Prague: It’s not you, it’s me.

Prague is beautiful, historic, crowded, touristy and unfortunately, I don’t get it.

Prague Castle.

Don’t get me wrong, Internet. Prague is beautiful. The architecture is stunning. There are galleries, museums, shops and live performances. It’s not overly expensive considering how may tourists come here. The food is good and the beer is cheaper than water. Besides being a sort of Euro Disneyland for tourists, I think I may have missed the point of the city. I did have fun here; but maybe my expectations were too high. “Prague, it’s not you, it’s me; I don’t know why, but I only like, you, I just don’t love you”.

Old Town square.

I searched high and low for the city’s personality. I just can’t get a grasp on it. I did the touristy stuff. I went to several pubs and beer gardens for food and drink. I sat in many of the parks and watched the world go by. I went to a local wine festival. I went to an underground bar, I did city tours and I walked from one side of the city to the other on my own, I even looked for the city’s alternative side, but to no avail. Maybe the city is struggling to find its identity after so many years behind the iron curtain, but I found it was a mish-mash of too many things, none of which it was really committed too.

Astronomical Clock.

Tourists (and lots of them) flock to Prague to see two main sights: Prague Castle, the biggest castle complex in the world that is also home to Gothic masterpiece St Vitas Cathedral and The Astronomical clock, a medieval clock that tells 4 types of time and puts on one of the most underwhelming shows ever on the hour every hour. The groups of people in these places and in the Old Town Square were huge. As usual there was lots of pushing and shoving and plenty of uncomfortable closeness. Other Prague highlights were less-crowded, but certainly weren’t quiet, like Mala Strana, the old quarter under the castle filled with gingerbread, absinthe and traditional Czech pastries cooked on an open fire called Trdelniks, Strahov Monastery, a monastery where the monks brew beer that has great views over the city, and the old Jewish Town, home to the oldest Synagogue in Europe and a Hebrew clock that goes backwards in time. Most certainly my favourite crowded spot was the John Lennon wall, a graffiti wall that was started around the time of then Czecholslovakia’s Velvet Revolution. Quotes from and portraits of The Beatles front-man have been sprayed and painted on in bright colours. There are also a large number of post-its on the wall with messages to Lennon and loved ones. When I first arrived and walked past the wall there was a busker playing Lennon-penned Beatles songs; when he started to play Norwegian Wood, one my Dad and I used to sing when I was a kid, I had my first genuine pang of homesickness. I gave the busker a few Crowns and said thank-you because despite missing my family, it was a wonderful moment. I loved it so much I went back twice and also offered to walk a fellow tourist who found themselves lost there so I could go again, (and, you know, be a decent person).

John Lennon Wall.

As I mentioned, I spent some time in Prague’s parks and gardens. From one side of the city to the other, Prague has some great public spaces. I visited a park that is home to several peacocks who strut around like they own the joint. I visited a park where a giant Stalin statue once stood, which is now home to a not-as-giant-as-Stalin metronome and several pairs of shoes hanging from the power line. And I visited A small garden where locals sit down a hill for yet another great city view (they have a lot of them here). This park was a really social place for this city’s people. Groups sat on benches, in beer gardens and chatted loudly, people walked their dogs or taught their children to ride bikes and lots of young people sat on the hill smoking joints and giggling loudly at what were no doubt hilarious things. The whiff of pot was strong over most of the city because, as I found out later from a local, marijuana has been decriminalised in The Czech Republic, so all of the parks had the same suspicious odour. The biggest park of them all is Petrin Hill, home to the Beer Brewing Monks, a funicular railway, galleries, a rose garden, observatory, grotto, and the Eiffel Tower. Well, not really, but it’s a delightful imitation. The tower was modelled on the real tower in Paris and after 300 steps offers beautiful 360 degree views of the city. I wandered around the gardens for hours getting lost. It was like an oasis here, so few people, a few squirrels and near-silence.

The view from the fake Eiffel Tower.

In an effort to understand Czech history, I spent one morning exploring the museum of communism. This small museum that is in the same building as a trashy casino  was an interesting historical perspective on the communist years and also had some powerful exhibitions on the protests and The Velvet Revolution that took place in 1989. The Soviet liberators at the end of WWII were, unsurprisingly, not really liberators at all, but occupiers and Stalin reached his iron fist to Central Europe to control Czechoslovakia. The usual tales of interrogations, spying, suppression of language and ideas were present, but this museum had something more. It was the kitsch factor. The place had so many pieces from the era and all of them were presented with a balance of humour and seriousness. Propaganda posters and statues were presented as well as fully set up classrooms and shops. The video presentation with real footage from the revolution was upsetting, but essential viewing.

Memorabilia at the Museum of Communism.

I did also get a glimpse into the underground scene in Prague in the hopes of understanding it better. I visited several independent galleries, like NOD, a club, cafe and gallery, which was exhibiting confronting works by Darina Alster and Traficka, that displayed a monochromatic group exhibition for young artists. Traficka also doubled (and tripled) as an artists’ commune and graffiti hub. On the outside of the building there was even a ‘Graffomat’, a graffiti vending machine created by one of Prague’s best artists. It is an actual working machine where you can pay 100 Crowns and get a can of spray paint. The work on the side of the building and inside the commune was incredible. it was as big as the walls and amazingly detailed. I like street art, I don’t think I understand just how hard it is to do well, or the culture and rules surrounding it, but I always enjoy looking at it. Speaking of which, I also visited one of Prague’s many legal graffiti walls, which was yet again an excellent show case for talent. It would seem there are a few creative types in town, including sculpture and mischief-maker David Cerny. I saw his works all across the city. Giant babies with bar-codes for faces climb up the ugly TV tower, two men pee into a fountain shaped like The Czech Republic and a shiny red skull rotates over the contemporary art museum. All whacky, all unexpected and all just a little controversial. Like good art should be.

Trafacka.

Drinking is an important part in Czech culture, and although after my sail around Croatia I didn’t think drinking was on my agenda, I decided when in Prague, one must do as the Czechs do. That means drink beer, and lots of it. I sampled Pilsner Urquell, Budweiser Budvar, Krusovice and many more whose names escape me. At this time of year, you don’t have to be a beer drinker to get in on the action. A small wine festival I attended was in honour of Burčák, a slightly fermented wine made of young grapes that is best enjoyed in early autumn. It is sweet and strong. A dangerous mix. But when you eat a few Palačinky (pancakes), filled with sweet and savoury fillings, it’s not too bad.

Beer.

So as you can read, I did have fun in Prague, there was lots to see and do and besides the inevitable tourist crush, it was enjoyable. I like Prague, I just don’t love it. When you are told you’re going to love something and you don’t you feel strangely guilty. I feel like I should love Prague more; sadly, I just don’t. And on top of that, I’m not sure why I don’t. Sorry, hopefully my entries will be less vague in the future.