope, it never really happened.

These jalopies were a common site providing site seeing rides for tourists.

Although part of the EU, the Czech Republic maintains its own currency – the Czech Crown (CZK). There are about 16 Crowns to the Australian Dollar, or about 23-24 Crowns to the USD or Euro. It took a bit to get used to prices that were in the hundreds or thousands of CZK. There were a few shops that did not accept credit cards, but they mostly did accept Euros in cash as well as Crowns.

The Vltava River runs through the middle of Prague. On the north side, on a steep hill, is Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. On the south side is the Old Town and the town square. There are numerous bridges across the river. I think I captured six of them in one image from high on the hill on the north side. The wide river, the hills on one side, and the flat expanse on the other, set up the scene for great sunrise and sunset images especially with the church spires and bridges.