Praha, Česká Republika

The plan was to go to Munich this weekend, but we made a last minute change to go to Prague instead. Laura's friend/co-worker, Joi, was still in town and was more interested in joining us for Prague than Munich, so we decided if we could pull it off, we might as well. That way we'd have another person to join us for the 5 hour drive. Part of the reason Joi wanted to go to Prague was because we mentioned that we wanted to go on one of the popular Prague Ghost Tours. In one of her prior trips to Prague, she wanted to go on one of these tours, but the group she was with had no interest so she didn't get to do it. Although we had a very good time in Prague, the ghost tour turned out to be a total bust, but I'll get into that later.

So on Monday, I was left with the task of finding the three of us a hotel in Prague. This turned out to be more of a challenge than I initially expected. Things have changed an awful lot in Prague since I was there five summers ago. It has certainly become more visited by tourists, it is now part of the EU (although not on the Euro currency), and as a result it is not the bargain it once was. I remember half the reason people travelled to Prague was because it was so cheap. I tried not to let it affect our trip too much, but I was just blown away by how expensive it had become. I quickly figured out that this would not be the cheap weekend in Eastern Europe that we were expecting. At least when we were in London we were prepared for it, but there were many things in Prague that were comparable in price, if not more expensive than London. I started to learn this when I was looking for hotels. Not only was it tough to find a hotel with availability, but we ended up paying much more for a hotel room than I expected. I spent several hours Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday searching for a hotel, not finding much. The last time I was there, we just showed up at the train station and somebody helped us find a cheap place. But since we were driving and would be arriving late, we needed a destination. Thursday morning, I was convinced Prague was no longer the destination. I thought we'd just go back to the original plan of Munich this weekend, and go to Prague in a couple weeks after having more time to plan. But then I found a Last Minute Special at a pretty nice 4* hotel, in a good central location, for €80 a night per room. Then parking became an issue. Parking is tough to come by in Central Prague, most places charging around €25 per day to park, an extra expense we weren't prepared for. Oh well, I was relieved to find a place, and didn't want to have to go through the hotel search again, so I booked it.

On Friday, Laura and Joi got out of work around 5:00pm and we hit the road for the 5 hour journey northeast to Praha/Prague. Maybe the drives through Germany are all starting to blend together and look the same, or perhaps this drive just wasn't as picturesque, but Laura and I both agreed that this was the least exciting drive we had done yet. As I mentioned above, the Czech Republic has gone through several changes since I was there last, aside from just the increased prices that hit us hardest. In 2004, they joined the EU. And in December 2007, they became a member of the Schengen Agreement, abolishing the border controls with all of its neighbors (Germany, Austria, Poland, and Slovakia). This was significant because A) travelling to the Czech Republic now counts in our maximum of 90 days within 6 months allowed in the EU without a visa; and B) we did not have to stop at any border patrol, just like when we travelled to Austria a few weeks ago, thus not getting another stamp on the passport. Since it was so recent, the border patrol stations are still there, but they are no longer used, and we just drove through. However, we did stop at the border to pick up a vignette, a sticker required to drive on the Czech highways (a lot of countries here require one of these, although they don't exactly advertise it - it's basically just paying a toll to use the highway, and a pretty hefty fine if you're stopped without one). After crossing into the Czech Republic, we noticed several differences from Germany. Things just looked a bit different, one being that the Czech countryside seemed to be a bit more picturesque than the previous 3 hours, but that could just be because it seemed like something new and different to us.

One of the major cities we passed through before arriving to Prague was Plzen (or Pilsen, in English). Although I'm sure the Germans would argue that they invented it, Pilsen is best known for creating the Pilsner-style beer, a pale lager. Pilsen is home to Pilsner Urquell, the original pilsner brewery, and Czech Republic's most recognizable brand of beer (it's exported to the US, so you might recognize it). I enjoyed a few of Pilsner Urquell's while we were there, although I decided it's really not my favorite. Another popular brand of beer brewed by the Czech's is Budejovický Budvar (or Budweiser Budvar). That name might sound a little familiar, but it is completely different than the Budweiser brewed in the US - including it's taste, which is much heavier and more bitter. The Czech brand came long before the American Budweiser brand, and for over a hundred years there has been a trademark dispute between the two companies. Both Budweiser Budvar and Anheuser-Busch actually have trademarks for the name "Budweiser." But in 1911, the companies agreed that Anheuser-Busch can only use the "Budweiser" name in North America, and Budvar, which is exported to North America, is sold under name "Czechvar" in the US and Canada. In 2007, Anheuser-Busch actually reached an agreement that they would market Budvar/Czechvar in the US and several other countries. This is just something I was curious about, so did a little research on it.

