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Bridging The Puppy!
Jul. 4th, 2015 12:09 amMonday was our only full day in Prague and thus Wolfie's only real chance to see what I believe to be one of the most magical and beautiful cities in the world. Alas it was also a holiday so we ended up sleeping in, rising at around 11am to take advantage of the complementary breakfast which fortunately ran until noon. Filled up on miniature baguettes (I had seven), salami and cheese, we then ventured out into the city and towards the Charles Bridge, one of the more famous sights of Prague. The Bridge was on the opposite side of town to where we were, meaning we had to traverse the throngs of tourists in the Old Square, as well as those mingling around the narrow cobbled streets. The ones on Segways were a particular nuisence but I was expecting the downtown area to be far busier than it was - perhaps Mondays aren't particularly popular in Prague. Along the way, we were accosted by a fair number of people including a guy who tried to sell his restaurant to us by saying "come, we have Guinness" which really didn't wash with me considering we were in the country which invented pilsner. One guy outside a tacky souvenir shop looked particularly miserable as he stood in 25C heat wearing a shark costume, with his head poking out of its mouth as if he had been devoured by it. Meanwhile, we saw the obligatory act with the snakes, which I gave a wide berth due to my pathological fear of the slithering bastards.
The walk to the Bridge surprisingly only took around fifteen minutes, largely because it was well signposted and a load of people were heading in the same direction, although once we were upon it and crossing the magnificent Vltava River, I was surprised by how much room we had. I don't remember it being this quiet twelve years ago, and although there were a fair number of tourists and taking photographs without an itinerent Japanese person still proved to be difficult, we did grab a number of good shots of the magnificent statues which adorn each side of the Bridge. The Bridge was commissioned in 1357 by Charles IV to replace the 12th century Judith Bridge, which had been swept away during flooding in 1342. Completed in 1390, it only adopted Charles's name some five centuries later (it was originally just called Stone Bridge), but has always been a popular place for tourists. With grand views of Prague Castle as well as the sweeping river as it weaves its way along the city, it's surprising to discover that the most breathtaking sights are the statues on the Bridge itself, as well as the fort towers at either end, which were built not only as fortifications but also as triumphant entrance arches. There are thirty statues along the Bridge at regular intervals, with the first statue appearing in 1683. Another twenty went up in the subsequent thirty years, with the remainder appearing in the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The variation of statues on the bridge is surprisingly diverse, representing different iconographies and styled in different ways, and in some cases made out of different stones. This created a variety which made it a rather pleasant stroll across the River, regardless of the scenery with which we were being indulged.
We were halfway over the Bridge when I received a text message from Greylion asking whether we wanted to meet up for lunch near to where he lived. This necessitated another ride out on the Metro but we accepted, having promised we would meet up after the pub the night before. Consequently, we headed to the nearest Metro station, Malostranska, where we would pick up Metro Line A (green) and change onto Metro Line B (yellow) and head to Českomoravská. On the way, we saw the impressive St Nicholas Church, which looked very much like a cross between St Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England building in London. We also traversed the tram only road of Letenská, where we saw a police officer directing a bus driver who was trying to back his bus up without hitting any trams. As we walked past, we heard the unmistakable crunching sound of metal hitting a wall, and spied a panicked Austrian bus driver lose his cool. It was quite hilarious but alas we had lunch to get to, so we couldn't stay around and watch the show. Upon arriving at Českomoravská, we were met with the site of the humongous O2 Arena, the biggest stadium in the city and where the vast majority of concerts take place. In addition, it is the home of one of the local ice hockey teams, as evidenced by the ice hockey themed bar and sports betting shops in the area. Greylion and his Slovak-Oban friend were soon there to meet us and after a brief chat about the best places to eat, he took us to a local pub he knows, Švejk restaurant U Brázdů, which do excellent lunchtime meals at exceptionally cheap prices. He certainly wasn't wrong as my meal cost less than £2.50 and it was one of the best of our trip so far - like a Wiener Schnitzel stuffed with ham and cheese, served with potato salad. Apparently potato salad is one of the most popular dishes in the Czech Republic, particularly at Christmas time, and this was seasoned particularly well, with creamy mayonnaise, perfectly soft lumps of potato, dill, parsley and a range of other strange vegetables I couldn't quite identify. As with many bars in the country, this place also had its own pilsner, this one was called Master and was particularly delicious, coming in a chalice rather than a regular glass. It was interesting that the large head still remained on the beer though - Czechs really do like colossal head with their beer. The interior of the bar was rather homely, with wooden furnishings and stained glass windows made out of plastic depicting farming scenes. On one of the TVs, the first day of Wimbledon was playing, as if to make us feel at home. There were a few people taking advantage of the excellent lunch offers, but it was largely quiet, making it perfect to chat and chat we did.
