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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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In
Praise of Prague The advent of our trip to the Czech Republic had an unlikely and tortuous birth. We have four small children (all under five), and the idea of a city break had only crossed our minds in the wee small hours, when, in sleep deprived delirium, we planned our getaway, leaving the children with their grandparents and tunnelling out under the bedroom carpet. The grandparents, however, foiled our escape plan by running a mile every time we suggested it, so the city break was shelved until 2020, when all four should be at university. For the past few years we have had a number of very successful, child-friendly holidays in the UK by house-swapping. This is a fabulous way of seeing the country; you stay in someone else’s house, whilst they go and stay in yours. There are a number of agencies that run house-swap registers both in the UK and abroad. I have my details on several house-swap websites. The prices vary between free and about £100. Some allow you to arrange a swap before you pay, and some require the money up front. You just have to read the small print. Back in the spring I had an email from a man in Prague. He had a flat and he was coming to England. Did we want to use his flat? We went through about a six week negotiation period – was his flat large enough for six of us? – were we in the right part of England for him? – and so on. Eventually I booked the flights for the end of July and requested his final details. The house-swap agency required a £50 fee to pass on the details (fair enough really, considering how much the holiday accommodation would cost). Our man in Prague turned round at this point and said he couldn’t afford it, and that £50 was his entire budget for England and he’d thought it was only us that had to pay and he was very sorry but…. I could have strangled him. So, middle of May, flights to Prague booked, but nowhere to stay. I emailed numerous house-swappers but it was all too short notice. I had no budget for hotels or holiday homes, and camping with four under five is seriously not fun. Someone suggested staying in the Prague University Halls of Residence, but you couldn’t book in advance. The idea of arriving in a strange city with lots of children and luggage but nowhere to stay was starting to haunt my dreams. At last, inspiration! Mensa runs a hospitality service called SIGHT, which is designed to allow Mensans to meet other Mensans by staying in their houses for a few days. It’s not really meant to be a free holiday service, but I thought it was worth a try. I emailed the SIGHT officer in Prague, a man called Jan, and told him our story. Was there anyone in the Czech Republic brave enough to help us out? Jan was brilliant. We were offered two places, but chose to stay with Jan’s parents and sister Ivana just to the north of Prague in a town called Klecany (pronounced Kletz-ahny). We flew from Manchester, early in the morning. Jan and Ivana picked us up from the airport. Jan’s parents were very welcoming. Petr and Zdena are in their early 50s and live in a corner house, with a sizeable garden. They grow a lot of their own vegetables, and keep rabbits. They have a constant supply of fresh eggs from their chickens, and, next to the terrace, where we ate outside, the trees were bowed down with ripe apricots and little apples. Jan, Ivana and Zdena spoke passable English, though they had drafted in another friend Jarmilla to help with the language barrier (and possibly all the children). Petr spoke no English but we bonded well over Czech lager. He was on a mission to get me to taste every beer produced in their country, and I was happy to comply. Every night he would turn up with three different brands of light ale, and a map to show where they were grown and bottled. Prague itself was a 15 minute bus ride, first to Koblisy, then change and catch the tram or underground into the centre. It is truly a beautiful city. The streets are wide and light, and there is relatively little traffic. The buildings are mostly four or five storeys high, and a riot of Italian and German architecture, dating back 400+ years. I found myself taking numerous photos of buildings trying to catch the essence of the atmosphere. When I have shown the pictures to friends and family I have had to admit that the most fabulous and beautiful constructs belong, not to the famous buildings, but to the upper storeys of a hotel, restaurant or souvenir shop. The centre of Prague, around the Old Town Square, through to Wenceslas Square is pedestrianised. The smaller streets seem to twist and turn, jostling with numerous tourists, and a cacophony of languages. There are abundant restaurants, cafés, snack bars and watering holes to suit any palate or pocket. The service we received was always friendly and good, though a smattering of German helps, as not all the staff speak English (and my grasp of Czech is non-existent). The tourist centre of the city is populated, seemingly by only four types of shop. There are so many Bohemian crystal, garnets and jewellery shops it amazes me that they can make a living. To my uncultured eye they all looked the same. We didn’t really check out any of these in detail as letting four kids loose in a crystal shop is similar to that old adage about bulls and china. The kids had a better time in the many ‘wooden toy’ shops, selling traditional toys such as puppets, jigsaws and Russian dolls. The third type of shop is the ubiquitous T-shirt and postcard shop, found in capital cities the world over. Lastly, and again not one for the kids, juxtaposed between the