Travelogue: Prague October 23-26, 1997

A visit to Prague by Laurie's great uncle and aunt was all the excuse we needed to spend a long weekend there. Selma and Chaim spent two weeks there, in the middle of which we visited for 3 or 4 days.

It ended up being a busy weekend full of adventure, interesting people and intriguing places. There is never enough time in 2 1/2 days to visit any city properly, and that is particularly true of Prague. There are many things we missed, either because we didn't have the time or the weather didn't cooperate. We hope to go back someday!

Although we have often taken overnight trains to reach our destinations, we went one step further and travelled to Prague in a sleeper car, rather than a simple couchette. It made such a big difference not to have to share the compartment with any others and to have a little private sink and mirror at our disposal. It was well worth the extra cost! It meant that we arrived in Prague far more refreshed than our previous overnight trips. After eventually finding the hotel - we had left the name and address hotel at home and spent about one hour in the train station toiling with currency exchange and phone card acquisition - we settled in to assess and contribute to Selma and Chaim's injuries.

Laurie and I enjoyed the magical city of Prague. We spent a lot of time roaming around the streets on both sides of the river. The winding irregular streets lined with a vast array of architecture and gilded statues make it as easy to spend the whole day exploring as it is to get lost. Fortunately we did more of the former! We saw the astronomical clock in the Old Town Square, strolled around the old Jewish neighborhood, crossed the Charles Bridge, and went up to the Castle. While we didn't make it to the Opera, we did spend one evening at a black light theatre. Although we enjoyed the show, we later discovered that it was one of many copies of the original and apparently well known "Laterna Magica". If you go, I would suggest the original. (It didn't help that our rather "uncouth" fellow audience members refused to understand either the requests not to take photos, or the idea that taking photos completely ruined the effect for the entire audience!) On Saturday night, we enjoyed an evening at home with some acquaintences in Prague. Finally, before leaving on Sunday morning, we toured the Jewish Museum.

We spent much of the ride home sitting across from a freelance photo-journalist of Norwegian origin. He was very interesting with all the stories and places he has seen (including having recently finishing a 6 month tour working with UN Forces in the middle east). One of the things I found the most interesting, however, was his age -- or should I say his youth. He was only about the same age as us, or younger, something that seemed to me not to fit with a photo-journalist who had travelled the world. He got his start at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics where he also managed to get a photo in Time magazine.