After about an hour, our Slovak friend realised that he needed to get going as he had a flight back to Scotland at 6:30pm. Consequently, he went around to Greylion's house to pick up his stuff while we headed over to the ice hockey themed bar, Na staré ráně, which apparently was owned by a famous ice hockey player or a famous band, I can't quite remember. They do, however, have a beer called Tři sestry which is the name of a famous Czech rock band while they have their logo adorned in many places in the bar. The beer was pleasant enough, as were the other standard pilsners on tap, although I did get confused with the two Cerna Hora pumps which I thought would dispense fruit beer but turned out dispensed just pink lemonade and cola. Still, the lemonade was pink so I wasn't complaining. The interesting thing about the bar was the ice hockey adornments - the tables were all air hockey tables while red and blue cardboard ice hockey players dangled from the ceiling. Meanwhile, on the walls there were newspaper clippings of former Czech glories, usually from the Soviet days, and shirts from various ice hockey stars from yesteryear. Apparently it gets very busy on match days, as you would expect. Greylion and Slovak met us here some fifteen minutes after we split, with the Slovak guy having to leave to catch his train to the airport around ten minutes after that. We then sat with Greylion for a short period of time before heading off, with him insisting that we go and see some more of the city. We felt a little bad about leaving him on his own but he had just got himself another drink and seemed happy enough, telling us he couldn't stay out anyway as he had a job interview at nine o'clock the next morning. With a heavy heart we left him to his beer, but not without thanking him first for some great hospitality over the previous twenty-four hours. He even told us how to make our way to the castle by tram so we could have a nice leisurely walk downhill rather than scrambling all the way up to it in such heat.
We took tram number 22 up the hill, getting off at the main road leading to the Castle, affording us a wonderful view of its glorious architecture. This was only enhanced as we walked through the Royal Garden and the Orangery, which afforded us different perspectives on this dominant building. The real wonder was inside the castle walls though, when we got to observe the albescent splendor of the curved St Vitus Treasury and the soaring St Vitus Cathedral which sneaks upon you and demands your attention as soon as you walk into the main courtyard. I have used the word breathtaking an awful lot in these reviews but this truly was just that, not even superlatives can do it justice. Sadly, as it was around 5pm, we didn't get chance to go into any of the buildings but we did have an enjoyable hour soaking up the architecture, not to mention the fantastic views of the city from the Castle Walls. Another highlight was the memories which came flooding back from 2003, when I toured the city with my university friend Jamie. This was my first time abroad without my family and I felt we were going on a huge adventure. Prague was the first stop in our month-long backpacking adventure and while I cannot check journal entries from back then (I only started writing this in 2006), being in the same places again did bring memories back, even if I cannot quite remember everything we did in Prague during the three days we stayed there. One thing I do remember though is Hradčany Square and the main gates of the Castle, which are flanked with battling Titans dating from between 1767 and 1770. It's amazing what you remember from so long ago, odd little snippets of things, and some of these came back rather clearly as I was walking around. Reflecting on how life has turned out is interesting in such circumstances, particularly as Wolfie was travelling with me, and this added a humbling perspective to everything, of course aided by the grandeur and beauty of our surroundings.
