Prague, day one: Narcissism on a stick - All Hail the Big Clock!

Prague, Czech Republic

Before I had even considered travelling to Prague, I'd been told by several people that it was their favourite city. In the world! With such high expectations, I was prepared to be let down big time by the capital of the Czech Republic. And yet my hopes were bolstered on the tram ride from our campsite into the centre, in which my eyes were constantly drawn by different magnificent buildings. 

Up high on a hill overlooking the city stood Prague Castle (you can see a representation on every sewer grate you pass over), and from there was a landslide of red roofs and green domes. After alighting at the tram stop Staromstska, I was drawn by one such building. 

Hitler must have taken a shine to the Rudolfinum as well, because it was used as the Nazi city headquarters during World War II. It's now home to the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, a much nicer body of people. 

Staring past it is a statue of Dvorak, who is hero-worshipped here and has a plethora of things named after him including streets and bars. Quite telling is the fact that this statue did not have any spiderwebs clinging to it - almost every single statue, archway and alcove was teeming with swathes of spider silk. Whenever there was a statue without, you could tell it was well looked after. 

There might be a spider problem in this city. But I didn't acquire a single mozzie bite for the duration of my stay, so perhaps I have the spiders to thank. Keep up the sticky work, guys. 

Aside from gazing awestruck at colossal buildings, we spent the morning at the Jewish Museum in Prague. For my full post on the matter, click here. 

Tuckered out from walking around bustling synagogues all morning, we lunched at Kafka Snob Food. The staff were friendly, the wifi was fast, and the food was decent Italian fare - but the showstopper for me was the homemade lemonade. This was our introduction to the phenomena of lemonade in Prague - and it truly is phenomenal! Each bar, restaurant and café has their own way of making it and their own special flavours like raspberry or mint.

Speaking of Kafka, we took group photos of people upon their request in front of this monument by the Spanish Synagogue. The famous Czech writer rides a giant empty suit, and I must admit I haven't a clue what the reference is, but I assume it's one of his stories. 

To get a better feel for Prague we wandered the streets for some time, and what we found was more amazing buildings. Surprised? Some boasted bright facades, some showcased grand baroque figures along the outside, and some had painted filigree exteriors. You had to train yourself to look upwards more often otherwise you'd miss all the beautiful and unique architecture. 

To entirely contrast this grandeur was the church where Jan Hus preached in the early 1400's. His ideas, which entirely went against the opulence of the Church, led him to be burned at the stake for heresy. While he was a peaceful believer who carried on preaching his own brand of faith, after his death his followers sparked a storm of violence that led to the Hussite Wars. A century later, Luther and Calvin would follow in his Reformation footsteps. Though this church had been rebuilt after a fire razed it, I enjoyed seeing it for the historical place that Jan once preached, and especially liked the interesting stone slabs that cast shadows of letters down the front. 

Intending to return to our campsite for an evening nursing our sore feet, we ended up stuck at the tram stop waiting for broken down transportation. Deciding to wait no longer, we used our time to visit the Old Town Square, which has been used as Prague's main square since the tenth century. 

Dominating one side is the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, which contains the tomb of Tycho Brahe: a court astronomer who died in 1601 of a burst bladder - a result of not leaving the feasting table out of politeness when he badly needed to go. Silly Tycho!

It was nearly on the hour, so we joined the hordes staring up at the Astonomical Clock, which plays a song and dance every hour. It was grossly underwhelming, and I took far more enjoyment from everyone around us taking selfies with the clock. 

Taking advantage of the amassed tourists were circling Segway riders, who were touting tours on wheels. And it was very popular; we had already seen trails of sightseers whirring along all over the place. Why walk when you can glide to all the best sights? In a rare moment I caught two greeting each other with a bro handshake. 

Returning to Staromestska, we successfully caught a timely tram to our camping. That evening we utilised the wifi out by the camp reception. This is located near the toilets and after a bathroom break I headed back to the wifi'd picnic table, only to find that a tiny boy was in the path with poo streaked down his leg (and possibly on his face - it was smeared brown and I didn't look closely but I optimistically believe it to be chocolate). He didn't seem particularly bothered and was muttering to himself nonchalantly. Avoiding the fecal toddler with a wide radius, I sat back down with Fabienne. I thought she hadn't noticed him, as she was happily writing away, but when I mentioned him she said that she didn't know what he was up to, as he ran around for a while with urgency and then clutched at his pants screaming. She innocently believed he just needed to pee, and when I told her the truth of the matter she paled. We anxiously looked over at him and wondered where his parents were. Eventually his mum appeared, scooped him up and went to clean him. Later she returned to wipe the footpath. 

Scarred for life, we ate dinner and went to bed. I did not want to include this story, but Yannick convinced me.