Project Balie: Prague

Started off badly. We had to get up at 3am to make our 6.20am flight from Gatwick airport and I had a raging cold. Attempted to sleep on the plane but a friendly fellow behind me spent the whole 1 ½ hour flight talking loudly about his English upbringing, the difficulties of working abroad (rude people on flights?) and the potential Grexit with his neighbours.

Once we got to Prague though, I perked up. The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we could see why – it was absolutely gorgeous!

The city is about the size of Melbourne with a population of about 1 million. Unlike London you could walk the streets without feeling like you are in a mosh pit – a nice change.

The Czech Republic’s history is the stuff nightmares are made of, and another bit of proof, if ever it was needed, of the total debacle that was the post WW2 carve up of the continent. In a nutshell:

WW1: everything fine, lots of democracy, city modelled on Paris, artists and intellectuals abundant etc etc.

· WW2: Hitler invades, 117,000 Jewish people sent to concentration camps, 14,000 of which survived the end of the war (that’s 0.1%). Czechoslovakian government flees to London.

· End of WW2: Allies give Czechoslovakia to the Russians as a thank you for their help in the war. 40 odd years of communist oppression, labour camps, secret trials etc ensue.

· 1989: Czechoslovakia expels Russia (rather, Gorbachev leaves quietly as has bigger concerns)

· 1993: Czechoslovakia splits in two, and The Czech Republic and Solvakia are born.

Prague is now the most visited site in Europe for Bucks parties. Famous for its classical music venues we couldn’t figure out why until we discovered that a pilsner is £1 a bottle (just slightly cheaper than a bottle of water).

We visited the Jewish Cemetary - here the Jewish were buried as many as 12 deep as it was the only place in all of Prague they were able to be buried. There are roughly 10,000 tomb stones with an estimated 100,000 buried.

The famous Charles Bridge, built in 1357, across the River Vltava (it was comical trying to pronounce anything in Prague).

The Prague Castle

Prague was home to Frank Kafka, who depressed me so much when I was at Uni that I couldn’t bring myself to re-read any of his work pre-Prague, and Milan Kunderra, who I’m reading at the moment, looking for hidden anti-communist sentiment.

The most famous inhabitant was however, Good King Wenceslas, the old Duke of Bohemia (Czechoslovakia’s old old name). He was Duke until 935 when he was assassinated by his brother. He is famous for having saved Czechoslovakia from ruin by invading forces, which became the story of Wenceslas saving Christmas from ruin by invading forces who wanted to ban it, courtesy of the Christians.

St Wenceslaus Square (Patron Saint of Prague)