Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Magnificient Prague

A sign that you´ll been traveling for a while - this morning someone said, ¨Hey, what happened with the hurricane?¨, and I said, ¨What hurricane?¨ It wasn´t until we turned on BBC that I saw there was a massive hurricane hitting the US. Ah yes, that hurricane. On the other hand, I can tell you that it´s 24.1 CZK to 1 US$ and our dollar is terrible when it comes to traveling.

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I only have one word to describe Prague - magnificient. Absolutely magnificient. The sheer scale and number of sights are just incredible. The Charles bridge, Prague Palace, Town center, etc., are all an order magnitude grander than anything in the Baltics. The city reminds me of a hybrid of Barcelona and Vienna actually. All the energy and craziness of Barcelona combined with the culture and arts of Vienna. Unfortunately, it is also a city absolutely mobbed by tourists. There are hordes of them, worst than anything I´ve seen in London, Paris, or Rome all combined. Everything is so touristy here it is obviously not an authentic Czech experience any more. I wish I had seen Prague 15 years ago before it was trampeded by tourists, it would have been quite an amazing experience.

If I had to pick between Prague and Vienna, I'd have to go with Vienna - my first time to Europe, its musical scene, and I was in love - but only by a hair. Prague is definitely a special, special place though. Someday, I'll be back. Charles bridge at night
Charles bridge at sunset
St. Nicholas church
Tyn church