I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit a number of cities around the world, many on business during my working days and others while traveling with my wife after I retired more than a decade ago. I’ve been to cities I enjoyed and others that I merely tolerated, cities that were clean and welcoming and others that were … well … let’s just say less clean and welcoming.
But we visited a city in 2022 that quickly moved into the group at the top of my favorites list — Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. The visit to the Czech Republic is the subject of my featured gallery for February.
We booked a Viking river cruise on the Elbe River, starting in Prague and ending in Berlin. Our itinerary included a few extra days in Prague with day trips to other locations in the Czech Republic before the cruise started.
I admit I knew little about Prague before we arrived.
I did know about Old Town Square, a large marketplace and gathering area in the Old Town section of the city. Most European cities have similar squares in their older sections. I knew about the Charles Bridge, a more- than-600-year-old structure crossing the Vltava River that was in several scenes of Mission Impossible, the 1996 movie with Tom Cruise that was filmed in Prague. I knew a little about the Prague astronomical clock, a more than 600-year-old medieval clock on Old Town Hall that tells the time, date, time of sunrise and sunset, shows the relative positions of the sun, moon, earth, and zodiac constellations, and chimes every hour as animated figurines move around the clock.
I also assumed that we would see a number of centuries-old churches like we have in other European cities.
I was impressed from our first moments in Prague. The city is vibrant, attractive, clean and very walkable, with a nice mixture of old, well-preserved architecture and more modern buildings. And Prague has a variety of excellent restaurants.
But most surprising, after our experience in other European cities, is that Prague is incredibly affordable. For instance, my wife and I joined two friends for dinner at a very nice restaurant a few blocks from Prague’s Old Town. My wife and I had appetizers, salad or soup, entrees, desserts and drinks. The food and service were excellent. The check for the two of us came to almost 1000 Czech Koruna … or about $41. That amount of cash wouldn’t cover drinks in Paris.
One of the day trips we made was to Kutna Hora, a town of about 22,000 in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The town center of Kutna Hora has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its outstanding architecture and its influence on subsequent architectural developments in other Central European cities. It was an interesting place for photography . and, yes, it did have a number of very old, photogenic churches.
We enjoyed the Czech Republic, especially our time in Prague.
I’d go back.
Credits:
Photos and text by Pat D. Hemlepp