Prague is a beautiful, enchanting city. Okay, so the Old part of Prague is beautiful. The newer part, which is still emerging from the effects of communism, is rather drab.
We drove right to the center of Prague in the mid-morning without encountering any traffic. It's a national holiday today, and Prague looks like a ghost town. That is, until you get to the Palace and surrounding tourist areas. The entire population of the globe was on the streets of the old town. We saw many beautiful sites in Prague today, but if you ask us what we saw, we will say tourists.
The temperature was in the 90's today, so we found it necessary to stop in many pubs during our site seeing to quench our thirst. In the Czech Republic, even in Prague, we were challenged to spend more than $4 U.S. Dollars on a full meal. Beer was 50 cents or less for a half liter, where water or coke was 75 cents for .25 liter. How can you argue with the economics? Pivo for everyone! We did learn that they price the gas at around $3.00 per gallon. So, you walk to the pub. You shouldn't drink and drive anyway.
We did get away from the tourists for a short time by taking the subway around. Prague's subway is probably the most modern looking, and the simplest subway we've seen on this trip. Another site was a Czech "Supermarket." That's more like Harrods than a grocery store. On one floor, they had a hardware store, sports store, clothing, vacuum cleaners and a copy center. 5 floors of variety, no waiting, few tourists. Also note, they had water with no gas!
The heat of the day made us tired quickly, so we headed back to the summer house for a late dinner and a rare treat. For the first time we heard authentic music from the Czech culture, as performed by Jiri and his wife. We didn't understand a word they sang, but it was fun to listen to.
If you ever head to the Czech Republic, and want to go outside Prague, we would highly recommend Jiri as a tour guide. They did genealogical research for us, drove us around, prepared dinner and breakfast, was our translator and we stayed in their house. Worth the money, and it doesn't cost much.
Some notes of reflection on the Czech Republic
This country is very much in transition. Over the past 10 years, since the fall of communism here, there have been drastic changes. Large cities like Prague have become more popular for tourists and western influence. But when you get out of the large cities, into the country, the simple life prevails. Everyone has gardens, and greenhouses, and farming is still a very big. Processed foods are not as popular, and there isn't a McDonald's on every corner. The village we stayed in had one pay phone for the whole village at a corner grocery store. Yet with all the simplicity of the country, you see drainage pipes being laid along side the roads, new rails put in and new power and phone lines being constructed everywhere. One of the last frontiers of simplicity is being consumed by convenience. If you want to see the culture, the real people, come here and spend some time in the countryside. Check out the cities, but be daring and different and get out to the family churches and pubs to get the real feel.
Things we learned from the Czech Republic
1. Free toilets. Yes, they may only be a drain in the corner, but they are free.
2. Roosters crow when the sun comes up, and every 2 minutes after that for the rest of the day.
3. Don't even try to understand the language.
4. Not all tour guides come with subtitles.
5. Czech people are as warm and hospitable as any Iowan.
6. Always take a native if you venture outside Prague.
7. Phones are hard enough to find. You have to really look for Internet connections - we didn't find one.