Taking the same steps down the hill that I took all those years ago, and seeing the same statues once more, was very evocative and being with Wolfie made it more so. Alas, we didn't have long to contemplate such things though as we were due to meet another furry, Wolferajd, at the main railway station at 6:45pm and with the time pushing six o'clock, we didn't have long left. We had wanted to go to some interesting breweries Greylion had pointed out but sadly we didn't have time as meeting a friend was paramount. This in itself was an interesting thing - back in 2003 I didn't know anyone in a foreign country and yet now, twelve years later, the furry fandom has blessed me with many friends from a vast number of different territories. In Prague alone we had met up with fourteen people and this would simply not have happened during my last visit, partly due to not having that network and partly due to the fact that social networking wasn't really a big thing back then. It's amazing how my values have developed over time, keeping that core wanderlust essence but building upon this opportunities which were not afforded to me back then. In 2003 I desperately wanted to meet locals, to be shown around places and to experience their lives and now I have all that. It truly is a remarkable thing. Anyway, this is a beer-induced ramble. With the way to the station somewhat tricky by public transport, we opted to wander through the city once more, crossing the Mánes Bridge this time, spying yet more wonderous buildings on Jan Palach Square and walking down more narrow sidestreets so Wolfie could get a greater feel of the city. It's amazing just how compact it is once you start traversing it on foot and soon we were back to the Old Square, the scary snake man and heading towards the main railway station, retracing my footsteps from the evening of Thursday 4 September 2003 when I headed in the same direction to catch a train to Warsaw. I even remember walking alongside the motorway - as we had to do again - as we didn't know about the park entrance underneath the flyover. Again, memories have an odd way of coming back at you.
We were bang on time at the railway station and I went up to the platform to see Wolferajd, while Wolfie waited in the Burger King under the concourse as we had received conflicting messages from him. I thought I saw Wolferajd on the platform but he disappeared by the time I had chance to collar him, and it wasn't until an awkward encounter outside the Burger King and us speaking rather loudly to attract attention that I realised that I had actually spied him earlier. We made our introductions and then headed out of the train station, heading towards a currency exchange booth as Wolferajd didn't have any money. The first one didn't let him change less than 50 euros into koruna for some reason - we think due to the crisis in Greece and the effects on the single currency - so we had to go to a second bureau which would let him change his money. With Wolferajd not being a drinker - preferring the two litre bottle of Coca Cola he had purchased from the Billa Supermarket just after we had met - and wanting to spend as little money as possible, we spent a strange three hours just wandering around the city. Partly in an attempt to save money, we went to the food court in the Palladium Shopping Centre where we endured the poorest meal of the trip and one of the poorest meals I have ever eaten at the LA Finger Food concession. Wolfie and Wolferajd managed to get what they wanted but by the time they got to me, they seemingly had run out of almost everything, to the point where I had to go with my fourth-choice option (and I was guided there to be honest). When it came on a disposable plastic plate, the chicken was cold and the chips weren't much better, with a lack of salt compounding the situation. It was truly awful, dire, but at least it was a place to sit and chat for an hour. With them wanting to close, we then headed back to the hotel to do the same before walking back to the station the long way around, down Můstek towards the Muzeum, the main shopping district in the city so Wolfie could see yet more of the stunning architecture that Prague has to offer. I would have kicked myself had he missed out on the Muzeum, opened in 1898 and one of the grandest and largest buildings I have ever seen. Dominating over Wenceslas Square looking towards Můstek, it was a particularly magnificent sight lit up against the gloaming of a summer's night and one of the most memorable moments of our tour.
