Prague

Prague by Neil McCall

In the summer of 1956 a young man defied the Soviet curfew and ventured
on to the streets of Budapest to try to obtain bread at one of the few
bakeries still functioning during the Hungarian uprising. He found
himself dodging bullets from Russian tanks and, haunted by the bodies
of those less fortunate lying in the city streets, vowed to leave the
country that same evening. He escaped across the border to Austria, and
was shipped onwards to Britain; he is now my father-in-law. Around ten
years later he returned to visit family with his wife and young
daughter; for this he not only had to obtain a visa but, as a (very
minor) civil servant needed British government consent for the journey,
which involved a ferry and several train journeys, one of which was
overnight. Fortunately the Hungarian authorities respected his British
passport and let him enter and leave freely, so he repeated the visit
by car when he became slightly more affluent in the seventies. This was
a nightmare journey involving several changes of currency and having to
sleep in the car which broke down in Germany, plus having the vehicle
virtually stripped at the Hungarian border in a search for drugs,
pornography or (worst of all) subversive political literature. This,
then, is the background for my first journey behind the former iron
curtain in May 2004.

It was a surprise 50th birthday present, my wife having booked flights
and hotel on the Internet way back in January; BMIBaby have gone in for
Prague in a big way, flying from each of their five regional airports
for next to nothing, whilst a suburban hotel was offering bed and
breakfast online at ?30 per night for two. So, at that price, could it
go wrong? Well, Prague airport was impressive; the luggage appeared on
the carousel in record time whilst the EU passport was barely glanced
at. Forewarned about opportunist taxi drivers, we shared a minibus with
another couple for a fixed rate of around ?10 per couple.

The hotel was in Holesovice, an inner-city suburb well-served by tram,
and could be located down a side street next to the Telecom building.
It also functioned as a youth hostel ? is this beginning to sound a bit
grim? Well, not a bit of it; the hotel was modern, clean and
comfortable, offered decent food at reasonable prices and was extremely
quiet at night. The whole area was quiet in fact; a few shops and bars,
ATM machines and the Pivni Galerie, an excellent establishment devoted
to the more obscure Czech beers which could be bought off-licence style
or sampled in an adjoining bar.

On the first morning we walked to the Metro station, asking directions
from a pair of very helpful policemen, and purchased three-day tickets
for the local transport system, which was extremely efficient and
reliable. We then set off to explore. We did most of the obvious
touristy things such as the castle and the Old Town square - home to
the most evil-looking church I've ever seen, clearly designed not for
the glory of God or to beautify the city but to give two fingers to
anyone who dared question its spiritual (and temporal) authority. But
the city is full of beautiful buildings, and Tyn Church is ...
remarkable at least.

The less touristy things were, as usual, the most fun, notably eating
out in local pubs. Czech pub food is very far removed from the
portion-controlled pre-packaged slop which some places get away with in
Britain; in Prague, you get a dead pig, prepare it in various ways then
hack off huge chunks and serve with cabbage and dumplings.
Brilliant - though not all pubs have English menus and we had to use a
phrase book in one instance! We also had a sausage lunch at a caf? not
far from the funicular railway; this was also excellent, as was the
starter which was described on the menu as "tripe soup"; the waiter,
who, like most Czechs in the service sector, spoke very good English,
was suddenly at a strange loss for words when asked to outline the
contents of the soup - I suspect it was the few internal bits of the
pig left over from the attentions of the pub and the sausage
producers!

On our last evening we went to the opera - for less than ?10 per head
at the capital's opera house! - and ate out at the adjoining restaurant
Zahrada v opere. This was a fantastic experience, some of the
best-presented food I've ever enjoyed at bargain prices - we stuffed
ourselves for less than ?15 per head. It was also great to be able to
pop into a bar for a couple of late-night beers for less than a pound;
a country in which real ale is cheaper than coca-cola must have
something going for it.

Coming back was also a doddle - nobody bothered about the huge number
of bottles secreted about our persons, and it was ironical to stroll
through the airport formalities as a citizen of an EU state whilst the
former Russian masters had to stand in queues to be interrogated.
Debbie, who of course had previous experience of Budapest, thought that
Czech women still dressed very drably, but I can't say I agree, as I
never find mini-skirts with side splits the least bit drab.

So it's a thumbs-up for Prague - I couldn't find a single thing to
fault the place, and tourists are flocking by the thousand. So go, and
go soon - now that the Czech Republic is in the EU it may not be a
bargain much longer!