23 May 2018, Wednesday

After the heavy rain last night, we woke up to a misty morning and it was a chilly 13 degrees Celsius outside. After breakfast, we reluctantly checked out of our lovely apartment at 8:15am and made our way to the bus station to catch our bus to Prague.

I had booked tickets from a company called RegioJet/Student Agency (click here) and it cost €7.60 (S$12.35) per person for the approximately three-hour journey. At 8:50am, the bright orangey-yellow RegioJet bus pulled up at platform 5 and we took our seats. The bus was pretty comfortable.

There was a stewardess on board who served free coffee, there was free Wi-Fi (though it was patchy at times), free Czech newspapers (nothing in English) and a large personal screen that offered entertainment (apparently, there should be movies too but I didn’t find any). The ride from Český Krumlov to Prague took about 2 hours 50 minutes and we arrived at 11:55am.

Upon arrival at Prague Na Kníźecí bus station, we attempted to take a taxi to our Airbnb apartment but the driver refused to fetch us because our suitcases were too big and couldn’t fit into their cars. After being rejected by a few drivers, we decided to take the Metro instead.

Thankfully, the bus station was very near the Anděl Metro station. We bought a single trip ticket for 32 Kč (S$2.25) and hopped on the yellow line, alighting three stations later at Můstek station. From there, it was a 5-minute walk to our apartment. (Upon closer inspection, I discovered that we should have bought the cheaper Short-Term 30-minute ticket priced at 24 Kč instead of the Basic 90-minute ticket at 32 Kč)

Airbnb apartment
Address: Michalská, Prague 110 00
Price: S$396.96 for 3 pax for 2 nights
Link: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/17862265?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1&sharer_id=19103762

The apartment’s location was very good – right in the heart of the Old Town and just three minutes’ walk away from Old Town Square. The apartment was very spacious and clean. The only negative points were that there was no lift (we had to carry our suitcases up to the fourth floor) and no air-conditioning. Nevertheless, with temperatures ranging between 14 and 25 degrees at this time of the year, it was still acceptable.

At 1:45pm, we left our apartment to search for lunch. As we were quite hungry by then, we didn’t venture too far and settled on a restaurant in the Old Town called Café Domeček. There weren’t many other customers at the time but somehow, we had to wait more than half an hour for our food to arrive. Thankfully, the food was up to par. I ordered a beef goulash and it was really good. Dad’s pork steak and mum’s chicken steak were very good too. The bill came up to 752 Kč (S$52.65), including drinks.

After lunch, we explored Old Town Square. This was my second time in Prague and it was a total contrast to the last time I visited, during December 2015. Back then, it was winter and Old Town Square was hosting a massive Christmas market, with a huge Christmas tree in the middle. I remember it was very crowded and very cold, even in the day. Well, the crowds were still around on this day but it at least it was sunny and warm. The middle of the square was also unoccupied so it appeared larger.

Of the 13 cities we had covered thus far during this trip, Prague is the only place I have visited before. It was a conscious decision to avoid any repeats as much as possible because my objective for this trip was to explore new countries and cities. I feel that visiting a place for the first time is always the most thrilling and exciting because you never know what to expect. The world is so big and I know that I have limited time and resources to see it all, so I make it a priority to see as much as I can.  

Having said that, I am not opposed to repeating destinations. There are certain places in the world that I will always love to go back to, for example, Japan, Nepal and Iceland. These are probably my favourite three countries in the world. There is a welcoming sense of revisiting familiar places and knowing how to navigate the streets without consulting a map. As for Prague, I couldn’t possibly bring my parents to the Czech Republic and not visit the capital city. Dad was keen to come here because he had read about how beautiful it is. Besides, there was a practical reason to come to Prague too – it offered international flight connections so my parents could fly home from here.

So for my second time here, I was quite familiar with the overall layout of the city and the key sights to cover. Having just come from the small and compact Český Krumlov, Prague was huge in comparison and much more overwhelming. We decided that we would take it easy and just enjoy the immediate Old Town area.

The famous Astronomical Clock on the southern wall of Old Town Hall was under repair during our visit and it was covered up, but a digital LED version of the clock was on display. This astronomical clock was installed in 1410 and it is the oldest one still operating today. At the top of every hour, the two doors above the clock will open to reveal the 12 Apostles on a revolving belt while a skeleton rings a bell. I had seen it during my last visit so it was no loss for me. Furthermore, this little “show” has been listed as one of the most overrated tourist attractions, alongside the Glockenspiel in the New Town Hall of Munich.

