Throwback Thursday: June 21, 2018 – Prague, Czech Republic

Six years ago today I was in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, or Czechia as the country is sometimes called. Although Prague was accidentally bombed by the Allies in World War 2, much of the city survived and Prague thus has a wealth of historic buildings for visitors to see. Prague also has an advantage for many travelers in that it’s a much cheaper tourist destination when compared to other major European cities like London, Paris, or Barcelona—or at least, it was really cheap back when I visited. It wasn’t as cheap as my time in Budapest, but I felt like a prince in Prague, even on my modest budget. I arrived in Prague after visiting Munich and not long into my first day in town I was greeted by local wildlife in the form of a swarm of Czech Zombie Mosquitos. Thankfully I was able to escape them later on. What I never escaped, however, were the cobblestone streets that beat the daylight out of my feet. For whatever reason, cobblestone streets wear out my feet much faster than regular pavement. Prague’s cobblestone streets look great and add to the historic feel of the older parts of the city but Prague was probably second only to Paris in pushing the limits of how much strain my feet could withstand.

Prague was also was where I saw the continuation of an odd trend. The 2012 Euro Cup was going on while I was in Europe and it seemed I was the bringer of doom for the national team of whatever country I was in. Earlier in the trip, when I was in Croatia, the Croatian team lost. When I came to Prague the Czech team lost. Later, when I was in Berlin, the German team lost. Everywhere I went, the home team was defeated. It’s a good thing I wasn’t going to Spain or Italy after Germany because if they learned about the bad luck I brought to other countries’ teams they wouldn’t have let me in.

On my first full day in Prague I spent my entire time exploring the historic parts of the city on the east side of the Vltava River and on the second day I crossed the Charles Bridge to the west side. There I checked out the castle, St Vitus Cathedral, and a few other buildings before walking over to Petrin Hill. At the hill’s summit is Petrin Tower, which sort of looks like the uppermost part of the Eiffel Tower and if I remember correctly was built so that its top is at the same elevation as the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Up in the tower is an observation deck with expansive, though distant, views of the city, such as the one in today’s photo. On the left you can see Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral, and on the right you can see the Charles Bridge and some of the buildings around Old Town Square. My little point-and-shoot camera couldn’t capture a true panorama shot of the city but this still gives a fairly good idea of what Prague looks like.