5th Oct to 7th Oct - Prague

The first thing that struck me about Prague was that Asian food/ eateries could be found almost anywhere - Thai, Indian, Chinese & etc :) Simply fantastic. And sadly, the food's cheaper than the traditional Czech food, which cost more (average 11 euros per dish) and could only be found mainly in the super crowded and touristy areas. So, I decided to try the nearest shopping mall (Palladium) instead, headed straight up to their food court and got myself a spicy Tom Yum soup (I'd asked the chef who was tending the counter at that time, to make it very spicy) and a Phad Thai. And boy, the portion for the Phad Thai was HUGE... it's like having 3 meals at one go.



And because I was too tired from the coach ride from Vienna to Prague, I'd pretty much slept in and/ or lazed around in my room (Hostel Rubicon) most of the time after that sumptuous meal. I'd rather spend the time to sleep and recuperate my energy and alertness than walk on the streets like a zombie, and not pay enough attention to my surroundings. :P



But I made it up the next day. Joined a free walking tour and pretty much gone through all the attractions within one day. For instance:

1) The medieval Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square
Got to see the hourly chime but not the 12 apostles as those only appear every 3 to 4 hours. And I found it interesting that if I (or in fact anyone else) were to translate my name to local language, there's a super high chance that I would be able to find it on the calendar dial. Coz each day of the year had a lunar decription/ name attached it to. I.e.: XX September is the day of Leo (for example). Well, something along those lines...



2) Charles Bridge





3) The former Jewish Quarter
Felt super sad after visiting the old Jewish Cemetery and the Jewish Museum; especially after seeing those aged drawings from the Jewish children who were sent to a separate concentration camp from their parents for their "education", and the names of the deceased on the walls. It was also disturbing to find out that as so many Jewish had perished during that awlful period, many had to be buried underneath the current streets that led up to the old Jewish Cemetery. :(

On a slightly happier note, our local guide told us a story about a Golem living in the attics of the Old-New Synagogue and how it/ he had helped the local people in growing the local bakery industry. But when the creator died, it/ he remained in the attic and everyone else was forbidden to visit the attic even till to day. And it was said that during WW1, one of the Nazi soldiers came to hear about the tale and decided to head up the attic to satisfy his curiosity. But he never did come back down...



4) St. James Church
I saw the mummified hand but as photography was not allowed in the church, I have nothing to show :( As per www.prague.cz, the story was that a thief once wanted to steal the gifts or the jewel ring from the Virgin Mary statue, "but the statue grasped his hand and he couldn´t get out. He was found there in the morning. Nobody was able to disengage his hand, so it had to be cut off. Then the statue dropped the hand spontaneously. The Minorits hanged the hand on the wall as a warning and it can still be seen there, wizened and blackened."

5) Wenceslas Square
Had learnt about how czech citizens had changed and/ or removed the road signs leading from Russia to Prague, in a bid to drive them back to Russia in a time before GPS and google maps were invented. And the prescence of a certain plaque in the square, dedicated to student Jan Palach, who had set himself on fire in protest at the Soviet invasion.

And something else did happen during our walking tour. We were walking into a buidling to look at photos of the old city hall area when the siren sounded - the one that you would expect when airplanes were coming to bomb the city. One of the tourists was so shaken that her eyes turned red, and was very close to tears. It took the local guide some time to calm her down. Apparently, the siren was just a drill to test the various systems in place. If you have been following the news recently, there has been a terror alert or travel warning issued from UK, Japan and U.S on people travelling in or to Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain. Although Prague wasn't on the list, it had been through too many wars and times of turmoil that the authorities took the threat rather seriously as well - which of course, was a good sign.

All in all, Prague's a really nice place to walk about and the locals were really nice as well. And it would seem that most of them speak multiple languages - i.e.: czech, english, German, spanish and italian. So, asking around wasn't all that difficult.

However, you can't run away from the fact that Prague's pretty touristy (but still has that certain old town charm to it) and there's not as many attractions when compared to other cities like Rome or Barcelona. So, a full 2-day stay there would pretty much do its job and yet allows you to stroll along the lanes and streets rather leisurely :)

And here are some pix from around the city: