Prague Castle is the largest medieval castle in all of Europe.
As our airport taxi wound its way around a snowy bend in the road, I decided I was in love. Although I could barely see out my window, the splendor of Prague Castle loomed beside us, shadowing a river and a beautiful city.
Getting there was a tight squeeze. The National Express bus from London Victoria to Gatwick Airport takes nearly double the 1 hour and 15 minute ride it advertises, thanks to back roads and traffic. Gatwick Airport also does not announce the gate the flight will leave from until it’s nearly time for take-off, which is a nerve-wracking experience the first time.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
My first night in Prague was like puppy love; superficially, I loved everything, but not enough time had passed to get to actually get to know my partner. The snow fell around us delicately and covered Old Town Square, highlighting some of the most beautiful architecture I’d ever seen.
Our apartment at the Royal Road Residence was perfectly situated. Although we only dealt with the female owner, she was absolutely lovely. However, in a pamphlet left in our apartment, we found out she’s a student and unavailable for the majority of the day. This didn’t bother us, since the apartment came with everything we could’ve possibly wanted and more. The wonderful accommodations only continued my love affair with Prague.
Little did I know how my new partner would treat me the next day. The snow started to become like an icy blanket and the wind whipped across the river.
My toes were just about frozen as we did the Sandeman’s Free Walking Tour. These tours are free of charge, but tipping is “encouraged,” in other words, you pay a nominal fee.
The tour covered some of the most important historical sites in the city: Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square and the Old Jewish Quarter. Our guide, Colin, a Scottish man led to Prague by his lover, told us a few more sights we couldn’t miss.
IMPRESSIONS CHANGE
My impression of Prague changed later that night, after a relatively average meal at an Italian restaurant called Pizzeria Giovanni.
While we hadn’t seen many other tourists on our first night, the second night changed my opinion. The Clock Tower Bar Crawl hosts some of the rowdiest crowds around. I would not endorse it, by any means.
Mostly Americans and Spaniards grouped together to guzzle down as much alcohol as they could fit into a 90-minute time span. Our favorite Prague haunt, Bohemia Bagel, was transformed into somewhat of a pub
Female Bush, DJ, plays accompanied by a live singer at Club Roxy.
The first club we arrived at was Chapeau Rouge, which study abroaders tend to recommend. The blaring techno and the cigarette smoke were overwhelming, as well as the stench of illegal activity. My first instinct was to run out the door and luckily, an hour later, we all left.
The next stop was Nebe, a club located in the basement of a mall. It was reminiscent of London clubs. The music was all American pop and hip hop and the decor was more sophisticated than at Chapeau Rouge. The calmer atmosphere and absence of drugs was comforting.
We then headed out to Roxy, where the club scene from “Eurotrip” was filmed. A large stage with a female DJ, known as BUSH, and a live singer brought us into a trance. The new wave techno seemed to cause the crowd to sway.
Well, that is, except for the locals. My friends and I decided to imitate their moves and it was the most fun we had all night. We spun in circles, rolled our hands around and jumped around. It’s beyond me why Roxy needed a bar, when you can have just as much fun imitating the people around you.
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
The next morning, my friend and I decided test out our tour guide’s advice about Prague Castle from the day before. He’d told us that the castle tour wasn’t worth it because if “you’ve seen once castle, you’ve seen ‘em all.” We refused to believe it. The tour guide’s motivations were clear: to get people from the free tour onto a paying tour.
This cathedral at Prague Castle took over 600 years to complete.
We proved him wrong. As my friend and I climbed up from the metro, we took in the vast view below us. The beautiful architecture of Old Town Square and the river lining the old buildings was enthralling. We bought a short tour ticket, which is 125 koruna for students. At about 18 kornua per dollar, that’s approximately $6.94.
This allowed us to see the Old Royal Palace, Basilica of St. George and take a stroll down the Golden Lane, which ends at the torture chamber. It was worth every penny.
The palace was a completely different style than that of Western Europe. Coats of arms painted on the ceiling and colorful displays are a far cry from the gray and stony castles of England. The Basilica of St. George featured well-preserved frescoes that rival the ones found in Italy.
The cathedral in the center of the Prague Castle complex, which can be seen from miles away, is free to enter and well-worth the visit. Stained glass leave different altars bathed in pinks, reds, blues and greens. While the royal crypt was closed, some of the more lavish tombs are spectacular in their workmanship. One of them boasts silver angels flying in the air to hold curtains above a silver coffin and silver statues.
My friend and I made our way down the Golden Lane, which is a bunch of small doors leading into shops that cater to tourists. The climax of the lane is the torture chamber, where prisoner cages and pitchforks used to prod prisoners lay. Chains in the shape of a human body hang from the ceiling above a pit, where the accused were left to die.
As we walked up the narrow, stone stairs, my friend and I took in the panoramic view before us of Prague. The city in its entirety is beautiful, skirting the river with very few modern structures. It’s breathtaking, to say the least.
My friend and I then attempted to find the John Lennon Wall. After figuring out that we were in section five of the city, we realized we’d walked the completely wrong way and had missed the wall. We found our way to the Charles Bridge and asked a man advertising a river cruise, who told us a shortcut.
This shortcut, from the left-hand side of the bridge, led us over another tiny bridge filled with security locks, where couples had professed their love to each other and sealed it with a lock. Prague doesn’t immediately come off as a romantic city, but after we saw one couple sealing the deal, our minds changed.
