Old World New Order
Old World New Order
Coveted, cherished and fought over by the rich, the royal and the partisan for its position at the crossroads of Europe. Prague is once again feeling like the centre of the universe
It’s a balmy summer evening on Wenceslas Square, though it’s more broad boulevard than square, jammed with restaurants, souvenir stalls and clothes shops. We’re lingering over an icy beer on its pavement terrace, watching the boys watching the girl’s click-clack by on their high, high heels in short, short skirts. It seems only Czech women dare wear heels on Prague’s cobbled streets – tourists are easily identified by their sensible walking shoes.
It’s nearly 20 years since the Velvet Revolution and just three years since the Czech Republic won its EU stripes, but as we wander among the city’s well-preserved architecture along broad, leafy streets, or sit in squares splashed with colourful café umbrellas, we feel like we’re in Paris.
It was 35ºC when we arrive, smothered by an unexpected blanket of heat as we emerged from the airport – more Sydney than CZ. Red ties and golden spires shimmered in the haze as we approached the city, the green lushness of the parks and gardens around Prague Castle a cool counterpoint to the sun’s glare.
Later, in the twilight, we wander, heat-dazed and jet-legged, past the Municipal House, another feast of art nouveau excess. This is the place to take in a concert, inside the glass-domed Smetana Hall, or at least have a coffee or lunch amid the opulence of the Francouzska restaurant, with its Alfons Mucha paintings and glacial light fittings.
As with all great cities, to appreciate Prague you must walk. Save the excellent tram system for when you can’t take another step. Divide your time among the five districts. To the east of Vltava river, Old Town (Stare Mesto) is Prague’s ancient, beating heart, and a trove of gothic, baroque and rococo architecture.
In the Old Town Square, a jostle of tourists waits, cameras poised, for the hourly procession of the 12 Apostles by the astronomically inaccurate Astronomical Clock (sadly, the discovery that the earth moved around the sun came a tad too late for the clockmaker).
We opt out at a nearby café over a drink and a cheese platter. The bread is generally very good in Prague, sturdy and fragrant. As is the beer, of course, such as the ubiquitous Pilsner Urquell, the oldest of the Czech brews. Or try an ice-cold shot of Becherovka, a herby, medicinal-tasting spirit, while your drink in views of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn and the intricate artwork covering the Old Town Hall.
Also on this side of the river is New Town (Nove Mesto), though ‘new’ is something of a misnomer, as it was founded in 1348. Originally home to three markets, its art nouveau architecture equals that of the Jewish Quarter (Josefov), an infamous ghetto of the 19th century. All that remains of the ghetto are the Town Hall, the synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery, with its ghostly forest of some 12,000 stacked and jumbled tombstones. In the Jewish Quarter is the Josef, a pin-sharp, hip hotel of glass, chrome and cream leather.
The rebuilding of the district produced a veritable theme park of sad-eyed, Mucha-esque reliefs and elegant wrought iron along the tree-shaded pavements, many lined with smart boutiques and cafes. In contrast to all this sensuality are a few rare examples of early-20th-century Cubist architecture, such as those you’ll find on the corner of Bilkova and Elisky Krasnahorske.
Ease the crick in your neck and avert your eyes to ground level for some people watching on ritzy Parizska, from a pavement table at Cremeria Milano, behind one of their mountainous gelato extravaganzas. Or celebrate Prague’s fast track to the epicurean cosmopolitanism with sushi at Barock next door.
On the river’s west banks sprawl Prague Castle on Hradcany, with its palaces and churches, museums and galleries. Here, St. Vitus Cathedral, housed within the castle walls, towers at night like a dreams.
To escape the tourist hordes turn left instead of right as you enter Golden Lane (Zlata Ulicka), where Franz Kafka once lived, albeit briefly, in one of the tiny goldsmiths’ dwelling lining the Castle’s wall (at number 22). At the quieter end of this colourful street is Bistro Rudolf II, where you can lunch under a linden tree. Golden Lane opens out into the courtyard of Prague’s toy museum, in which a permanent Barbie exhibition is displayed, for those who need to cut their classicism with a little 20th-century kitsch.
Lying below the Hradcany, the Little Quarter (Mala Strana) is a mass of gardens with fantastic views across the Vltava and beyond the Old Town. From here, take the funicular railway to the Observation Tower on Petrin Hill, or, at macro level, admire the stunning Dome Fresco of the baroque Church of St. Nicholas.
The whole article you will find Vogue Australia, Entertaining + Travel, DEC/JAN 2008