While work has been a major political hassle for the last 6 months, one of the benefits of 10-plus years of employment at a firm is the ability to take longer vacations. My recent 2 week sojourn was predicated on the desire to use frequent flier miles we'd amassed, along with a free ticket due to an airline screw-up during our vacation to Italy last year. Toss in low-cost housing with AirBnB, a reason to travel because my niece was representing the US on the under 18 hockey team, and my siblings all wanting to travel (or living in Vienna), and the wife and I decided it was a good time to head across the pond.
Vienna was our base, as my sister and her family live there. The hockey tournament was in Prague. So, 5 days in Vienna, drive 3 hours and spend 5 days in Prague, then drive back and enjoy 2 final days in Vienna.
Vienna offers the ability to take boat/train/bus to Bratislava and Budapest for the day. It's proximity to Prague was obviously useful, and the road there allowed us to stop in Heldenberg to see the Spanish Riding School's summer stables, then stop in Telc for lunch (or Jihlava for lunch on the return).
These stops were very nice. Telc, in particular, was a great 3 hour stop. Highly recommend it to anyone passing through. Wonderful town square, beautifully restored. Make sure you climb to the top of the (very claustrophobic and designed for short people) bell tower. But Prague was our main goal. Not just for the hockey (which didn't work out well for our side), but take in one of the most wonderful cities in Europe.
I recommend the free Sandeman's tour. This was something we did our first full day in Prague. Many cities are now covered by Sandeman's and their free tours are designed to rope people into their paid tours. Based on my experience, it's worth it. The tours are 'pay what you want' - tip only. Our guide, Karel Wichterle, was a local and spoke perfect English. He was born and raised in Prague, and was raised under Communist rule. He shared his stories, limited as they are, to show his appreciation for how far his nation has come. The tour is 3 hours, covers the Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, Kafka, the Opera House and Charles Bridge, Charles University, the Estates Theater, the Cubist House of the Black Madonna, the Powder Tower, and the Jewish Quarter. It is rain or shine, so be prepared (ours was on the only day of rain the entire trip).
Karel finished his tour asking the question why Prague, almost alone among major European cities, was left relatively untouched during WWII. He didn't have the answer, and it isn't clear anybody does. However, he touched on all several major themes. The most plausible, to me, seems to be Hitler's supposed instruction to not destroy any of the Jewish cultural areas, because he hoped to turn it into a 'museum to a dead race'. Hitler also believed an old military maxim that whoever controlled Prague controlled Europe. Which is likely why he refused to recall troops from Prague during the final stages of the fall of Berlin. These stories don't explain why Prague was not bombed during the war by the Allies, but they do shed some light on why the Nazis didn't inflict more damage of their own.
This fact is particularly interesting when considering Operation Anthropoid, the assassination target being Holocaust mastermind Reinhard Heydrich, and Hitler's reprisals. Hitler would have done far more damage had he not been convinced that Czech industrial productivity was essential to the war effort. It's possible the Allies chose to not bomb Prague in order to avoid providing Hitler the reprisals he'd been talked out of.
After our tour and history lesson, we were able to enjoy the city on our own. We took a walk over to the Petrin Hill, rode the funicular to the top of the hill then walked to the top of Petrin Tower, Prague's version of the Eiffel. We then walked down a path and over to a beer garden above the castle for lunch with a view of the city. The beer garden was right next to the Strahov Monastery library, which was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Somehow, we missed the Clementinum. Always leave something for next time...
A bit of Prague that was very special to me was the amount of celebration Kafka receives. I've long been a fan of his work, and they are without a doubt proud of their well-known citizen. The revolving head at the shopping mall is a very intriguing stop.
Like Vienna, from which we took day trips to Budapest and Bratislava, Prague offers many side trip opportunities if you get tired of the city. There are the spas at Karlovy Vary, the concentration camp at Terezin, and even jaunts to Dresden.
I highly recommend a visit for anyone who has the opportunity. To whet your appetite, I offer these views:
Three views of the Charles Bridge, one from the West, one at its entrance to the South, one from the hill above.
The Dancing House
Inside the Estates Theater prior to the start of Don Giovanni. This is the only opera house left standing where Mozart performed.
Jan Hus in the Old Town Square (defenestration was practically turned into an art form in Prague. The Defenestration of Prague in 1618 launched the 30 Years' War).
A statue of Kafka, with the beetle barely noticeable in the stone beneath the statue.
One of Kafka's homes.
Petrin Tower
A view from Petrin.
The Lennon Wall - with a class from Canada (we listened in, and I won't repeat what I heard, but it was not a reasonable recounting of history. Poor kids didn't want to be there taking a class, and the class they got was pretty poor).
The Old Town Square at night - the Astronomical Clock Tower to the left.