After a 5 hour drive, we finally got to Prague a little after 10:00pm. Thanks to our trust in the car's navigation system, we had no problems finding the hotel, despite the confusing roads in the city. Things just didn't feel the same in Prague, a little eery and frightening driving in. After arriving to the hotel, we checked in, and then tried to figure out what to do with the car. They told us it was not safe to park the car on the street overnight in Prague, and certain zones of the city require a parking decal. So we settled for parking in the "hotel garage," at a rate of €25 per night....ouch! The receptionist told me she would open the gate next door to the hotel and I could just drive right in, making it seem so simple. But we didn't see a gate we thought was large enough to fit the car through, so the girls went back in to check. Sure enough, it was the "gate" next to the hotel that just looked like a regular door and a hallway. Then another hotel worker came out asking to see some documents to make sure the car did not weigh more than 2000 kg. I wasn't quite sure what he meant by this, until after I pushed the mirrors in and squeezed the car through the hallway with about an inch to spare on either side, and then saw what they referred to as a "garage." At first look, it appeared as though there were only 3 parking spots there, and the first two were full. The third one was going to require some Austin Powers-like maneuvering to get the right angle into the spot without scratching the car on the wall. So the man gave me another option. The cars were actually on a lift, probably a few layers of cars underneath. As he started to lift the car in the spot that I thought I could more easily get into, the car on that lift started to shift, then was caught by the blocks before the alarm started to go off. It made me feel really good about putting the car on it. After considering both options, we decided to go with the easier angle, down one layer. So we got all our stuff out of the car, moved some obstacles out of the way, and I got the car into the spot with little room to spare. It was almost as tricky to get myself out of the small space after parking the car, and it didn't feel too comforting that only a metal platform separated me from the car above. As much of an adventure as that was, I was pretty sure we weren't moving the car until we left on Sunday, but I was determined to find a way out of the parking fees at the hotel. I even offered bribes, such as purchasing a bottle of vodka for the Russian receptionist on staff. She pretty much just giggled at my negotiation skills. But as you'll find out later, I did prove to be a master negotiator in the end.










After the eventful car parking, we went up to the room and dumped our stuff quickly so we could go right back out. The room was really nice (at least by European standards), except for the fact that it was blazing hot in Prague this weekend and the AC didn't work so well. We were hoping to get to town in time for dinner and some drinks, but since it was already after 11:00pm before we were settled in, it was a little late for dinner. We did have some peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and snacks in the car on the way, but we were still in the mood for a little something to eat when we got to Prague. So we walked out the hotel, through Wenceslas Square (the main street of Prague's "New Town"), and into the Old Town Square. Old Town Square is the historic center of Prague, with what remains of some 14th century Gothic buildings. Today it is also full of restaurants, which this time of year fill the square with their outdoor seating. It's a very cool square, especially when it's lit up at night, but we probably should have known it wasn't the best place to grab a bite to eat without draining our wallets. We just wanted a couple of appetizers and some drinks to settle in after a long drive, not the $30-50 entrees we saw on the menus in this touristy spot. After walking around and trying to decide on a place, we noticed that it was now after midnight and the restaurants were shutting down. So our options were even more limited, and suddenly we were all starving and grumpy. It pains me to write this, but the Golden Arches were calling us. They sure love their McDonald's in Prague. In just the 10 minute walk through Wenceslas Square and into Old Town Square, we passed three of them, all proud to advertise they are Mc24 hours and have fine outdoor seating in the square. It seemed like our best option at the time, so we caved and had our first dining experience at McDonald's on this European adventure. I still like the fact that you can get beer with your meal at McDonald's in Europe, so I ordered a Pilsner Urquell with my meal.