As we meandered through the cobblestoned streets, I discovered a record shop called Music Bazar, hidden in one of the alleys. It was a proper music shop selling tons of used CDs and vinyls. It was wonderfully old school and I rubbed my hands in glee as I browsed through the store.

We then went to Charles Bridge (aka Karlův most), the most recognisable landmark of Prague. As always, it was a hive of activity here, with musicians busking, artists displaying their artworks for sale and throngs of tourists with selfie sticks trying to get that perfect shot with Prague Castle in the background.

Construction of this medieval stone bridge began in 1357 during the time of King Charles IV and it was completed in 1402. It straddles across the Vltava River (the same river that runs through Český Krumlov) and connects the Old Town and Lesser Town (aka Malá Strana), beyond which lies the Prague Castle. Until 1841, it was the only bridge over the Vltava river in Prague. It used to be passable to trams and vehicles but it’s now a pedestrian bridge.

Charles Bridge is 516m long and almost 10m wide. It is protected on both ends by three bridge towers – the Old Town Bridge Tower and two towers on the Malá Strana side. At regular intervals along both sides of the bridge are Baroque statues of 30 saints and historical figures. They were added in the 17^th century and many of the statues on the bridge now are replicas. The originals can be seen at the Lapidarium in the National Museum.

Charles Bridge is often called one of the most beautiful bridges in the world, and for good reason. As usual, the best view of the bridge is not on the bridge itself, but along the banks of the Old Town, where you can see both Charles Bridge and Prague Castle in the distance.

After crossing Charles Bridge, we arrived at Malá Strana. The streets here were also covered with cobblestones and there was more of the Old Town feel. As we didn’t have the intention to visit Prague Castle (I had been there during my last visit), we just milled around for a short while before turning back to Charles Bridge and the Old Town.

There was one place that I was keen to visit this time – the Dancing House. From Charles Bridge, we walked along the banks of the Vltava river towards the Dancing House, about 1.3km away. Along the way, we passed by the National Theatre, an elegant performance hall for opera, ballet and drama performances. Incredibly, I forgot to take a picture of the National Theatre.

After walking what seemed like ages, we finally arrived at the Dancing House. The building is owned by Nationale-Nederlanden, a Dutch insurance and asset management company. It is called the Dancing House, or also Fred and Ginger, because its unique shape resembles a pair of dancers. Fred and Ginger refer to the legendary Hollywood dancing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The rock tower on the right represents Fred while the curvy, glass tower represents Ginger.

The building was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Miluníc in collaboration with renowned Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. Gehry is of course, famous for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, among others.

The building was quite controversial when completed in 1996 because it was an anomaly among the Baroque, Gothic and Art Nouveau buildings that is characteristic of Prague’s architecture. Critics said that the modern and sleek glass façade stuck out like a sore thumb and had no place in the historic city centre. I personally think it’s a bold piece of architecture and quite remarkable. However, I must say that it looks more amazing in photos than in real life, and I was a little underwhelmed when I saw it in person because I was expecting more.

At 6:30pm, our stomachs started to growl again. We were craving for Thai food so we went to an Asian restaurant that served Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese food. We ordered tom yum soup, shrimp fried rice, shrimp and curry rice, and a bowl of beef pho. The total bill was Kč 536 (S$37.50). The food was pretty good and it was satisfying to have some hot soup in the system as the weather turned chillier with sunset.

As we made our way back to our apartment, we passed by the rotating head sculpture of Franz Kafka outside Quadrio shopping mall at Vladislavova. I stayed at an Airbnb apartment right on this street during my last visit in 2015. This stunning sculpture is made up of 42 rotating, mirror-polished, stainless steel plates that twist independently before coming together to form a complete head of Franz Kafka, who is one of Prague’s most celebrated writers. It was mesmerising to watch the head forming and disintegrating and forming again.

Here’s a short but fascinating clip talking about the conceptualisation and creation of the sculpture:

After that, we felt tired so we headed back to our apartment to call it an early night. One more full day in Prague with mum and dad tomorrow before they fly home. Sobs!