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| Charles Bridge and Prague Castle |
I found Prague to be a very beautiful, interesting, friendly and lively city and I couldn’t
have picked a better destination to do my first solo travel in. Known for
its youthful energy and art nouveau facades, Prague is considered by many to be one of the
most beautiful cities in Europe. It was also
known for being one of the only cities to have survived the heavy bombings in the last century’s war.
So where do I begin? Well, I left Los Angeles on a Tuesday (November 6, 2006), jumped forward in time and arrived in Prague a day later in the evening of Wednesday (November 7, 2006). I had made prior transportation arrangements with an airport shuttle service to pick
me up and take me to my hotel (best thing I ever did).
Although I had read that the City has a pretty efficient public transit system, I decided that I wanted to stay centrally
located and within walking distance to all the major sites.
I found my hotel (Cloister Inn) from the Venere.com website and reserved a room for 5 nights. The hotel is located in the Old Town (Stare Mesto) area of Prague. Historically, Cloister
Inn was shared and used by a convent and as a secrete police prison which explains it’s very plain (almost depressing)
looking exterior.
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| Cloister Inn is on the left |
But don’t be mislead by what you see on the outside. The
hotel has a charming and inviting reception area and a staff that was friendly and helpful to me throughout my stay.
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| Interior of my room |
My room had a double bed and was larger than I had expected. It
also had a small safe to hold my valuables and a convenient mini refrigerator. Pretty nice!
Their website boasted a central location within a short walking distance to all the major sites and that to me was
their most important feature.
If I were to visit Prague
for a second time in the distant future, I would also consider staying in the Mala Strana area (Little Quarter), which is
located on the Castle side of the Vltava River. It’s much smaller and quieter than the Old
Town area and yet offers a very good selection of bars, restaurants and
small shops for you to choose from.
Okay, back to my trip. I finally reached my hotel and was able to check
in by ten in the evening.
Lot’s of time remaining to check out the one thing I have been so anxious to see, the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. I unpacked then went to the front desk to ask for directions on how to get there. The hotel staff gave me a map and told me that the bridge was only a 5-minute walk
away from the hotel. They circled the location of the hotel and drew a line on the map to show me how to get from the hotel
to the bridge. They instructed me to turn left here, then right there, straight,
then left again and I’m there.
Although I had just spent the last 18 hours traveling with little sleep and suffering the lingering side
affects of the dramamine I took for my motion sickness, I convinced myself that I could do this. Just outside the hotel, I paused for a moment and asked myself, “couldn’t I just wait until
tomorrow for daylight and a good night’s sleep?” I replied to myself,
Heck no! When traveling solo you’ll find that you tend to talk to yourself
a lot, which is okay as long as you do it silently.
I worked my way to the main street where I caught my first glimpse of the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle from a distance. There were lights and statues lined up along the bridge with two dramatic towers on each side (the Old Town Bridge
Tower and the Mala
Strana Bridge Tower).
The castle was all lit up and positioned high up on a hill on the other side of the Vltava
River. The Vltava River itself was much wider than it
looked in photographs. My first thought:
Simply Magical! I felt the same way when I saw the Cinque Terre (Italy) and the Swiss Alps for the first time. I almost wanted
to pinch myself to make sure that this wasn’t a dream!
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| Little Quarter (Mala Strana) |
I strolled clear across the bridge to the Mala Strana area and browsed around a couple of shops that were still open. A tad hungry (okay, starving), I went into a quaint sort of bar/restaurant and hung
out. I ordered a pizza (no meat, of course) and had a glass of one of their Czech
wines. I don’t know much about fine wine (wish I did), but I do know when
I’m drinking something really good. And this was quite good. If only I could remember the name of that restaurant and the wine they recommended for me (tired minds
just don’t work well). The bar/restaurant was charming and had an atmosphere
that was friendly, but it was getting late and I needed to start heading back to my hotel.
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| This is what you rub for luck and a return trip to Prague |
As I walked along the cobblestone bridge, I noticed the statue that represents Saint John Nepomuk. They say that if you rub the picture located at the base of the statue that it will bring you good luck
and secure you a return trip back to Prague.
Well, I could sure use some luck on this trip and I already know that I would like return to Prague again
in the future, so I approached the statue and gave it a good hardy rub. Actually,
I think I gave it two rubs!
By now, the long day and sleep deprivation was in full swing. I retraced
my steps and easily found my way back to the hotel. Sometimes, I’m amazed
at my own sense of direction. Overall, I think I was off to a mighty good start. When I finally went to bed, my head hit that pillow like a ton of those cobblestone
bricks.
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