Prague: A Bohemian Dreamland
People use fancy words to describe Prague’s beauty, but words failed me when I visited it. It has many personalities and I was not at all prepared for what it had to offer. While I also loved its quirky side, it lived up to its reputation of being a cultural wonderland. Since it is one of the cheaper destinations in Europe, we had a luxurious trip to this paradise!
We learnt a lot about Czech Republic in this trip, and I’ve written more about it here. Our first stop in Prague was the Old Town Square. It is adorned with many architectural marvels, each more impressive than the other. It looked like a carefully preserved page from a fairy tale, the kind where a prince and his princess live happily ever after! I was not at all surprised to know that the Týn Church was one of the sources of inspiration for the Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom1. Walking through the Old Town with my partner on a sunny day was nothing short of a dream: a very very real fairy tale!
Left to Right: Old Town Hall and the Astronomical Clock
Old Town Square
We kept coming back to the Old Town Square in the next days of our trip (can you blame us?). It is certainly the cultural highlight of Prague, and we have some fond memories there: from meeting Punekar uncles at a Starbucks to watching the Astronomical clock show at night. And how can I forget the most memorable one: our first rooftop bar experience! The universe kept us grounded by serving us thunderstorms as we ordered drinks at the most instagrammable rooftop bar in all of Prague! Sigh, that is life; rather, that is Europe :P
The Old Town is connected to the Lesser Town by the Charles Bridge. This bridge was constructed in the 15th century and is certainly the life of Prague! We walked along it in the morning, noon and at sunset; having missed out on sunrise purely on account of laziness. Everytime we went there it was full of tourists, musicians, artists, hawkers and almost reminded me of the evenings we spent at Marine Drive (Mumbai)! The bridge has thirty intricate statues and it forms a beautiful landscape over the Vltava river.
Charles Bridge
One of the biggest highlights of the Lesser Town is the Prague Castle. I’ll be honest here: I didn’t find it aesthetically pleasing at first glance. This may be an unpopular opinion, but the fusion of Gothic and non-Gothic architecture looked a little odd to me (I like symmetry, remember?). The Castle is easy to notice from the other side of Charles Bridge and it’s evidently huge. It is the largest ancient castle in the whole world, and is roughly the size of seven football fields! We spent half a day exploring the Castle and left early only because the weather took a turn for the worse. It is very easy to spend a couple of days exploring the premises, if the weather Gods smile down on you on all days of your trip :)
Prague Castle
I kept noticing a tower on a hill, and it looked like an Eiffel Tower replica. We took a cable car (included in public transportation pass) to reach the Petrin tower and I only hoped my fear of heights wouldn’t spoil the day. After a long climb to the top, the universe rewarded us, and how! The weather cleared up for a bit, and we could see a Bohemian Dreamland underneath.
Left to Right: Petrin Tower and the view from above
At every bend, Vltava bowed in front of Prague’s beauty. The little clouds ran away in excitement, maybe to tell the world what they had witnessed. It was difficult to look away. The Old Town overwhelmed the little girl in me, and this view left the poet in me speechless! It was everything I had heard of, dreamt of and so much more.
I procrastinated writing these articles under the pretext of being preoccupied with work. In reality, I felt that writing about Prague would officially mark the end of one of the best summers of my life. I feel extremely lucky to have gotten the chance to travel to this paradise with my favorite person. Until we both cling onto the souvenirs, memories and the fun adventures Europe gave us, the summer will never end, right?