Šťastný nový rok

Train travel in Europe is usually quite pleasant and functional; this was how we traveled throughout central Europe. We would often pass a small town nestled in a valley, with a prominent church steeple in the middle of dozens of red roofs. We saw frozen ponds with people ice skating on them. We saw forests of perfectly proportioned evergreens with a dusting of snow on all their branches. The most snow we saw was probably in Moravia, the area east of Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

At a train station

On New Years Eve. These peaceful and scenic train rides were one of my favorite parts of our trip

Praha

Eastern Europe is a very different, albeit rapidly changing, world. The Czech Republic has undergone dramatic changes since the USSR finally broke up not too long ago. Prague has become a tourism capital in recent years and I imagine this city constantly is finding new ways to get your tourism dollars. Prague’s “old world charm” is what you always read about in travel magazines. It’s hard to articulate what makes Prague so captivating. That’s why I love it.

You know you’re in Prague when . . . you get hassled for money before you’ve even left the train station. Not surprisingly, this happened to Brad and me. Any travel book, seasoned traveler or sign in the subway and on the street in Prague will tell you, “Beware of pickpockets. Guard your belongings.” Luckily our wallets were under so many layers of clothing that a pickpocket would have to be making out with one of us to steal our money.

We arrived in Prague on New Year’s Eve. The party had already started. After dropping off our bags at our fantastic “boutique hostel,” we headed downtown. The Prague equivalent to Times Square is Wenceslas Square. Yes, it’s named for “Good King Wenceslas.” You’ll hear more about him later. The Square is more like a 5-block rectangle, so there’s room for everyone. Live music acts were already performing on the stage in the afternoon. Jumbotrons and cameras were set up as well – to broadcast the action to the rest of the Czech Republic of course. Wenceslas Square

Brad and I continued through Wenceslas Square and made our way to Old Town Square. The famous astronomical clock was chiming, so we watched as the 12 apostles glided by inside the clock. The Christmas market in the square was still humming with activity. We bought some snacks and took photos. We walked to Charles Bridge to see the castle, lit up and magnificent, across the river.

The Astronomical Clock
Old Town Square
Prague Castle

We booked our New Year’s Eve dinner online before we came to Prague because we didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if every restaurant would be reserved and every bar would be packed. Having dinner at McDonalds and standing in the freezing streets waiting on midnight did not sound fun. So, I booked a dinner with entertainment package at some traditional Czech place.

It turned out to be a bust. We were seated in a back room, so we had no chance of seeing the transvestite cabaret show with live music. (When I did go into the main room, all I saw was some overweight queen in a flowing blue gown doing an interpretive dance to a Tina Turner song.) We did enjoy the couple who was seated at our table. Ray and Linda are from outside London and they are our parents’ ages. They clarified, at one point, that they are not married. They divorced their respective spouses not too long ago and now they’re happy together. Thanks for letting us know.

The four of us paid our drink bills before midnight, and left the restaurant to find some fireworks. We got a spot right at the river, with a great view of Charles Bridge and the castle and many fireworks shows. I heard that the Czech love their fireworks and I now know that’s true. There were fireworks going off in every direction. Fireworks over the castle, a professional fireworks show at the Charles Bridge, and people in the crowd lighting alarmingly big fireworks just behind us. At midnight, everyone in the crowd hugged their companions and yelled, “Happy New Year!” in a million different languages.

We chose the dangerous route to get back to our room; we went through Wenceslas Square. Prague party-goers like to set off deafening fireworks into the crowd. At one point, sparks from a roman candle almost grazed Brad’s head. We were ducking for fireworks, pushing through strings of drunken kids hanging on to one another for support, and trying not to step on the hazardous shards of champagne bottles. Meanwhile, the music is going strong. I thought it was a tiny bit thrilling; Brad, a 57-year-old man trapped in a 27-year-old body, hated every second of it.

On New Year’s Day, we slept in. When I opened the curtains, huge snowflakes were falling outside. Nothing was sticking, but it was beautiful. When we finally set out, it was almost lunchtime, but the cafe we found was still serving yummy breakfasts. Interestingly, the cafe we chose was once frequented by Einstein and Kafka. No earth-shattering scientific or philosophical ideas dawned on Brad and me. Brad ordered the “Cowboy Breakfast” – fried eggs, bacon, coffee and apple pie.

A message from Miss Slouchy

In the afternoon, we crossed Charles Bridge and walked around the Mala Strana area. We slowly climbed up to the castle. Once inside the old palace, we learned that the Defenestration of Prague occurred there. This is what happened: In 1618, at the onset of the Thirty Years War (essentially a war of Protestants vs. Catholics), a group of Protestants took a court scribe and went to Prague castle to have a rough and dirty “trial” of two Imperial governors/Catholic counselors. The governors were essentially found guilty of being Catholic. They were then thrown out of the castle window. Then, the Protestants threw their scribe (who knew too much) out the window as well. All three survived the fall because they landed on manure or something soft. But then, the Protestants started shooting at them. They survived the bullets too. The scribe was later given a title by the emperor: “von Hohenfall,” meaning “of Highfall.”

View from the castle

While on the castle grounds, we also explored St. Georges Basilica, Golden Lane and St. Vitol’s cathedral. St. Wenceslas is buried at St. Vitols. The crown made for Wenceslas after his death is also kept under 7 locks there. The 7 keys to the locks are in the possession of 7 different important people in the Czech Republic. Even though the Czech Republic no longer has a monarchy, the crown is sometimes brought out for official state ceremonies; that’s how important Wenceslas is to the Czech.

The rest of our time in Prague was spent shopping, exploring the Jewish neighborhood, eating at a medieval tavern, finding a Thai place and bagel place. And more shopping. I mentioned that Prague loves to take your tourist dollars (although technically the currency is the Corona.)

On our last night in Prague, we went to a performance of the comic opera Don Giovanni in Prague. Mozart premiered this opera in 1787 at the Theatre of the Estates (Stavovské divadlo) in Prague, and the Theatre of the Estates is where we went! Our seats would have been great in a normal theater, but this one is quite antique. The seats are in a U shape, so we had to bend over the balcony and look right to really see the stage. But, it was neat to pretend we were concert-goers in Mozart’s time – think of the colorful famous and infamous characters who must have been in his audiences.

Theatre of the Estates

An evening at the opera was a nice shift from the rest of our time beating the streets in Prague. Having Prague as our last stop was apropos because it’s a little grungy and our clothes, by then, were a little grungy too. It was time to go “home” to Spain.