crystal, T-shirt, toy shops, and cafes was the distinctly Bohemian sex museum. You’ll have to wait until 2020 before I’ll be able to tell you what’s inside! The star attraction of course in the Old Town Square is the famous Astronomical Clock, which tells both the time and gives the position of the sun and moon. The clock is a masterpiece of engineering, intricate in design. If the hourly chimes and parade of saints appear disappointing to the modern eye, think back to how it appeared to the devout in the 15th century. Flowing through the centre of Prague is the River Vltava, the same one that came to the world’s attention two years ago, when it rose over ten metres in a matter of hours, flooding the old town and making international news. In the Old Town Square, there is a poignant exhibition of photographs of the flood, which is well worth a visit. The oldest, and without doubt most crowded of bridges across the Vltava, is Karlov Most (Charles Bridge) which was built nearly 700 years ago. It has a massive gateway at each end, which are open for the public to climb (if they aren’t sporting a double buggy anyway), and the sides of the bridge are lined with little stalls selling trinkets and artwork. There is a lovely view up to Prazsky Hrad, the castle, on the hill. The far side of the river has a large tree-covered park. There is a funicular railway which runs to the top of the hill, and gives a fantastic panorama across the city. A short walk through the park leads to a mini Eiffel tower called Petrin, which has the steps winding round the outside of the tower, like a helter-skelter. The view from the top is magnificent. It took us several attempts to make it to the castle. We kept getting distracted by other activities. When we did finally go, on the last day of the trip, it was well worth the wait. To be fair it is thronging with tourists, and the queue for tickets had about 50 people in it. As we got in line some Canadians (hearing my husband’s accent) told us about a tiny box office in the cathedral selling the same tickets, but without the obligatory 20 minute queue. I nipped off and fetched them. The cathedral itself is large and stately. It has some intricate stained glass windows, and many alcoves and side areas with different saints and functions. There are catacombs under the floor, where the Czech Royalty are buried. The Old Royal Palace has a magnificent hall, with a beautiful high domed ceiling. The mural on the wall dates it to 1079, though the castle complex dates back to the 8th century. Upstairs the ceilings are painted with the individual coats of arms of the previous rulers. There is a library of massive old books, some of which are chained to the shelf like those in the Unseen Library. There is also the largest (and possibly only) green pottery wardrobe I have ever seen. Leading down from the main castle complex is a narrow row of shops called the Golden Lane. This is very picturesque and olde worlde, as cobble stones and overhanging gables compete to bruise as many tourists as possible in the crush. Each shop sells a different array of old crafts, postcards and souvenirs, from lace and linen to handmade vases. The bottom of the Lane leads out onto a square containing the Toy Museum. This delightful little museum has cases full of toy trains, tin Santas, wooden castles, toy soldiers, rag dolls, doll houses and those deeply impractical dolls with the porcelain heads. It even has a row of robots from the 70s and 80s. The pièce de résistance though (and forever embedded in the memory of our four year old daughter) was the floor dedicated to Barbie. Barbie was born in 1952, and has kept up with the changing fashions ever since. This museum had them all. There were prim outfits from the 50s, risqué outfits from the 60s, frighteningly colourful ones from the 70s, a nightmarish foam Liquorice Allsorts one from the 80s, astronaut Barbie, wedding Barbie, fox hunting Barbie, Spice Girl Barbie, and a disturbing one of Barbie with a removable baby in her tummy. Fortunately it appeared that Ken has trained as a doctor. We were there for a hour. Opposite the Toy Museum, across the street is a courtyard belonging to a restaurant. This particular restaurant is worthy of note for being fabulously child friendly. Not only did they have two high chairs for our younger set of twins, but also provided colouring materials for the older twins and made chocolate spread sandwiches too. You can’t beat that level of service. (I know some of you reading this are nodding in agreement.) By contrast, Praha Zoo is somewhere I would recommend you take a picnic. Maybe that’s a little unfair. The queues were long and vegetarians had better like French fries or Cornettos, because even the salad has meat in it. Prague Zoo suffered greatly when the Vltava flooded, and many of the animals, including the elephant, drowned before they could be rescued. Consequently the zoo is somewhat under reconstruction, with great plans afoot to build enclosures at the top of the hill, well away from the flood plain. There is still plenty to see, from Galapagos tortoises to sealion antics. You can borrow a pull-along trailer for the kids to sit in, which makes the walking easier, for them at least. Then it was time for us to fly back to England. Jan managed to tie the buggy to the top of his two door car, and somehow we wedged four children, three adults and all our luggage in, for the trip back to the airport. We loved staying with Zdena, Petr, and Ivana. They were gracious hosts, patient with the children, and fun to spend time with. Our Czech hosts have promised to come and stay with us next year, and we are very much looking forward to having them. First published in VISA issue 59 (February 2005) |