After we crushed some McDonald's, we all felt like crap and it was about 1:00am, so we tried to walk it off and went back to the hotel to get some sleep. We again passed through the crazy street and Wenceslas Square, which by now was full of drunk people and lots of night clubs. It seems that many people like to travel to Prague for the simple purpose of getting wasted all weekend. During the weekend, we saw lots of Brits on bachelor parties (some dressing up the groom-to-be in some pretty interesting and funny outfits), and also lots of drunk Scottish men in kilts and soccer jerseys. Apparently the Scots were in town for a soccer match, but that still doesn't seem to me like a good enough excuse for a man to wear a skirt. Nonetheless, it's not the most pleasant or secure-feeling place to walk through at night. And Prague is by far the least clean city we've been to in Europe thus far, with trash, empty beer cans, and vomit littering the streets around Wenceslas Square.

We woke up Saturday morning to some great weather. Almost too great, actually. It was in the high-80's and not a cloud in the sky, so sunscreen was a necessity. After some breakfast (which was included at the hotel), we headed off to Old Town Square for an 11:00 walking tour with Prague Walks. The walking tours in London the week before were such a hit, we decided it was probably the best way to see the city and get a little history along the way. There were 3 tours we were interested with, and I e-mailed with the company during the week to setup a package price of 700 Czech Koruna (or crowns - Kč) for all three. The exchange rate has definitely suffered since I was last in Prague, and now it's only about 16 Kc to US$1. The tour package was an okay deal, but still a little high based on my standards for Prague. The first tour was the 3.5 hour "Grand Walk - The Best of Prague," basically an overview of the major tourist attractions.

Although not as theatrical as the walking guides in London (clearly because of the language barrier), our guide was fantastic. She was probably about our age and spoke very good English. She began the tour with a brief history on the city, the country, and the sites we would see. Since there were only two other people on the tour, it was basically a private tour and we could ask questions at any time. I was very interested to hear about the breakup of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, but first how the country came together. Czechoslovakia became it's own country in 1918, declaring independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I. Though there was clearly a geographical and cultural division between the Czech's and the Slovak's, the two felt they were a stronger nation together at the time. The Czech's were considered more industrial, while the Slovak's were more agricultural, so they were good complements to each other, and they built a strong nation until the rise of communism after World War II. Another difference between the two is that they have separate languages - Czech and Slovak. The languages are actually quite similar, both part of the Slavic language group, which also includes Russian, Polish, etc. Our guide told us they are pretty much just a different dialect, so they can understand each other for the most part. Until 1918, the Czech's were actually forbidden to speak any language other than German while in public.

I couldn't help but think of how great the national hockey team would be if both nations were still together. But in 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the present day Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. I wondered if they have a good relationship with one another, or if there is a rivalry between the two, so I asked the guide her thoughts about it. She told me there is not much of a rivalry because the two helped each other to build a nation in 1918 and to get out of communism in 1989, but they just decided they were better off separated in 1993. It was a common agreement between the two states, so it was not like there was a lot of controversy when the split happened. Our guide the next day on the "Communism Walk" did admit to me that he feels the Czech's are better off being separated, because they are economically ahead of the Slovak's.

So back to the tour.....we, of course, started out in the Old Town Square. Our guide talked about the importance of this main square, and then focused on the architecture of the two 14th century Gothic buildings that still stand in the square today - the Astronomical Clock and the Týn Cathedral. There are random Gothic buildings that still exist throughout the city, these are the two that dominate Old Town Square. They are very cool buildings, and if you look closely at the Týn Cathedral, you can actually tell that the two towers are slightly different, because they were completed more than 50 years apart by different builders (not uncommon in those days). The Astronomical Clock of Prague is a medieval astronomical clock. It is the tower of the Old Town City Hall, and the only part of the old Gothic building that remains after a fire many years ago. If you stand in front of the clock at the start of a new hour, you can see "The Walk of the Apostles," a show of figures of the Apostles (each representing something that was despised during the clock's making), circling around inside the clocks windows. In my opinion, a bit overrated, but many tourists congregate around the clock each hour to see it.