With Wolferajd getting a little concerned about missing his train, we then headed back to the main station, where we had about an hour to kill before his departure back to Plzen. During this time, he told us a great deal about the Czech rail service, discount tickets he could get and that some of the trains go through Poland and yet don't advertise the fact that they go through Poland for some reason. It was quite interesting to see how it worked but alas we had an early flight in the morning and four bottles of beer to drink back at the hotel before we headed there so we had to say our goodbyes pretty swiftly, leaving him with around half an hour to wait until his train home. It was great seeing him though, he was certainly very talkative with a few strong opinions, but we were glad of the company and the conversation. Upon reaching our hotel, we crashed in front of Russia Today and a documentary concerning a Kazakh town where all the residents mysteriously fall asleep while we drank our remaining beer and reminisced about the trip. With a taxi booked for the next morning, everything was set to end our adventure but we will be back in the very near future as it was such a blast. Indeed, we may even move there if the conditions are right.
The walk to the Bridge surprisingly only took around fifteen minutes, largely because it was well signposted and a load of people were heading in the same direction, although once we were upon it and crossing the magnificent Vltava River, I was surprised by how much room we had. I don't remember it being this quiet twelve years ago, and although there were a fair number of tourists and taking photographs without an itinerent Japanese person still proved to be difficult, we did grab a number of good shots of the magnificent statues which adorn each side of the Bridge. The Bridge was commissioned in 1357 by Charles IV to replace the 12th century Judith Bridge, which had been swept away during flooding in 1342. Completed in 1390, it only adopted Charles's name some five centuries later (it was originally just called Stone Bridge), but has always been a popular place for tourists. With grand views of Prague Castle as well as the sweeping river as it weaves its way along the city, it's surprising to discover that the most breathtaking sights are the statues on the Bridge itself, as well as the fort towers at either end, which were built not only as fortifications but also as triumphant entrance arches. There are thirty statues along the Bridge at regular intervals, with the first statue appearing in 1683. Another twenty went up in the subsequent thirty years, with the remainder appearing in the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The variation of statues on the bridge is surprisingly diverse, representing different iconographies and styled in different ways, and in some cases made out of different stones. This created a variety which made it a rather pleasant stroll across the River, regardless of the scenery with which we were being indulged.
We were halfway over the Bridge when I received a text message from Greylion asking whether we wanted to meet up for lunch near to where he lived. This necessitated another ride out on the Metro but we accepted, having promised we would meet up after the pub the night before. Consequently, we headed to the nearest Metro station, Malostranska, where we would pick up Metro Line A (green) and change onto Metro Line B (yellow) and head to Českomoravská. On the way, we saw the impressive St Nicholas Church, which looked very much like a cross between St Paul's Cathedral and the Bank of England building in London. We also traversed the tram only road of Letenská, where we saw a police officer directing a bus driver who was trying to back his bus up without hitting any trams. As we walked past, we heard the unmistakable crunching sound of metal hitting a wall, and spied a panicked Austrian bus driver lose his cool. It was quite hilarious but alas we had lunch to get to, so we couldn't stay around and watch the show. Upon arriving at Českomoravská, we were met with the site of the humongous O2 Arena, the biggest stadium in the city and where the vast majority of concerts take place. In addition, it is the home of one of the local ice hockey teams, as evidenced by the ice hockey themed bar and sports betting shops in the area. Greylion and his Slovak-Oban friend were soon there to meet us and after a brief chat about the best places to eat, he took us to a local pub he knows, Švejk restaurant U Brázdů, which do excellent lunchtime meals at exceptionally cheap prices. He certainly wasn't wrong as my meal cost less than £2.50 and it was one of the best of our trip so far - like a Wiener Schnitzel stuffed with ham and cheese, served with potato salad. Apparently potato salad is one of the most popular dishes in the Czech Republic, particularly at Christmas time, and this was seasoned particularly well, with creamy mayonnaise, perfectly soft lumps of potato, dill, parsley and a range of other strange vegetables I couldn't quite identify. As with many bars in the country, this place also had its own pilsner, this one was called Master and was particularly delicious, coming in a chalice rather than a regular glass. It was interesting that the large head still remained on the beer though - Czechs really do like colossal head with their beer. The interior of the bar was rather homely, with wooden furnishings and stained glass windows made out of plastic depicting farming scenes. On one of the TVs, the first day of Wimbledon was playing, as if to make us feel at home. There were a few people taking advantage of the excellent lunch offers, but it was largely quiet, making it perfect to chat and chat we did.
