More Prague Tales

Charles Bridge by Day

I almost had tryst with language, on the morning we started for Vienna at Tesco. So I had ventured by myself to buy few essentials for the trip as it was a long journey and apprehending that we may not stop for lunch. One of them items was a necessity for female hygiene. I scorched earnestly the basement – usual food, toiletries section. Having that Indian mentality, I never bothered to ask the male assistant but approached few local ladies – calling the object of urgent necessity by their standard references. Unfortunately, they did not get what I was trying to say and I was about to make another attempt – by telling them in sign language of course! 

Czech Republic has produced some brilliant writers

What will I enact? wait  a minute ....Eeeks…. I will look like a clown, I thought to myself. Luckily I saw the female assistant on the floor to my rescue.

‘Upstairs in women’s section’, in her broken English. Ha! There they were next to perfume and lingerie!

This made me realise, how we see world with a One Track mind all the time. My brain was programmed to find them in the toiletries section and nowhere else. How most of the times we often think that the way we do things is the best way.

By day 3 , we had seen most of the touristy Prague, including throngs of youngsters walking down the streets for the famous Pub Crawls at night.

View from Tram

So that morning, we decided to go to Prague Castle once again but this time to walk in the Orangery which lies beneath the castle and walk our way upwards to the castle .

A walk up the castle

Then began our little shopping trip, buying souvenirs, paintings, browsing books, locally painted art crafts until we stopped by the Kafka Museum to admire David Cernys brilliant sculpture. This is where my heart stopped to appreciate not just Prague but the country as a whole. 

The brilliant Czech writers, the talented classical music artists(Mozart first played in Prague before he found fame in Austria) and even modern day artists like David Cerny whose satirical sculptures are spread in the city or their popular comics Svjelk.

David Cerny's sclupture

I thought Prague was just a pretty town in Europe, little did I realise what a booming economy it is today post its Communist era.  

National Theatre

Take a closer look, look in depth and you realise Prague is more complex than you think. More mysterious, every lane has perhaps some hidden story to tell.

Now I do think that the director was right in filming the movie in this city – it coincided the love story of Heer and J.J.  Passionate and unconventional.

Prague Tales : Discovering the dark , mysterious city

Prague! Where is that? Most of us reacted when we saw the movie Rockstar, many pronounced it as ‘Pregue’ or something of sorts. Thanks Bollywood, you added one more European city to the list. So as hubby was dilly-dallying his plans about summer holidays, I checked with my friends if they would like to have a quick go at the city. So the three of us agreed to ditch our husbands and venture to Prague over a pre-weekend. (Pre-weekend huh? Welcome to life of JK where weekend starts earlier than most mortals)

Beautiful buildings at Prague

Other than discovering a city by myself, I was also happy that I would get time knowing two new people- MJ and MP. Perhaps the six degree of separation rule holds true. I had bumped into  vivacious MP at my local gym and although we had not exactly spent tons of time together, we did get comfortable enough to tolerate each other for next 3 days. MJ, I met her in fellow Indians locality group and we convinced the funny foodblogger to join us.

As I started my research for this trip, I was fascinated by this capital of Czech Republic. A country engulfed in rich history and culture. There was certainly more to Prague than Nargis Fakhri running down a bridge in her long gown at dawn.

As we set out with a map (we left the job to MP), to explore the city on foot, we were bedazzled by every building in Stare Mestro aka Old Town, every nook and turn we came across a pretty structure. Not just the architecture, but even beautifully painted walls.

We prayed that MJ could make the long walks through the cobbled streets as she was in a bad state of health before the trip. But it was MJ who excitedly pointed out towards something interesting at every corner.

Lost in Prague

We lost our way many a times in Prague ki gallis on our way towards getting authentic and reasonably priced Czech cuisine.  As we passed the stunning Astronomical clock and the famous tourist filled square of Prague and St. Vitrus Cathedral , we reached the Jewish Quarter of the city. 

Astronomical clock

Where is this place V.Korkovna? Each of us argued of a different direction, only to find the restaurant in front of us. Thank god, we are carnivores and beer lovers as we flipped through the menu. I adventured into the much recommended ‘Moravian sparrow’ but it did not appeal much to my Indian tastebuds whilst MP happily dug into her rabbit.

Moravian sparrow

Dispersed crowds at Castle District

Post lunch, we struggled to get into the right tram to the Castle which stood on the other side of river Vllata. The tram unwinded over the hill, giving us pretty views of the city until all of our attention was drawn towards the medieval castle district.

Castle District - Prague

It was early evening when we reached the Castle Complex and the crowds had dispersed. MJ and MP, made the most of it and took all sorts of pictures to the fullest. MJ stumbled across this shop ‘Manufactura’, a Czech artisan shop selling handmade toiletries and cute china. We loitered around the Castle district for a while following paths where our feet took us.

Speaking of feet, do you know the origins of your Bata footwear? Its Czech Republic. 

Pretty lanes of Prague

Cobbled paths of Prague

Tired and exhausted with our day’s adventures we took a short break and dragged ourselves again to see the city by the night. I am glad that we did! We licked a yummy gelato on our way to the Charles Bridge while walking the quite path way to see the lights on the river. 

Charles Bridge during the night is stark different from the crowded and local artist filled one during the day.

Ah! How surreal. Right out of a mysterious fairy tale.  This reminded my trip to Budapest, earlier in the year and ever more so when I saw couples cuddle on the benches on the river! 

(How priceless! Only if they even let couples hold hands at Marine drive)

Exhausted I sank into my bed, now if only Prince Charming was besides me in this fairy tale town!