Prague – Malá Strana & Hradčany

Prague – Day 2 Saturday 04/10/2008

The forecast for today was meant to be cloud and rain but that didn’t come until late afternoon. I came into Prague not having the faintest idea what to see or do. Since Prague is quite small, I didn’t want to do everything on one day and then be bored out of my brains the next so I dragged the sight seeing out to two days. If I had done my research, I could have gone out of Prague and visited the countryside so my lack of preparation was not the smartest idea.

My hotel was not in the city center but just on the outskirts of Prague Castle. I didn’t mind the long walks as I had plenty of time to kill so I didn’t even consider taking public transport; I just walked everywhere and anywhere.

I decided to see only one side of Prague today and crossing the river to explore the other side on Sunday. The forecast for today was rain but this morning was very bright and sunny.

Prague Castle is located in the epicenter of Hradčany. It is quite a large area housing royalty and the herds of tourist all wanting a piece of St. Vitus Cathedral. I have never scoured around an entire castle before and with a large scale area to cover, it took me a good hour or so to visit every nook and cranny.

There are photo opportunities around every corner whether it is at the lookouts beaming into the center of Prague or admiring the architecture of the buildings, churches and sculptures that lay to rest in the vicinity. There is still much restoration taking place so avoid them in your snapshots.

The only strange thing I saw at the castle grounds were two young local boys trying to fish out coins from the well with a piece of string and possibly a magnet at the end of it. The boys appeared to be successful with there little scheme as you can hear the coins jingling in their pockets.

Malá Strana can be described as the Hyde Park or Central Park of Prague. However it is not as flat as these parks but rather steep. It has numerous gardens that you can admire or long snaky paths which you can climb. However if you feel rather lazy, you can catch the Funicular Railway up to the top of the gardens reaching the Hungar Walls. For the adventurous, there’s the stairs that you can climb from the bottom of streets.

Also in Malá Strana you can visit the Petrin Tower which has uncanny resemblance to that of the Eiffel Tower. It’s only 60 meters high, costs 50 Czech kroner’s (£1.50) to enter and takes about 3 minutes to climb to the top. At the top of the Tower you will have a great 360 degree view of Prague and surrounds.

Next to the Petrin Tower is the Labyrint which is a maze but with mirrors that try to fool you in getting completely lost.

For most of the day the weather was perfect but it did begin to rain slightly towards the evening when the clouds rolled over Prague. Despite the drizzle the swarms of tourist were still in the area. I have to say this city has the most number of tourists I have ever seen in all my travels. It was amazing how many groups of tourist there were being led by their tour guides in all different languages.

After walking across Charles Bridge and dodging all the tourist, I found a restaurant where I wanted to sample some local Czech cuisine. On my plate was beef goulash & dumplings (soft bread) and I almost licked the plate clean.

Before heading back to the hotel in Dejvice, I visited the Prague Metronom. This has to be the most disappointing landmark/building in the whole of Prague. It was basically this structure which swings back and forth. The whole area was not full of people but full of teenagers on skateboards and blades.

It was more like a skate park then anything with the amount of graffiti and teenagers present. The only plus was a great view of the city but there are many vantage points in this park with great views of the city. Do avoid and don’t waste the effort walking there, and walking up the steep stairs or tracks around the side.

smiles