The Czech Republic and its capital of Prague have seen many political changes since the city’s founding 1,100 years ago, but the people of the country have persevered, and strong national pride is evident. The citizens of Prague have enjoyed an extended period of freedom since the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism in the late 20th century, and they are proud of their capital city. We decided that a walking tour was in order to begin our historical immersion in this eastern European metropolis, and some traditional food was in order as well.
Joseph and Deveny continued their studies in the morning while I sat by an open window to enjoy writing while looking out over the courtyard. A crew of tradesmen were performing an exterior renovation on the building across the yard, and they were chattering back and forth to each other in the typical cheerful banter of a tight crew working outside on a nice day. Deena dived into research and secured a bus ride from Prague to Krakow for late next week, but we eventually left the kids to their schoolwork while we went shopping. We returned with a lot of food for little money. Lunch was leftover Chinese supplemented by the Czech version of pigs in a blanket still hot from the grocery store bakery. These beauties were crafted with a sausage a little larger than an American hotdog, wrapped in a buttery croissant, and baked with a crust of sharp cheddar cheese—they set us back thirty cents.
Our walking tour was scheduled to meet at the historical Powder Tower at 3:30, and we had to take a different tram line in order to reach this part of the city. Fortunately, our public transportation mojo was working at a high level, and we secured tickets and seats on the number 18 tram within 20 minutes of leaving our flat. The majority of the public transportation systems we’ve used on our trip so far have been based on the honor system. Each ride on a bus, train, or tram has required a ticket for passage, but in most cases we could have just walked on our chosen method of transport without paying, and no one would have been the wiser. We’re honorable people and would never attempt such chicanery, but I’m sure many people take advantage of the system. All of the tourist booklets and city websites mention the possibility of random ticket inspection by transportation officials, but we’ve never witnessed such an act—until we rode the number 18 tram today.
The Czech method of riding public transport in any form requires the purchase of a single ticket from yellow machines cleverly hidden from tourists around the city. The machines take only Czech coins, which are difficult to obtain unless one stands in line at a bank to change paper currency. I’ve started hoarding these coins letting them slide through my fingers while muttering, “My precious.” The single-ride tickets are good for thirty or ninety minutes and must be validated by machine immediately upon entering one’s chosen form of transportation. Failure to possess a properly validated ticket can result in hefty fines levied by plainclothes transportation authorities who supposedly target tourists typically unaware of these procedures—yeah right. My custom is to keep my family members’ tickets together zipped up securely in the hidden pocket of my synthetic zip-off hiking pants, because...well, because that’s just the way I am.
The number 18 tram was crowded, and we had to take seats at different locations all along the length of the car. Halfway through our journey, I noticed a man and a woman sitting in front of me turn to each other and nod in a way that could only be a signal—it was a raid. They rose quickly from their seats, took badges out of their coats, and began demanding proof of ticket purchase from passengers, and they were heading directly for my ticketless children, who were woefully unaware of the possibility of detainment and interrogation. As the tram sped along twisting and turning on the rails, the kids cluelessly stared at the inspectors as they yammered at them in rapid-fire Czech. I desperately tried to reach them working my way through the tram looking like a painter who had just consumed his paycheck at the local watering hole. I finally managed to show a validated ticket for all of us, and the inspectors were pretty cool about the whole thing, but from now on, everyone carries their own dang ticket.
We made it to the Powder Tower with fifteen minutes to spare. Our guide for the next two hours was Vaclav, a native Czech with strong command of the English language. The tour group of only eight members set off promptly at 3:30 into the Old Town section of Prague. Rounding the corners in this area was like turning the pages of a fairytale picture book as the cobblestone-paved alleys opened into plazas full of baroque buildings trimmed with gilded gables and statues of popes and Czech heroes of days gone by. Most of the buildings are finished with lime-washed stucco in tones of ochre, sienna, earth brown, and pink capped with terracotta tile roofs. Statues built into the walls of many of the buildings in corners at the edge of the road served as a medieval form of street address. We saw the house of the Black Madonna, the house of the Two Golden Bears, and the Stone Bell house. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we walked into the Old Town Square and beheld medieval majesty suspended in the 21st century for our absolute pleasure.
Powder Tower
Stone Bell House
Unlike the lives of the citizens of Prague, the buildings were undamaged by wars of the last 100 years. Surrounded by street musicians and food vendors roasting huge hams over charcoal fires, it seemed that we had stepped back in time. We lingered for a while at the famous 500-year-old astronomical clock which gives a didactic mechanical performance at the top of every hour. Vaclav told us about the legend of the clock’s builder, who was supposedly blinded by the town fathers so he couldn’t duplicate the clock in another town—that’s how they rolled in the Middle Ages. Angered by his treatment at the hands of the city council members, the builder threw himself into the largest gear of the clock, ending his life and bringing the clock to a halt until his body could be removed—good grief.
Astronomical Clock
Vaclav told us many stories about the suffering of the Slavic people over the centuries while subject to governments and ideologies forced upon them by outsiders, and he said now that the Czech Republic and Slovakia have separated, there is much less tension and no more blame for civil unrest. The second half of our tour took place in the Jewish Quarter where we saw one of the oldest synagogues in Europe and had a glimpse of the Jewish cemetery packed wall to wall with 12,000 grave markers and as many as 12 layers of graves in some areas. The Jewish community in Prague had a few highs but mostly lows over a thousand years, and the population was decimated during WWII as the ghetto was emptied and its occupants shipped to concentration camps. We will hear many more stories of Jewish persecution as we continue traveling in Europe, and our hearts break a little more each time one is told.
After completing our tour on the east side of the Vltava River, we walked across the Charles Bridge, which is used exclusively by pedestrians, to the New Town side where we said goodbye to Vaclav, an excellent tour guide. Along the way, we saw statues of religious figures along the rails and watched the artists sketching portraits on the edges of the walkway. Hunger pangs turned our thoughts toward our neighborhood and the promise of local cuisine; so we managed to find a tram stop on a new line, and thirty minutes later we were seated at a table in the U Bansethu restaurant sipping cokes and local brew waiting for our food.
Roast duck and pork prepared with dumplings and cabbage are traditional Czech favorites, and neighborhood restaurants prepare these dishes with pride without charging a lot of money for them. Czech beer is regarded by aficionados as the best in the world. At one dollar per half liter, a visitor to Prague could afford to have the best beer in the world at every meal…theoretically. Deena ordered roast duck with dumplings and cabbage; I ordered pork with potato salad; Joseph and Deveny ordered duck burgers made from ground duck breast with fries; and we started the meal with a plate of fried cheese and savory sauce, another Czech traditional favorite. Each entree cost about four dollars, and I am not ashamed to say that we stuffed ourselves silly with this amazing food—everything was so flavorful and compelling we couldn’t stop eating until our plates were almost empty. I saved a portion of my pork to fry up with our eggs the next morning, and we paid our small check before waddling back to the flat feeling like Prague was our new favorite city in the world.
At the Charles Bridge
Vltava River
No comments:
Post a Comment