After walking around Old Town Square, it was then off to a baroque cathedral (I don't remember the name of it), just off the square. This was a very cool cathedral, that we would have never known to visit had it not been for the walking tour. It was very impressive inside, and it felt great to escape the heat for a minute in a nice, cool building. The most interesting story to me was about a man who once tried to steal the prized Virgin Mary statue at the front of the church. This resulted in some public humiliation and his arm was chopped off. The picture below might not look like much to you, but it is the forearm bone of this man, hung in the back of the church as a reminder for all who might consider a similar act.

After this, we took a look inside the less impressive St. Nicholas Church, another baroque cathedral that also holds small concerts, before making way toward the Josefov neighborhood, the old Jewish ghetto. We saw the High Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, and the Old New Synagogue. Our guide gave us the most history about the Old New Synagogue, Europe's oldest active synagogue, and the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin nave design. The Old New Synagogue was completed in 1270, one of Prague's first Gothic buildings, and was originally called the New or Great Shul. But when newer synagogues were built in the 16th century, it became known as the Old-New Synagogue.

After walking through Josefov, we then headed toward the Vltava River, which separates the Hradčany (Castle District) and Malá Strana (Lesser Town District) from Staré Město (Old Town), Nové Město (New Town), and Josefov (Jewish Quarter). We walked across the Manesuv Most, the bridge just north of the famous Charles Bridge so we could take in views of the Charles Bridge, Parliament, and the Prague Castle, before taking a tram up the hill to the castle.











Before we entered the castle, our guide gave us some information on it. The Prague Castle is where the Czech Kings, Holy Roman Emperors, and Presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. It also holds the crown jewels of the Bohemian Kingdom. The Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world, although it really doesn't seem like a true castle to me. It's really like a separate town inside of Prague, with walls protecting it from the surrounding area. There are guards at all the entrances to the castle area, and a changing of the guard ceremony takes place daily at noon, which we missed. You can even stand next to the guards and get a picture, but Laura wasn't into that photo opportunity, or making any attempts for them to break the serious look, so we passed. You can enter the castle and walk around all you want for free, but to get into any of the buildings inside there is a fee. We didn't have time for that, we just walked around the grounds as our guide pointed out some of the buildings, explaining what goes on in them. The history of the castle dates back to the 9th century. Dominating the castle is the impressive Gothic-style St. Vitus Cathedral, which was originally founded in the early 10th century (the present-day cathedral was founded in 1344). It is the largest and most important church in the country, containing the tombs of many Bohemian Kings, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Our guide stopped to give us some history about it's architecture and construction, pointing out the flying buttresses, protective gargoyles, and the towers.

After walking around the castle, we took in the views of Prague from up above. Then we descended down the hill into the Malá Strana, on the west side of the river, as our guide pointed out some more things in Hradčany and Malá Strana on the way. Included in the tour was a stop for a cold beverage, so we stopped in a cafe in Malá Strana, just on the side of Charles Bridge, and relaxed for a bit over an ice cold Budvar. This was one of the more interesting parts of the tour, mainly because we were such a small group, and we had a chance to talk to our guide some more, get to know her a bit, and hear more about what it is like to live in the Czech Republic. She also gave some suggestions on Czech food, other places to visit in the country, etc. She was especially interested to talk to Laura and Joi about New York City, because she has spent some time there and loves the city. This was the stopping point of the tour, and after we parted ways with our tour guide, we walked around the narrow streets in search of some lunch. Now almost 3:00pm, we were starving, and we found what we thought was a reasonably priced pizza/pasta restaurant. Even though I was a bit dehydrated, I was interested in tasting a different beer tha they had on tap, Královský Pivovar Krušovice, from one of Czech Republic's oldest Royal Breweries. Part of why I ordered beer and not water, is because it's nearly impossible to get free/tap water in Europe. They just won't give it to you, and this has been a frustrating thing for me here. As it turns out, I'm glad I went for the much less expensive beer, even though I could have used water. It makes no sense to me why beer is always cheaper than water or soda in Europe (the meal is often cheaper than the drinks), but I was particularly blown away when the bill came, and my beer was only about US$2, while the small bottles of water each of the girls got was more than US$4. That put me in a sour mood for a minute, but then it was off to the Charles Bridge.


