The Idea Blog

I journeyed to Prague in early August with my mother — AND half of vacationing Europe — and I can tell you that it was well worth fighting the tourists to spend time in this lovely, old city!

I found Prague lived up to all I’ve ever heard, and then some. It is not only the most beautiful city I’ve ever experienced, with some of the oldest intact structures in all of Europe, but it is a very “livable” city. It’s very much a middle class working city where, despite the cultural destruction people have endured through most of the 20th century, there seems to be a strong emphasis on re-identifying the culture in a post-Communist era — even if that means doing so with a revisionist approach.

View of Prague from Petrin Hill on Mala Strana

The tourist industry is booming, as we observed first hand with all the Europeans flocking to Prague for their August vacations. Hey, who wouldn’t want to vacation in a city where the beer is cheaper than water?! We had the BEST private tour guide for our week: my daughter, Liza, who had just completed a 6-week summer “study” program in Prague. Not only did she know how to navigate the city by foot and by metro, but she closed the cultural divide for us quickly because she understood how so many things “worked.” And because she knew enough Czech to communicate in almost any situation, we had access to the lunch menu with the “specials” only available to those who can speak the language.

Our tour guide extraordinaire, Liza, with her grandmother.

We took in many of the famous sites, enjoyed good food at fabulous cafes, and imbibed in thirst-quenching cheap Czech beers after our hot afternoons of walking around the cobblestone streets of Stare Mesto (Old Town) and Mala Strana (Lesser Town). The apartment we rented was in a very old and very European building. From what we could tell, everyone else in the building was a permanent resident. It was perfectly located on Kampa Island (Mala Strana) at the foot of the Charles Bridge. From our open double windows overlooking a cobblestoned square we could enjoy the sounds of people resting on benches in the square, or eating and drinking outside the cafes along the periphery. The chatter went on well into our lovely warm evenings.

View from our Kampa apartment window.

What made the strongest impressions on me were our visits to the major cemeteries. These seemed to offer the best depiction of the culture. First, the old Jewish cemetery in Josefov (the Jewish Quarter, formerly the Jewish ghetto) where the headstones were literally crammed together, one on top of the other, is the oldest existing Jewish cemetery in Europe, used from 1439 to 1787. Amazingly, it survived the Nazi invasion only because Hitler requested that it be left intact as he intended to build a Jewish museum in Prague after all the Jews in Europe were exterminated. It is a moving testament to the resilience of a continually persecuted people, to say the least.

Old Jewish Cemetery in Josefov

We also visited the cemetery at Vysehrad, where the elite were buried. Here we found beautiful memorials to many of Prague’s leading figures: Antonin Dvorak, Alfons Mucha and others. The designer in me was floored by the exquisite detail in some of these monuments, which used marble, ceramic tiles and sculpture.

Monuments at Vysehrad

The third cemetery we visited was the enormous municipal cemetery, one large area of which is designated as the Communist section. This section stands in stark contrast to the eclectic nature of the rest of the sprawling cemetery in that it is organized in bleak rows of plain gray monuments, all no more than 3 feet high.

We didn’t spend all of our time with the ghosts. We enjoyed enormous cathedrals, castles, gardens, art and music, as well. Prague is a city of music! People pass out flyers on every corner for daily concerts, and there are musicians of all stripes playing on the streets, as well. We also rented a paddle boat one warm day and spent an hour peddling on the Vlatava, which gave us some very different views of this lovely city. We ate fabulous dinners at some popular and some more cozy restaurants — the Czech Republic is also known for their fine wines, and we enjoyed these, as well!

Organ grinder on the Charles Bridge.

St. Vitus Cathedral towers over Mala Strana.

A Memorial to Communism. (The plight of man during the years of Communist rule.)

A view from outside the Old Castle on Mala Strana.

I recommend everyone add Prague to their list of places to visit! Na schledanou!