05/08/2010

Prague, Czech Republic

My first experience of a Sleeper train, I'd like to blame the 2 Polish vodkas I had before getting the train for my lack of sleep, but I guess it was paranoia from all the hype everyone at the hostel/ online/ lonely planet etc had said about the notoriety of the Krakow to Praha line. I did managed to get in about 2 ½ hours sleep, the people in my carriage were nice: all 20-something travellers from Switzerland, UK and Holland , though the middle couchette is not nice: you feel sandwiched between top and bottom and can't sit up at all, also your feet are at window level and when it rains they get wet!

Off the train, I made it to the hostel by taxi, dumped my stuff, freshened up and set off out to the market square by tram (the hostel was great- they sell you tram tickets- most stress-free public transport experience ever!), wasn't overly impressed by Prague: just felt like another old town, just more gothic than baroque and much more expensive that Poland. I bought breakfast for about £11- that seems extortionate to me! I jumped on a walking tour around the city so I didn't have to think and could get my bearings, met the Dutch girls from the train on my tour and kept bumping into this Aussie guy on the other tour during the break. There seemed to be an unnecessary break and far more promotion of the other tours than when I did the Sandeman tour in Jerusalem, but hey, it was free though the guide did keep making mistakes or not really explaining things properly, particularly in the Jewish quarter. Whilst we were there, a Polish-Israeli guy got very emotional and shared his families' experience of Terezin with the group- this made me very tearful.

Once back in the market square I headed over to the Jewish quarter: Josefov and queued up for the Jewish museum tickets (I've never seen a queue this long since I started this trip!), visited the exhibitions in the Pinku and Spanish Synagogue. The Pinku Synagogue holds a moving Holocaust memorial with the names of the victims from the Prague area covering every inch of the walls in the main room and all over the women's balcony too. In a side room there is also an exhibition of the children from Terezin's art work, it is very interesting to see the mixture of "everyday normalities" and "art practice" juxtaposed with dark, frightful images that only they experienced.

The Spanish Synagogue on the other hand held an exhibition of Jewish life and religion in Prague, from celebrated writers, artists, politicians and musicians alongside a history of the Jewish people in Prague and issues of anti-semitism and resistance.

After a soup in the market square I headed back to Plus Prague on the tram, met my roommates: a couple of Aussie girls and a Canadian woman then headed to the bar to indulge in my complimentary beer, drinking the free beer I met Nicky, Scott, Jacqui and Eric and we ended up going out to the Cross bar afterwards which was awesome and so niche! The decor is scrap car parts and steel, it has several tiny floors: outside area, small bars, seating areas, a kind of kebab shop eatery and two small dance floors, lots of moving light contraptions and the music is dnb, reggae and jungle. Great atmosphere, great people and wicked fun! Highlights of the night were probably Nicky trying to build the biggest tower in the world out of plastic beer glasses and all of us communicating with this Czech guy who couldn't speak English for about an hour, it culminated in conversing through the names of metal and rock bands.