We walked across the Karlův Most (Charles Bridge), Prague's most recognizable landmark. Construction of the Charles Bridge began in 1357, under the direction of King Charles IV, and was finished in the beginning of the 15th century. At the time, it was the only bridge in Prague that crossed the Vltava River. It was originally called the Stone Bridge (Kamenný Most) or the Prague Bridge (Pražský Most), but has been the "Charles Bridge" since 1870. The bridge is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Lesser Town side, and the third one on the Old Town side. The bridge is lined with several statues on each side, memorials to kings and other important historical figures. Walking along the bridge during the day is not all that pleasant. It is a pedestrian-only bridge that is filled with tourists, painters, and other street vendors. Joi was in search of a painting from Prague, so she kept stopping to look along the way, although she never found anything she was interested in enough to purchase.






















After walking across the bridge, we were pretty exhausted and headed back to the hotel for a little break and to freshen up before the evening. We decided to take a different route to the hotel, so we could walk along the river and get different views of the Charles Bridge and the Castle. Once we got to the National Theatre, we turned back toward the Wenceslas Square and the route we knew to get back to the hotel. When we got back, we were greeted with an extremely hot hotel room. The AC was making some noise, but not exactly pumping out cold air. The only way to cool off was with a cold shower. Then Laura passed out for about an hour while I stayed up and read a book (I'm not much of a napper). After she woke up, we got ready for the evening.










We were excited about a fun evening, beginning with the ghost tour, a nice dinner in Old Town Square, and perhaps another night time activity. But when we got down to the Old Town Square meeting spot for the ghost tour, we knew things didn't look right after our first glance at our guide. There were several tour companies lined up to lead Prague Ghost and Legends Tours, and had we not already prepaid for a package with Prague Walks, I'm sure we would not have chosen this person. This was a different guide than we had in the morning. She was a bit frightening to look at, but that's where the scariness on this tour ended. Although Prague can definitely be a spooky town at night, this guide was not qualified to lead the tour. The fun of a tour like this is to have somebody really act things out and tell good stories. Our guide spoke poor English, had no personality, and was therefore a terrible story teller. We walked into some dark alleys where she attempted to tell some ghost stories. Our group of 7 just looked at each other in amazement after the first story. Nobody really said anything, but you could tell what we were all thinking - "wow, this is brutal, a complete waste of time and money." I expected it to be cheesy, but I don't even know if I could call it that because the guide was so bad - except that a few times during the hour tour, another guy dressed up in a "scary" costume would jump out of an alley and try to scare us. We considered ditching out on the tour, but somehow we ended up sticking it out.

In hindsight, we really should have ditched out, because about midway through the tour, a thunderstorm came, and by the time it was over, all the restaurants in the square were shutting down their outdoor seating. The indoor seating at these overpriced restaurants wasn't all that attractive to us, so we all just kind of stood there hoping somebody would come up with a plan. The only good thing about the thunderstorm, is that the Gothic buildings in the Old Town Square looked very cool when the sky behind them were lit up from lightning strikes. It really wasn't raining that hard, though, so we still walked around in search of a place to eat. By then it was almost 11:00pm, we were starving, grumpy, and just really upset that the awful ghost tour and storm seemed to be ruining what we thought would be a really fun night, in a city that is generally known for being so wonderful after dark (at least it was the last time I was there). We finally stumbled upon another pizza/pasta place. We already had similar food for lunch, but it was open, not terribly expensive, and seemed like a safe alternative, so we just went with that for dinner. After dinner, I really wanted Laura to see the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle lit up at night (I remembered from before it was very neat after dark), so we walked back through Old Town Square toward the Vltava River. The views were okay, but we stumbled upon some live, free entertainment when we got to the river. Down below the walkway, a fight was breaking out between a couple of drunk Czech guys. We watched for a minute, as one guy got pounded and then came back for more. Then there was a lot of yelling going on in a crazy Eastern European language, and we didn't feel so safe anymore, so we walked quickly back toward the hotel. None of us were even in the mood for a drink, and we just called it a night.

