Berlin, Prague

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10. Berlin, Prague

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Today I left Berlin just after 09:00 for the 4.5-hour ride to Prague. Thanks to Schengen, this is the first time I needed my passport since I arrived at Schipol (also, the Eurail pass doesn't work here, so you spend about €50 to cross the country). The subway here shows its Communist-era origins but is nice and efficient for getting into town from the main train station. Of course, I found a train about to leave and darted onto it without checking its direction — at least the odds were 50% (I lost). In the US this is a good idea, because you might be waiting a long time for the next one. But in Europe, I rarely waited for than two or three minutes for a subway. So, it makes sense to take your time and get the direction right, because you won't be waiting long even if you just missed one. At the train station I had to pick up some Czech currency, as they aren't yet on the Euro. I can't imagine how annoying this trip would have been before the Euro, with ten different currencies to deal with! As it was I only had to change money in Prague and Switzerland.

The Pension Unitas has a great location and an interesting history as a medieval nunnery and more recently as a Communist secret service prison! Needless to say, the rooms are a little drab, but fine — about €40 with shared bath, small but with very high ceilings. They say that the new low-cost European airlines have erased any low season in Prague, so you have to book long in advance. Lots of Brits here, and more than a few American tourists as well (more than any other place I'd been).

For the afternoon I took the tram across the river to the Modern Art Museum, which turned out to be one of my favorite museums in all of Europe, though hardly anyone goes to it. Very interesting Czech paintings, many of which were produced while the Iron Curtain was in place. I particularly liked a colorful painting of a bicycle which consisted of human organs, but I've now forgotten the artist's name (if anyone reads this and visits, let me know!). Lots of good public art on the streets of Prague, too, including some statues reflecting the oppression of the Communist state. And of course, the architecture everywhere is totally unique and fantastic.

Walking around the Charles Bridge is wonderfully atmospheric, provided you don't mind being surrounded by hordes of tourists. Prague is very touristy. But it is beautiful. Without all the tourists, Prague would have easily been one of my favorite places; with them, it's only middling (well, the competition is stiff in Europe). It's also difficult to meet interesting locals; there seem to be a lot of prostitutes about.

Czech food is also nothing much to write about; I'd rate it even worse than Dutch. I had a nice meal at Universal near the National Theater, but only because it was mostly French rather than Czech. One of the best things about the Unitas was that it turned out to be only two doors down the street from a lovely little bar called Friends, in the cellar of an old building. It even has free wireless! Here I talked with another opera director (seems to be a pattern), this time from Seattle, although I was not nearly as attentive as I would have liked because I was frantically trying to work on my Zaurus so that I could download photos onto it (flash cards were full). I had screwed up my console application (qkonsole) such that it didn't display any text; had to download a different one and use it to delete my bad qkonsole preferences. Fortunately it all worked out. People say Prague is cheap, but I didn't find this to be terribly true, with a few exceptions such as beer (typically €1).

Jonathan's Travel Blog :: Europe

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10. Berlin, Prague

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