After about an hour, our Slovak friend realised that he needed to get going as he had a flight back to Scotland at 6:30pm. Consequently, he went around to Greylion's house to pick up his stuff while we headed over to the ice hockey themed bar, Na staré ráně, which apparently was owned by a famous ice hockey player or a famous band, I can't quite remember. They do, however, have a beer called Tři sestry which is the name of a famous Czech rock band while they have their logo adorned in many places in the bar. The beer was pleasant enough, as were the other standard pilsners on tap, although I did get confused with the two Cerna Hora pumps which I thought would dispense fruit beer but turned out dispensed just pink lemonade and cola. Still, the lemonade was pink so I wasn't complaining. The interesting thing about the bar was the ice hockey adornments - the tables were all air hockey tables while red and blue cardboard ice hockey players dangled from the ceiling. Meanwhile, on the walls there were newspaper clippings of former Czech glories, usually from the Soviet days, and shirts from various ice hockey stars from yesteryear. Apparently it gets very busy on match days, as you would expect. Greylion and Slovak met us here some fifteen minutes after we split, with the Slovak guy having to leave to catch his train to the airport around ten minutes after that. We then sat with Greylion for a short period of time before heading off, with him insisting that we go and see some more of the city. We felt a little bad about leaving him on his own but he had just got himself another drink and seemed happy enough, telling us he couldn't stay out anyway as he had a job interview at nine o'clock the next morning. With a heavy heart we left him to his beer, but not without thanking him first for some great hospitality over the previous twenty-four hours. He even told us how to make our way to the castle by tram so we could have a nice leisurely walk downhill rather than scrambling all the way up to it in such heat.
We took tram number 22 up the hill, getting off at the main road leading to the Castle, affording us a wonderful view of its glorious architecture. This was only enhanced as we walked through the Royal Garden and the Orangery, which afforded us different perspectives on this dominant building. The real wonder was inside the castle walls though, when we got to observe the albescent splendor of the curved St Vitus Treasury and the soaring St Vitus Cathedral which sneaks upon you and demands your attention as soon as you walk into the main courtyard. I have used the word breathtaking an awful lot in these reviews but this truly was just that, not even superlatives can do it justice. Sadly, as it was around 5pm, we didn't get chance to go into any of the buildings but we did have an enjoyable hour soaking up the architecture, not to mention the fantastic views of the city from the Castle Walls. Another highlight was the memories which came flooding back from 2003, when I toured the city with my university friend Jamie. This was my first time abroad without my family and I felt we were going on a huge adventure. Prague was the first stop in our month-long backpacking adventure and while I cannot check journal entries from back then (I only started writing this in 2006), being in the same places again did bring memories back, even if I cannot quite remember everything we did in Prague during the three days we stayed there. One thing I do remember though is Hradčany Square and the main gates of the Castle, which are flanked with battling Titans dating from between 1767 and 1770. It's amazing what you remember from so long ago, odd little snippets of things, and some of these came back rather clearly as I was walking around. Reflecting on how life has turned out is interesting in such circumstances, particularly as Wolfie was travelling with me, and this added a humbling perspective to everything, of course aided by the grandeur and beauty of our surroundings.
