Awh man, where do I start with Prague? It has a romance about it; not like Paris (I’m assuming) or Barcelona, but something sophisticated and old. Something more hardy and proud. Clothed in cobblestones; written in a language I do not speak. It quickly became one of my favorite cities.
We did so many things while we were there; our days were packed. We went on a dinner river cruise on the Vltava and a tour of the Jewish Quarter. We walked through the Prague Castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral, took photos on the Charles Bridge, got coffee at Café Louvre, spent time exploring an Easter Market and ate at another delicious burger place with the cutest French waitress. We took a Taxi to the mall so I could go into Pull and Bear (which is just British Forever 21 but I still love it), froze half to death, went fur shopping (jokes, I’m way too poor for that), made the mistake of wearing Heels on cobblestones, and went to an Opera.
We stayed in a typical hostel; tucked away in a shadowed entry-way and up a flight of stairs. It was the nicest one, though. Our room had 12-foot ceilings, and 6-foot windows that overlooked the street. Each night we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of taxicabs and after-dinner conversations.
On the first full day in Prague we went on a tour of the Jewish Quarter. We had a guide who walked us through several different synagogues and museums. The most interesting and most powerful synagogue was almost entirely empty of furnishings, but every wall, floor to ceiling, was covered in hand-written names; names of the 78,000 Czech-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Outside of that synagogue was, in my opinion, the most interesting part of the tour; the Old Jewish Cemetery. This particular cemetery was one of the most desirable places to be buried, but since it is only the size of a city block, they started running out of room. However, they wanted to continue burying people there, so they started to bury people on top of one another; by bringing in more dirt and layering. In some sections of the cemetery the bodies are layered 8-10 deep. The tombstones are stacked on one another; falling over, pushing, shoving and vying for room like saplings on the forest floor.
A smaller group of us went to the castle and cathedral that afternoon. Prague castle isn’t a fairy-tale castle like Neuschwanstein. It is basically a walled compound on top of the hill with some things inside of it; one of which being a cathedral. And I know I ranted about cathedrals (and this one in particular) in a previous post, but seriously. If you’re in Prague you have to go to St. Vitus Cathedral. The exterior is decorated with gothic carvings of gargoyles and ornate columns, all the pieces pointing upwards to the heavens. In the interior the ceilings are 108 ft. high and the floors are marble. The stained glass is exquisite. It took 600 years to complete and is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
That night we went to the Opera Turandot, by Puccini. I went into the whole experience not knowing what to expect; I’ve never even seen any type of musical or professionally done play, but it was so amazing. The story was captivating, the singers were fabulous, everyone there was elegant, classy and beautiful (I swear, Europeans are so gorgeous). The Opera house was stunning; red carpets and velvet seats, with gold gilding on the ceilings and framing the stage. The ceiling was covered in a massive renaissance style painting, with a chandelier hanging from the center. The whole night was magical, and it was my favorite thing we did on the entire trip.
There are so many beautiful things in Prague and I feel that we didn’t even catch half of them in the couple of days we were there. It’s a beautiful city with amazing history and architecture, and class. For sure a must-visit in Eastern Europe.
My one main fashion recommendation for Prague is don’t wear heels. Everything. I mean EVERYTHING is cobblestone; sidewalks, streets, all of it. I wore them twice, I guess I enjoy pain . . . Just save yourself the trouble of a twisted ankle and wear some cute flats.
Aperture & Eloquence 