Prague, Prag, Praha

Last weekend was Pfingstsonntag (Pentecost Sunday) here in Germany so Monday was a Feiertag (holiday or literally celebration day). We decided to extend the long weekend by taking Friday off as well, and headed to Prague for a Slavic adventure.

As a Cold War kid, I have never had much interest in visiting Eastern Europe. My negative bias against it was solidified by a visit to Lenningrad (St Petersberg) when I was about 10. It was the height of the cold war and we were greeted at the bottom of our cruise ship’s gang plank by Soviet soldiers carrying machine guns. They ushered us onto a bus for a very closely monitored ride through empty streets while the tour guide railed on about the glorious Soviet Union. I don’t remember much more than that, but my Dad reminded me recently that the experience scared the sh_t out of me.

In considering a trip to Prague, I was subliminally comforted by the revelation that it was the capital of the German Holy Roman Empire in 1355 under Charles IV. My interest was further peaked when I learned that Prague is one of the few European capitals which was not bombed during WWII. The final factor that encouraged a visit is its proximity to Berlin; it is only a 4-5 hour train ride. Danielle was excited about the prospect (she harbored none of my irrational hesitation) so we booked our Deutsche Bahn train tickets, found a cheap apartment online and headed out on our first trip to Eastern Europe.

There is quite a bit of speculation about where the word Slav came from. One theory is that it derives from the word slověne (people who speak the same language). And what an unusual language it is. The spelling and pronunciation are unlike any of the ones we are familiar with (Spanish, French, Italian, German, English)… their common Latin roots make them somewhat intelligible, but Czech? Forget it. We did not even learn the basics of please and thank you despite vain attempts. The only word I learned was Pivo (beer).. more on that in a minute.

The train ride to Prague was amazingly pretty. We started off cruising through the familiar landscape of Brandenburg, flat as a pancake. It gradually changed from forest to farmland. The fields were dominated by huge swaths of yellow rapeseed flowers. Rapeseed is the primary crop used in the production of biodiesel here in Germany. It is an illuminating example of a government policy with excellent intentions and horrible results. In order to make biodiesel competitive with petrodiesel, the government waived all of the mineral oil and environmental taxes on it and reduced the value added taxes. These taxes accounted for more than half the cost of petrodiesel according to a USDA study from 2002. The cost to produce petrodiesel was 225 euros per 1000 liters, the VAT was 111 euros and the mineral oil taxes were 440 euros! Producing the biodiesel cost 530 euros, but without the taxes, wahla, it was cheaper. The problem is that the farmers switched to growing rapeseed instead of food crops. This led to a 15% rise in dairy prices and nearly a 20% rise in wheat prices here last year. So these pretty yellow fields have a controversial side. Here is an excellent summary of the EU’s biofuel policies. www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2007/m07040.pdf

The train ride through farm fields ended when we arrived in Dresden. As you may know, Dresden was almost completely destroyed by allied fire bombing during WWII. The city was rebuilt by the DDR and is an absolutely beautiful place now. It is hard to imagine the devastation, because the rebuilt historic buildings look so incredibly authentic. The Dresden Zwinger. The Frauenkirche Church, Semper Opera House and Royal Palace are just a few of the wonderful sights there. We had the pleasure of visiting Dresden with Dad in March, but did not stop again this time. Incidentally, Dresden comes from the Slavic name, Drežď, or “people from the riverside forest”. The train journey soon continued south and we entered the beautiful Elbe river valley.

The Elbe valley was a bit of a surprise. Mountains rose on both sides of the river with sharp cliffs and occasional pillar-like rock columns. Small villages were set into the side of the cliffs and clung to the edge of the languid river as it flowed placidly north. Occassionaly we caught a glimpse of and old monastery high above the valley. Absolutely gorgeous!

We were soon in Prague (or Praha as it is known there) and exchanged Euros for Czeck Koruna (crowns). Although Czech is part of the EU, they, like Britain and Denmark, chose to keep their own currency. There are about 25 Koruna to the Euro now, and we had a really tough time translating Koruna to Euros to Dollars as the money bled from our pockets. I had forgotten the joy of multiple currencies from my travels in Europe during college. It gave me new appreciation for the wonder of the Euro.

Prague is, as I mentioned, a very old city. It began to bloom on the western bank of the Elbe (called the Vltava there) around 900 AD. It lies in the valley of the curving river with lovely rolling hills rising up around it. On top of one of these hills the largest castle in the world towers over the city, crowned by the soring spires of its cathedral. The castle rests scenically between two beautiful parks. The smaller of the two on its north side is home to lovely formal gardens and a magnificent ball room building. The southern park is an expansive network of forest, trails and buildings (including a small version of the Eiffel Tower 60 meters tall know as the Petrin tower). This hill rises more steeply from the valley and is accessible with a funicular. Below the castle, ancient winding streets conceal small medievil houses.

This original part of the city is joined to the “newer” part on the eastern side of the Vltava by the Charles Bridge. The bridge was built during the reign of Charles IV around 1355 to unite the two parts of Prague. It stretches quite a distance and is graced by statue after statue depicting scenes from Christianity with a decidedly medieval flare ie: armor, swords, etc. It is beautiful. It is also constantly teeming with tourists and covered with vendors and artists. From the castle or the top of the Petrin tower the river of swirling tourists crosses the bridge in a never ending stream. Tourist tour boats move slowly up and down the Vltava river and an eclectic combination of buildings blend together gothic, romantic, rococo and modern. Frank Geary even has a building there.

The city is easy to get around thanks to an excellent underground and modern comfortable street cars. It is also small enough that walking from one end to other (within the center) is not a problem at all. The city has a decidedly young feel to it. At times it felt a little like Florida during spring break. We went to one inexpensive pizza restaurant and every table was filled by a gaggle of American college kids. Someone told us that they were medical students, that's a scary thought.

Apparently the second largest tourist group after American students is young British guys having bachelor parties. They come for the cheap and excellent beer (and other things, wink, wink, nudge, nudge) and leave a wake of drunken destruction. They are so bad, apparently, that pubs have signs saying “Please no groups of drunken British men allowed”.

Drunken men were one of the few drawbacks of our visit. Our apartment was on a noisy street just above a fast food joint (Kebabs) and we heard the sloshed shouts of men until 4 or 5 in the morning. Ah well, when in Prague…

I have to say, they have good reason to drink. The beer is fantastic and very cheap. My personal favorite was a yeast beer we had (Danielle and me.. Jack and Cam will have to wait). It was at the Staropramen bewery and was like nectar from the gods. It gave new meaning to Benjamin Franklin’s quote, “Beer is proof that God loves us”. Speaking of quotes, we saw a beauty at a café in Prague. It is from Mark Twain.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.”