Taking the same steps down the hill that I took all those years ago, and seeing the same statues once more, was very evocative and being with Wolfie made it more so. Alas, we didn't have long to contemplate such things though as we were due to meet another furry, Wolferajd, at the main railway station at 6:45pm and with the time pushing six o'clock, we didn't have long left. We had wanted to go to some interesting breweries Greylion had pointed out but sadly we didn't have time as meeting a friend was paramount. This in itself was an interesting thing - back in 2003 I didn't know anyone in a foreign country and yet now, twelve years later, the furry fandom has blessed me with many friends from a vast number of different territories. In Prague alone we had met up with fourteen people and this would simply not have happened during my last visit, partly due to not having that network and partly due to the fact that social networking wasn't really a big thing back then. It's amazing how my values have developed over time, keeping that core wanderlust essence but building upon this opportunities which were not afforded to me back then. In 2003 I desperately wanted to meet locals, to be shown around places and to experience their lives and now I have all that. It truly is a remarkable thing. Anyway, this is a beer-induced ramble. With the way to the station somewhat tricky by public transport, we opted to wander through the city once more, crossing the Mánes Bridge this time, spying yet more wonderous buildings on Jan Palach Square and walking down more narrow sidestreets so Wolfie could get a greater feel of the city. It's amazing just how compact it is once you start traversing it on foot and soon we were back to the Old Square, the scary snake man and heading towards the main railway station, retracing my footsteps from the evening of Thursday 4 September 2003 when I headed in the same direction to catch a train to Warsaw. I even remember walking alongside the motorway - as we had to do again - as we didn't know about the park entrance underneath the flyover. Again, memories have an odd way of coming back at you.
We were bang on time at the railway station and I went up to the platform to see Wolferajd, while Wolfie waited in the Burger King under the concourse as we had received conflicting messages from him. I thought I saw Wolferajd on the platform but he disappeared by the time I had chance to collar him, and it wasn't until an awkward encounter outside the Burger King and us speaking rather loudly to attract attention that I realised that I had actually spied him earlier. We made our introductions and then headed out of the train station, heading towards a currency exchange booth as Wolferajd didn't have any money. The first one didn't let him change less than 50 euros into koruna for some reason - we think due to the crisis in Greece and the effects on the single currency - so we had to go to a second bureau which would let him change his money. With Wolferajd not being a drinker - preferring the two litre bottle of Coca Cola he had purchased from the Billa Supermarket just after we had met - and wanting to spend as little money as possible, we spent a strange three hours just wandering around the city. Partly in an attempt to save money, we went to the food court in the Palladium Shopping Centre where we endured the poorest meal of the trip and one of the poorest meals I have ever eaten at the LA Finger Food concession. Wolfie and Wolferajd managed to get what they wanted but by the time they got to me, they seemingly had run out of almost everything, to the point where I had to go with my fourth-choice option (and I was guided there to be honest). When it came on a disposable plastic plate, the chicken was cold and the chips weren't much better, with a lack of salt compounding the situation. It was truly awful, dire, but at least it was a place to sit and chat for an hour. With them wanting to close, we then headed back to the hotel to do the same before walking back to the station the long way around, down Můstek towards the Muzeum, the main shopping district in the city so Wolfie could see yet more of the stunning architecture that Prague has to offer. I would have kicked myself had he missed out on the Muzeum, opened in 1898 and one of the grandest and largest buildings I have ever seen. Dominating over Wenceslas Square looking towards Můstek, it was a particularly magnificent sight lit up against the gloaming of a summer's night and one of the most memorable moments of our tour.
With Wolferajd getting a little concerned about missing his train, we then headed back to the main station, where we had about an hour to kill before his departure back to Plzen. During this time, he told us a great deal about the Czech rail service, discount tickets he could get and that some of the trains go through Poland and yet don't advertise the fact that they go through Poland for some reason. It was quite interesting to see how it worked but alas we had an early flight in the morning and four bottles of beer to drink back at the hotel before we headed there so we had to say our goodbyes pretty swiftly, leaving him with around half an hour to wait until his train home. It was great seeing him though, he was certainly very talkative with a few strong opinions, but we were glad of the company and the conversation. Upon reaching our hotel, we crashed in front of Russia Today and a documentary concerning a Kazakh town where all the residents mysteriously fall asleep while we drank our remaining beer and reminisced about the trip. With a taxi booked for the next morning, everything was set to end our adventure but we will be back in the very near future as it was such a blast. Indeed, we may even move there if the conditions are right.
