Jim's Holidays: November 2018

An easy journey with no queuing at Gatwick or Prague and soon enough I've arrived at our spacious and chic apartment (with lots of ominous looking bolts on the doors) which Maya's already checked into and has the bare necessities for the evening. Lovely to see Maya and she's my guide for the weekend as she's spending a year at the university here as part of her philosophy course, very appropriate. It's evening so the two of us wander out around the local squares and looking up the river from one of the bridges with a view down to the Charles Bridge. We eat at a vegan burrito place and then sharing a bottle of wine in a bar. Next day is Saturday and the place is heaving with tourists, as I nip out to change some money I'm confronted with a sea of them coming towards me and I nearly have to turn round to go with the flow. Our apartment opens out onto a pedestrianised street with market and I buy my souvenir of a Fly Agaric mushroom nut cracker with a picture of the town hall on it. After breakfast we wander over the river where there are dozens of swans and up to the castle where the clouds part for a few minutes just in time to take a couple of photos down the river and beyond. The queue to the castle is crazily long so instead we walk through the park that overlooks the river, quite high up here, a bit like Budapest, and stop for a beer in the beer garden. Then we walk back down and over the river to go through the Jewish quarter but as Saturday we can't visit the synagogues. Back through the back streets to our local Albert supermarket for dinner provisions and then back for a quiet evening of pasta and films. Sunday we breakfast then go up the town hall tower with the astronomical clock which has fantastic views over the city (our place is close to the green onion church) and well worth the fee and climb up the steps. The main synagogue queue is too long for us to wait for so we trundle back home and then set out again just as it starts raining. Doesn't last long and we walk out away from the city to an area opposite the river which Maya knows has big avenues and quirky bars and cafes. The old centre is a mix of boulevards which big buildings reminiscent of Paris but also criss-crossed by smaller streets with the buildings crammed together. Prague escaped destruction in the 20th century wars and many of the building remain as they were with gorgeous sculptures on the outside and wall paintings on the inside (and some outside). It has loads of big churches and civic buildings and is a very beautiful city. Where we've come is more spacious with wide avenues and the buildings are slightly smaller. We climb up a bit and see a couple of big churches set in their own grounds, rather than forming part of the normal street like in the old town. One modern church with big open area in front of it is hosting a wine festival with lots of stalls selling local wines. We get a hot wine each and also a bottle for the evening. They seem to like a drink here and are hard at the wine even though only early afternoon. There's a stage and we watch a popular local band who have two violins, double bass / cello and a strange piano like instrument but which is played with glockenspiel type sticks hitting the wires. Turns out it's a traditional central European instrument called a cimbalom (or cimbal). The music is a lot like early silent film music and Maya and I imagine what would be going on such as romantic interludes, police chases and baddy getting the girl, before the hero woos her back. It's a bit like I think of traditional Russian or Romany or Jewish music and the crowd love it with dancing breaking out every so often. After that excitement we wander off and have a burger in an odd little place a bit like an old school hippy cafe. Good food though. Unfortunately the vegan donut place next door has sold out. Maya's certainly landed on her feet food wise here! Next we wander through a park that has fantastic views over the Prague suburbs and out into the countryside. There are a couple of wood buildings here one with a kids party in full swing and we stop at a wooden terraced place for a beer to watch the sunset over the vineyard sloping down from us and over the suburb's tower blocks. A lovely end to the day. Although we still have a good walk back home via the supermarket for an evening of rice cookery lesson, introducing Maya to the Young Ones (it does seem dated but still very funny in parts) and the watch Woody Allen's Bananas which despite so many corny jokes still hits the spot. Monday it my last day and Maya has to return to her shared room. After another leisurely luxurious breakfast we wander down one of the picturesque streets past the opulent Opera House and get a couple of trams out to where Maya lives as it's on the way to the airport. We climb quite a long way out of the centre and she must be quite high up here. I pop into see Maya's pad, very cosy but I've seen worse, then we jump on the metro where we part ways as I'm getting the bus to the airport. A lovely weekend - thanks for your tourist guidance Maya! I'm jealous that she's here for a year as it's a fantastic place to spend a year away from London and Colchester.