Czech It Out

So according to the peanut gallery, I only post "once-every-cow's-gestation-period." Though neither I nor my beef-farmer's-daughter wife are exactly sure how long that is, I'm taking it as a prod to post more often. Just remember, you brought this on yourself, Ken.

The weekend after our return from the Low Countries, we decided to forego the eco-friendly bandwagon and instead take advantage of my brother's car and Germany's lack of speed limits to go visit Prague. Due to Zack's schedule, we didn't leave on Friday (barely), but instead left around 5 am Saturday morning. After a very bumpy nap, I awoke to see the wonders of the Czech Republic unfolding around us, said wonders consisting mainly of mud and road construction.

But once we made it in the city center and dropped off our bags at the hotel, Prague turned out to have quite a bit going for it. If any of you are familiar with Prague, we did see most of the stuff you're supposed to see, but I'll filter out some of it for brevity's sake. The things that stand out to me most about Prague are:

Jumping in the castle courtyard

1) The castle. It's the biggest in the world, by some measures. It has a cathedral in the middle of it. But most importantly, it was the site of one of the most hilarious-sounding historical events of all time, the Second Defenstration of Prague (yes, there have been more than one). Basically, a council of Protestants tried two Catholic governors and threw them out of a window, but they survived. The Catholics claimed this was a miracle that showed their innocence, the Protestants (correctly) claimed that it had more to do with the pile of horse dung on which they landed. Then they started the 30 Years' War. Too bad about that.

An organ grinder tips his hat to Laura as she tips him (photo: Zack Boren)

2) The music. Prague supplants San Francisco for the best street musicians of any city I've been to. Some of them do traditional Bohemian music with accordion, clarinet, and auxilliary percussion. We were serenaded by an organ grinder as we ate pizza on the beautiful Charles Bridge. My favorite one of these groups was a small jazz quintet further down the bridge, though. There was a Czech guy singing "Mack the Knife" in a wonderful Eastern European accent through a megaphone. Can't beat that.

The Classical Music scene is pretty developed as well, with several concerts going on both nights we were there. We saw Mozart's Requiem Saturday night, which was a nice end to the day. Also, we can't forget that great rock opera inspired by Prague's own Franz Kafka (which was stuck in my head the whole time we were there, much to Zack and Laura's chagrin).

The Old Jewish Cemetery

3) The Old Jewish Cemetery. For 300 years, this was the only place that the Jewish residents of the city were allowed to be buried, even though it covers a relatively tiny area. Though it contains 12,000 tombstones, there are an estimated 100,000 burials in the space.

Enjoying the food while the accordionist serenades us

4) U Fleku. A huge, traditional Czech beer hall and brewery whose beer is not served anywhere else. You sit at communal tables, and an accordionist comes around and plays songs from your home country while you sing and sway loudly (we got "Home on the Range," and put our hearts into it, have no fear). The goulash (completely unlike US goulash - sort of like beef stew without vegetables) was delicious, and you can't beat the atmosphere.

The Dancing House by Frank Gehry

5*) The Dancing House. An interesting curvy-design by Frank Gehry, Laura was quite happy to find this by accident as we were strolling along the river. It was originally named for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

*Just so there's no confusion, this was something that stood out to Laura, not me specifically. She said she'd studied it in an Art History book, but never thought she'd see it in person.

All in all, Prague is a beautiful, stone-covered city in the heart of Bohemia. It could stand to invest in some more green space - all those cobblestones get to you after a while - but if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood, it's well worth a stop. 7.5/10.0.