Pubs, Cafes and Coffee Shops

My best friend first visited Prague in 2001. "It was so cheap and untouched and non-touristy", he said. Another friend recently toured Europe and she said it was her favorite city. Another friend has gone back time and again. Everything you read says it is THE city to go to in Europe. I didn't find it as such and I don't quite understand why. I did not find it all that cheap. And the tourists. The fucking tourists! I know the Charles Bridge is the most touristy part of the city, but my God I could barley get across.

And it wasn't just the tourists, it was the cab driver and the waitress who ripped me off, the guy who tried to pick pocket my father. Now I am not one of those people who want everything to be like home. When I go somewhere I want to experience the culture. I think that was my issue with it. It was SO overtly and shamelessly touristy. Paris is filled with tourists but I did not feel it so crushingly as I did here. My thought was Prague has not been doing long enough. Capitalism has only been here for 20 years or so. They are not as good at it as Paris. I had the same gripe with Venice but I got swept up in the romance of Venice and was not able to do that here. Maybe it is because of the cold history of the Communist, I don't know. Our hotel was a recommended "Rick Steve's" special with a South American theme. That did not help me find that uniquely Czech experience.

The buildings were beautiful. The castle was amazing but I could not get past the hordes of people. I was struck by how beautiful this city was at night. Our walk to the castle at 10:30 at night was the best time we spent there. The reduction of people (although there were a lot) and a bottle of Czech wine didn't hurt either. We found a great bar on a dead side street right off of one of the main streets. It was in a vaulted cellar. We had some nice Czech beer and enjoyed the unique setting. All in all a good night.

That was the thing about my time there. It seemed to be full of contradictions. On one hand, we seemed to be targets of scams or pick pockets at every turn. However, the nicest people we met in either Germany or Czech Republic were the staff at our hotel and restaurant. While the buildings were preserved from war they were over-run with graffiti and tourist traps. There was a lot I was liked but I was not enjoying myself. I guess that is how it goes sometimes.

Our driver (another really outstanding person), told us on the way to the train station (that is a whole other topic for a post) that the end of September is the high tourist season and it is over run. That got me to thinking. Should I judge this place, who many people I relate to love, on this one experience? I think not. I like to travel in off-season, so during November it may be a totally different experience. Also, it was at the end of my trip and we had done big cities. They are beautiful, but you start to become used to it. Sad, maybe, but true. I was with my father and Prague seems to be a great time for younger people. And we were not there long enough to really get to know it.

But more than anything else, I wonder if I was looking for something that doesn't exist. Maybe I wanted the local culture to be something it is not. I was looking for an old world experience that may not exist. Sure, the buildings are hundreds of years old, but what about the culture. The people we spoke to don't usually go to traditional Czech restaurants. There are a lot of hip young beautiful people who like to go out and a lot of the get their income from serving the tourists who flock. They seem to be looking to the future, not the past.

Will I go back? Hopefully, although it is not at the top of my list. Upon returning to Germany I blamed all those who told me how great Prague was and how that was where I had to go over any where else. But now I think I didn't really know enough about the Czech culture, history and people. For that I have only myself to blame.