Prague
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Prague,
Bohemia,
Czech Republic
Saturday, July 12, 2008
What an awesome city! We drove from Berlin to Prague, via Dresden, which was a very pleasant stop, with its cathedrals, castles, and public areas. We actually spent a few hours in Dresden just walking around, seeing the buildings that at one time held the royal jewels, and also making a quick visit to a Volkswagen factory, which was highlighted by a simulator in which the boys could drive on the autobahn with a car capable of surpassing 180mph. I hope that there is no re-creation on the streets in town upon our return.
We fell head over heels for the capital of the Czech Republic. The city is crowded, but the public transport allowed us to reach the Old and New Town areas easily, and everything was very pedestrian-friendly. After touring the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral (where we thought we'd get a chance to fight off a pick-pocket - some pre-teen was scoping us out for the better part of an hour and we were convinced that we'd need Zack and Andy to mete out justice, but we discovered his parents were just telling the kid to walk around so that he wouldn't bother them, and he was enamored with the young movie star among us) and doing a little guided walking tour, we were on our own. As we wandered through some gardens, Grey met a duck that he couldn't resist chasing, and we found a dinosaur on a wall. Grey danced in a public garden, much to the delight of some Japanese tourists who filmed him (and who just stared at his feet) afterward.
The tourist areas were packed, but once you got away from them (which wasn't hard), there was charm and many values to be found. We ran into some boys from Minnesota who were following the same itinerary as us, and we must have seen them four or five times the first day. A wonderful marketplace (hundreds of fresh food stands occupying a few consecutive city blocks, just behind the clock tower square) provided healthy meals, OK just snacks for the boys, including the best cherries we'd ever tasted. A little more walking took us through the Jewish Quarter and then Old Town. Walking through alleys and even the main thoroughfares, along the river to the New Town, the kids had a great time discovery all sorts of shops, admiring the architecture (Prague was barely touched structurally during WWII), and trying to converse with the friendly people we encountered.
The food is excellent, the people nice, and the scenery amazing. It was fun watching the kids try to figure out currency exchange, get lost and then figure out that the Vltava River (and the Charles Bridge) could lead them home, and also navigate the public transportation system. We walked the streets until late in the evenings, observing the changing nature of the city as the lights illuminated the streets. While the hotel was on the outskirts of town, there were a number of other students there, so the boys had fun meeting lots of people and playing cards in the lobby (until quite late at night). We did walk around the neighborhood one evening, and the kids were amazed that the hotel was located in what we would call a middle-class area; apparently they think of their homes as middle-class!?!
Members of a German youth symphony stayed at our hotel, the kids hung out with them in the evenings, and we saw them perform in the Cathedral one morning - making acquaintances from other cultures was somewhat eye-opening for the boys. I actually think Jack and Quinn decided that he needed to learn to speak German (in Prague, which we had to be reminded is not in Germany) during our days there! The boys also started to hang out with some of the boys from Minnesota (one of whom had a sister who studied here during college, so he was able to point us toward some cool areas) and the food was just terrific. The Minnesota boys went out for dinner with us in Mala Strana and Old Town, and that was a lot of fun as stories were told and new friendships seem to be developing among the boys. Prague was magnificent and we could have stayed an extra few days without any complaints.
Prague has set a high standard for the rest of this trip!
