Have you been to Prague? You should!
Written: Dec 24 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful Disney-like architecture, still cheap, friendly people
Cons: too many tourists in the summer
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| AlexG's Full Review: Prague |
Prague reminded me of Disneyland--stunningly beautiful architecture and crowds of people everywhere. Prague in the summer is swarmed with tourists like an anthill with ants. One can hardly walk in the center of Prague without bumping into somebody. Prague is a beautiful city, no doubt, but it simply cannot handle so many tourists infesting its streets, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Big cities, like London and Paris, though also overrun by tourists in the summer, are not even remotely close to Prague as far as density is concerned.
Even though Prague is a relatively big city (1.2 million people), all the places of interest are conveniently located within a radius of several kilometers. The powerful Prague Castle with its gracious St. Vitus Cathedral inside, the touristy Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square with its Disneyland-like towers and a famous astronomical clock are certainly worth a visit.
It's hard to find a good place to eat in the center of Prague. Because of the sea of tourists, the prices are unreasonably inflated (by Eastern European standards), and the food quality and service suffer too. I can recommend a good place for lunch/dinner in the Jewish Quarter, away from the crowds--the Jewish kosher restaurant "Jerusalem." It is very informal, the food is very good and very inexpensive--perfect for a budget traveler.
A few words about Prague’s Jewish Quarter, which includes the area with a variety of monuments, synagogues and the cemetery all of which comprise the Prague Jewish Museum. The Old Jewish Cemetery is one of the oldest in the world; the oldest grave is dated to 1437 (if you think about it, that's before Columbus discovered the New World.), and by 1787 (when the cemetery stopped being used), the cemetery became so crowded that burials were carried out one on top of the other, as many as 12 layers! It is a cruel irony that many of the artifacts of the Prague Jewish Museum were brought from various corners of Czech republic to Prague by the Nazis, who wanted to create a "museum of an extinct people." Nowadays, only about 1000 Jews live in Prague, which made me think that it's most likely less than the number of Jewish tourists visiting Prague on any given day.
The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Prague souvenirs is CRYSTAL. I thought long and hard about buying something made of Bohemian Crystal, which is sold on every corner in Prague, but in the end I rejected that thought. The problem is that the crystal sold in most tourist stores is cheap and not of very good quality. A good quality crystal is very expensive (try Moser’s store for that).
Charles Bridge on a warm summer evening is perhaps the most touristy place one can find in Europe. If you are up for dancing or for just a great glass of beer, club “Lavka” adjacent to the Charles Bridge is a very popular place, and is a very good mix of young locals and tourists. Check it out.
And if you want a break from the crowds of Prague, I recommend taking a day trip to Kutna Hora, about 1 hour away by train. Please check out my review of Kutna Hora on epinions.com
Alex.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
AlexG
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 130
Trusted by: 237 members
About Me:
Alex has a voracious appetite for travel. Travel hasn't satisfied an appetite. It's created one.
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