8th June 2019 - Aina Matamoros

We had been planning a roommates’ weekend getaway for a while. My flatmates and I wanted to shield our living togetherness with a little trip to expand our horizons and not only see each other at home, wearing our PJs and complaining about the day we had (or being so happy, which also happens sometimes). We were looking for a city in Europe none of us had been before and which was somewhat cheap. And our choice was PRAGUE.

 

This little and enchanting city, the capital of the Czech Republic, has become very popular and trendy among young European travelers and everyone loves it. So we had to go and see for ourselves why everyone is talking so wonderfully about Prague lately.

 

I can say now that they are right. The city is beautiful, the atmosphere is nice and it has a lot of history around it, so it is worth visiting both for fun and culture. However, here are some fun facts to know about Prague:

 

1. Language: they speak Czech, which is very different to understand if you do not speak a similar language, such as some Slavic language (Polish, Hungarian, Croatian…). English or Spanish speakers cannot understand a word. Moreover, this language has cases for words (like Latin), which means they change the termination of words depending on the function of that word in the sentence. They speak tourist English though, so you can communicate in some way.

2. Food: as our city guide said: “Prague and the Czech Republic have one of the worst diets in the world”. It only consists of meat, bread, and potato. So if you spend your whole life eating that, you will start having serious health problems before being 40 years old. Also, the typical dishes are not original from Prague, but from the neighbor countries: the goulash is the most typical dish and it is actually from Hungary. The thing is that if you are a vegetarian, a fit girl (like me) or (even worse) a vegan, you are screwed. You will not be able to eat any typical dish and you will have to end up eating at international restaurants or vegetarian places (try the brunch spot VENUE, it is trendy, cool and delicious)

3. Beer: following the food chapter, there’s the drink one. Beer is the cheapest thing in Prague (0.5L cost €1.5), more than water actually since Czech people drink more beer than water. They say it’s the best beer in the world but I do not agree that much… But it is very good and you have to try it (even if you do not drink, it’s not so strong)

4. Prague has a lot of spots, places, sites… that are “the best”, “the biggest”, “the oldest”, “the most anything” of Central Europe, Europe or the world. They are very proud of their city for that. Some examples are the oldest astronomical clock in Europe, the only bridge illuminated by a gas lamp (yes, it is actually just one), the biggest nightclub in central Europe…and so on.

5. Money: they use Czech crowns (not euros) and it is highly recommended to change your currency back at your bank in your home country since the currency exchange places in Prague seem to be pretty dishonest with tourists.

6. The water level of the river Vltava rises a lot during the rainy season. 14th of August of 2002 it’s the date when the water level went the highest. You can see some marks on different walls and buildings around the city, so you can get some idea of the magnitude of the situation. They also have these railways in the parks near the river that are used to place metallic barriers in order to try to retain the water from going into the streets.

7. However, the river Vltava is very beautiful and it has three artificial islands floating above it, where many (especially young) people go in the summertime to hang out and chill out with friends while enjoying the sun.

8. Yes, you read well, the sun. Even though Prague is super cold in the winter, it gets really warm and hot in the summer. I visited the city during the first weekend of June and it was hotter than in Barcelona! The temperature rose almost up to 30ºC and the sun was shining so bright that I even got burnt! (It felt really great, though, I loooooove the hot weather, like a lot).

9. During that weekend, we happened to detect a lot of groups of people celebrating bachelor or bachelorette parties. Beer is super cheap and there is party so, it is the place to go if you want to have the typical night out where everyone gets so drunk that nobody remembers what happened. An amazing option to celebrate your “last night as a single person”, which it is supposed to be very special and it would be nice if you could remember just a bit of it. But hey, that is your choice.

10. Karl IV was the Holy Roman Emperor from 11th July 1346 to 29th November 1378 and he brought a lot of prosperity to the city of Prague, making it the capital city of his empire. That is why everything is named after him, like the main bridge (Karluv most) or the main party club, which is also the biggest in central Europe (Karlovy lazne).

11. Following the historical part of the city, which by the way is VERY IMPORTANT, Prague’s old town is UNESCO’s world heritage site. It was not totally bombed during World War II so it is very well preserved. The buildings and everything have to be respected and remain as they are. That is one of the charms of this city.

12. In Prague’s Old Town Square, there is the oldest astrological clock in Europe. Located in a tower, there is a little show with puppets at each hour. Spoiler alert: it only lasts for 45 seconds and, to be honest, it is not a big deal…

13. There is a very important Jewish community in Prague and it already was during World War II. The Jewish quarter is worth visiting, especially the Spanish Synagogue (nobody knows why it is called like that because it has nothing to do about Spain) and the old cemetery, to be able to understand more the Jewish culture and what they went through during that horrible time. Note: DO NOT GO ON A SATURDAY! It is closed since it is Sabbath, their holy day of rest.

14. Finally, some other curious sites to visit are: the John Lennon’s wall, which is beautiful because it is a place where people can go and paint it with their own street art, but it is also a shame that people covers the face of John Lennon painted on it, because then it is no more John Lennon’s wall. Franz Kafka is also a very famous personality from Prague. The author has two statues in the city and a museum.