Praha or Prague requires no introduction. This mystical capital of Czech Republic is known equally for its dark history as it is for its Gothic architectural charm. We were in Praha for a quick 48 hours, but managed to squeeze in all the major attractions of this fascinating city. If you hail from a vast city like Delhi, you will find European capitals like Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, etc very small and coverable on foot. So here's a quick guide to the major attractions of this city, that could be done on foot. This is the 1st part, on the day we reached Prague from Budapest.
Old apartments in European cities have winding staircases with no elevators. We had a lot a lot of luggage, plus I was 5 months pregnant so that was quite an ordeal. Anyways, will describe our stay later (which was an adventure in itself). We dumped our luggage, freshened up, had a quick bite (from the superstore) and left for the city centre.
The Prague castle is a short yet magnificent walk from the tram stop. The buildings are intricately carved and there were bright blooms wherever we would lay our eyes. We entered the castle from its hind entrance.
The Prague Castle or the Czech Pražský hrad, also called Hradčany, is the largest ancient castle according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The castle grounds do not require a ticket and there are myriads of attractions to see without paying for museum visits. Of course if you are too invested in studying their history, you ought to visit those artifacts and royal belongings.
The castle is a conglomeration of attractions. You are greeted at the entrance by soldiers who look like statues. I mean he really does not move! As you keep walking admiring the architecture all around. Then you walk into the second courtyard and there are huge structures catching your attention.
The St Vitus Cathedral is tall and overpowering. It would be impossible to fully capture it from the courtyard. So remember to click it from outside the castle, before you enter.
The second courtyard gives the entry to the St Vitus Cathedral. It was quite late in the evening so it was closed. The cathedral is huge so we managed to capture ourselves with the enormous, intricately carved doors.
Then there is the Kohl's fountain which has soothing running water. There are many other structures to see and examine, but since it was going to be dark, we made our way out.
The exit has the dungeon where a skeleton of a soldier is preserved in its hanging position. The history of Praha is not without extreme darkness, cruelty and inhumanity. The Dalibor Tower or this dungeon gives way to the Golden Lane.
The way to the top gives a spectacular bird's eye view of the red roofs of the city structures. The moment you see this view, you are able to recognise Praha. There are telescopes too, and you have to slide an euro to access them.
The castle gives way to the Golden Lane, again a famous attraction of Praha. There are tiny houses along the lane, very well preserved till date and you can see dolls and tea sets peeking from those tiny windows. The name is so as goldsmiths used to live here. And so did policemen and other meagerly paid people of the society.
The lane has rows of brightly coloured tiny houses from the medieval times. Some of them have been converted into souvenir shops. The eminent Czechian author Kafka used to stay in his sister's house in one of these and had written here. Also, Nobel laureate Jarosav Slaifat used to reside here.
We walked to the bank of the Vltava River, where there were numerous swans. The lights shone sparklingly from the Charles Bridge. It was magnificent. We walked our way through the cobbled streets and hurriedly entered a cute restaurant when it started raining. It had gotten very cold all of a sudden. Even my pregnancy could not warm me enough!
I had the famous Bohemian dish: Pecena Kachna or the Bohemian Roast Duck. It's a three ingredient dish made of duck, garlic and caraway seeds. It was served with potato dumplings and braised red cabbage. It's a festive Czech dish as the people could not afford the expensive duck or goose; unless they were the szlacta or nobility. Vegetarian husband had the spaghetti aglio oglio and like always, he stole the potato from me :D
That was a long, eventful and exhausting day for us (pregnant me!). However the night wasn't over yet! We further explored this mythical city in the eerie dark, and we discovered so much! More coming on the next post!
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Baked Happily Ever After.