The Lennon Wall is always changing, however, since people come to paint and write every day. The tribute to the former Beatles member is moving, with poetry, peace signs and even paintings of the man.
NIGHT OUT IMPRESSIONS
In London, there isn’t much of a chance for us to go out for a nice meal, but at Bed, which has been featured in “Sex and the City,” my friends and I paid for more than just a meal. We got to have the experience of eating at one of the only concept restaurants I’ve seen where you must take your shoes off.
Bed offers a unique dining experience from other restaurants in Prague.
We got to lean against pillows and recline, as the new wave techno drove the lights to change different colors. The atmosphere was relaxing and our meal was excellent. The menu was not large, but offered a selection of Italian-style dishes. In the traditional European style, we were not rushed through our meal and were allowed to sink into the beds and converse about the day.
Our next stop was a wine bar, known as Usudu. As you go downstairs deeper and deeper into the cellar, the atmosphere becomes more relaxed. The wine was inexpensive and the best I’ve had since I went to Italy several years ago. Although the Czech Republic is known for its beer consumption and the manufacture of Pilsner Urquell, the local wine isn’t too shabby.
When we attempted to head off to Radost FX, where Rihanna filmed part of the music video for “Please Don’t Stop The Music,” we were halted by the words “cover charge.” Be warned, the cover in Prague is similar to the cover in London: very expensive. My friends and I then decided it was time to head back to our apartment and get some sleep before another full day.
THE DAY THAT LEFT QUITE THE IMPRESSION
We woke up on Sunday to see blue skies and sunlight, a first that weekend. My friends and I grabbed a quite bite to eat in Old Town Square. The crepes were rich and almost too much to handle, but still delicious.
We then walked down toward the Old Jewish Quarter, which we’d learned, Hitler didn’t destroy to leave as a “museum to the dead race.” As grotesque as the reason, the Josefov Quarter is filled with beautiful synagogues, including the oldest functioning synagogue in Europe today, as well as the home of the Golem.
I’ve been to far more churches than synagogues in Europe and I expect to pay an entry fee. I was surprised when we entered the “Old-New” Synagogue and we were waved through by a small elderly woman. The architecture was somewhat Gothic and the feeling was very, very old.
The John Lennon Wall is the only place in Prague where it's legal to write on a wall.
The attic is sealed off, after rumor has it that a Nazi soldier disappeared when he was sent to verify the Golem did not exist. The legend is spattered all over the Jewish Quarter, with figurines and restaurants boasting the monster’s name.
We then headed back to the Lennon Wall to sign it. Bring a marker to Prague because for some reason, they’re difficult to find. The cold began to rush through my body and I decided until dinner, that was it for touring.
We went to a place in Wenceslas Square, or New Town, that simply advertised itself as “Restaurant.” I am no fan of authentic Czech cuisine. The heavy goulash and rubbery sausages left me wanting for something else. This was a turning point for our “perfect trip.”
We left for the airport early, only to sit there for three hours waiting to see our assigned gate. It didn’t show up and we began to get nervous, which was rightfully so, since EasyJet had cancelled the flight without informing a single passenger until 2.5 hours until after it was supposed to take off.
Around midnight, our flight finally got called to the transfers and refunds desk and we were given a meal ticket and a voucher for a room at the Courtyard Marriott across the street.
As students, we were livid. We were bound to miss our classes the next day, which is strictly forbidden. There was nothing we could do. We sent an e-mail to our professors apologizing about the situation and later that day, the school sent another.
As people, the treatment was unfair, since there wasn’t a single EasyJet employee working at the airport. Only a third-party service dealt with the passengers and even they had no idea what was going on with our flight.
LAST IMPRESSIONS
After a lovely, but unwanted stay at the Marriott, my friends and I headed back to the airport for our supposed 2:00 p.m. flight. When we arrived, the boards said, “expected 17:20.” We all were speechless for a minute. Not only were we cancelled, but we were delayed.
The anger bubbled up inside of me and surged as I complained to an employee who would not allow us to fly on another airline. The British people on the flight with us demanded every cancellation in writing, but admitted that EasyJet was unlikely to give us a refund. The supervisor at the airport nearly ran away after a several people confronted her about the misinformation that kept coming our way.
The view of Prague Airport from the Marriott EasyJet put us up in for the night after our flight was cancelled.
Finally, at 4:30, we were given a gate and allowed to proceed through security. As soon as the tow truck pulled the plane to the gate, the entire room jumped into line. For half an hour, we all sat and waited impatiently to finally get back to London.
The flight took off on time and the pilot explained that the plane had a technical problem. When they’d ordered the part from Heathrow Airport, the airport sent the wrong one. By the time they fixed the problem and got to Prague, the crew was over the allotted legal time they had been flying. They therefore needed the minimum amount of resting time, which pushed our flight up from its original slot.
Moral of the story: don’t take the last flight out. It’s not worth the hassle. Two and a half days is enough time to see a city the size of Prague. While it’s less money to fly out later, you pay for it dearly in stress.
While Prague was truly spectacular, the flight left us grateful to touch back down on English soil.
[...] Our EasyJet flight arrived from Luton Airport delayed, but the ease with which we went through customs and found the Metro was the complete opposite from the Prague fiasco. [...]