DESTINATIONS

Prague

5952

August 19, 2006

Just Mucha-ing around

Prague was a much talked about destination for me and it was also a pleasant step up from Austria. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy Austria, but for me, it was a little slow and I ended up feeling boredom creep into most days. No such thing in Prague. Yes, the company you keep makes a huge difference but from the overnight train I caught in, it was different and strangely exciting. In the morning after a decent nights sleep, peering out of my sleeper cabin, I noticed a group of people standing on the railway tracks up ahead. As the train slowed to a crawl, I was shocked and strangely surprised to see one of the most mangled bodies lying in almost full exposure I think I have ever seen. Looked much like something you would find on www.rotten.com. It was totally disgusting, and I didn’t have my camera ready.

After arriving and getting settled in my hostel for a short while, I went out to ‘Czech’ (sorry – couldn’t help myself) out Prague’s beautiful architecture for which it has quite a reputation for. After a few days of wandering aimlessly in short doses, it was clear that this reputation was accurate. Walking around the old town was an absolute pleasure.

After seeing a million churches and a million galleries, you start to get a little blasé about them all, but I found a torture museum which was amazing – Amazing to see how cruel the human race can be. And I also found one of the most incredible galleries I think I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. It was an exhibition of Mucha, who was, in my opinion, one of the most incredible artists for his sensual style and detail. Go check his work out when you get a chance, and no the web site does not do it justice.

Prague was also a good place for a drink, and some of the Czech beer was fantastic. I spent a big part of my time trialling the various ales and not to mention the Absinthe (please don’t mention the Absinthe.. Oww my head..).

I missed out on venturing to some of the other towns in the Czech Republic and will have to come back to see some of them later.. The whole area of Western Europe is amazing and it was an absolute pleasure to discover it.