We got back to the hotel, and the room seemed even hotter than before. So I opened up the windows to get a draft going, and then went down to the front desk to see if they could do anything about it. They had no fans and no extra rooms. So we were pretty much stuck with what we had. This is where my negotiating skills came into play, and I asked the receptionist if she could waive the parking fees in light of the room situation. She said that might be possible and she'd leave a note for the receptionist on duty in the morning when we checked out. So in the morning, not only did I get a late check out so we could walk around during the day and leave our stuff in the room, but the receptionist also told me we would have one night's parking waived. I then got a little greedy, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. So I said, "well, the AC was like this in both rooms, both nights....can we waive both nights parking?" Figuring I would get the typical European answer of, "No, that is not possible," I got just the opposite. She called her manager and he approved it, telling her to just have me sign something because they would be charging it to the company who installs the AC (it's a very new hotel, so they shouldn't be having these problems already). Suddenly, I felt pretty good about everything, and wasn't so disturbed by all the times we had been ripped off throughout the weekend. I had just negotiated with the hotel to waive about US$90 worth of parking fees, and the girls seemed rather impressed.

After breakfast, we headed back to Old Town Square for our third and final walking tour before heading back to Kempten. When we showed up for the 11:00am "Communism Walk," we could tell Prague Walks still didn't quite have it together. We were there, along with two other people, for the tour and the guide had not shown up. The money collectors seemed a bit flustered, and then became even more flustered when I asked for a refund for the bad experience we had the night before on the ghost tour. They said I should call the owner to ask about it. Knowing this was my only chance to get it resolved, I asked the lady to call the owner for me, at which point she put me on the phone to voice my dissatisfaction. Again, not expecting anything, I was pleased with the 100 Kč per person refund I was able to negotiate, especially since this was part of a package price that was already quite a bit lower than the regular prices. After that, the Communism Walk was ready to begin - except with somebody who filled in for the missing tour guide. Our guide seemed a little nervous, having been put on the spot to lead the tour last-minute, and his English was a bit shaky. His English was decent, but he just didn't seem totally confident with it. He didn't seem comfortable with much, actually, refusing to be photographed, and he would not reveal his real name for whatever reason. Nonetheless, he was very nice, and led a very interesting tour about the rise and fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia, taking us to some of the important sites of this time.

It was actually very interesting to have the other two people on the tour with us, both South Africans. They asked some good questions, and also shared a bit of their experiences in South Africa with us. The tour began in Old Town Square with a history of how Communism was established in Czechoslovakia. The Communist Party's rise to power, beginning at the end of World War II in 1948, is astonishing. How they were able to convince the people to support this type of government is beyond me, but soon everything in Czechoslovakia's economy was committed to comprehensive central planning and the elimination private ownership, and Czechoslovakia became a satellite of the Soviet Union. The government owned and controlled everything. If you had a private home, it was taken away and you were placed in apartments with other families. All your wealth was taken, and you no longer had any control over what you did. Everybody was forced to work (although you couldn't necessarily choose what you did), and those who didn't were imprisoned. Everybody earned the same wages, whether you were a doctor or a construction worker. It didn't take long for the citizens to realize this was not the best way to live, but those who opposed the Communists were imprisoned or killed. It was a quiet and uncomfortable period for the people in Prague, and our guide told us friends would not even discuss the issue, for fear the wrong person might be listening in. The government continued to feed the citizens propaganda, trying to convince them this was a good way of life. No westerners were allowed in, and they certainly did not get western television - the only TV was controlled by the government, feeding more propaganda. The Eastern Europeans were not allowed out either, because then they would find out what life was like outside the communist rule.

After a brief history on the rise of Communism, the tour then moved over to the Powder Tower, another remaining Gothic structure just outside of Old Town Square. But on the way, I encountered a very "small world moment," when my eyes connected with a guy who looked very familiar. Staring strangely at each other as we passed by, we both figured it out at the same time - it was Rob and Sue, a couple I knew from the final semester of my Master's degree that I finished abroad in Lima, Peru. I took classes with Sue, and her boyfriend Rob was in Peru with her. I spent a weekend travelling in the Amazon with them, but I had not been in touch with either of them since returning from that trip three summers ago. It was totally bizarre to run into people I knew in Prague, and I wasn't quite sure what to say at first. What made it even more strange was that I was in the middle of a walking tour, so I couldn't hold up the group to stop and catch up. So I had about 3 minutes to chat with them, told them what I was doing in Europe, and I found out that they now live in Singapore and were in Prague for work. Last I knew, they both graduated from UPenn Wharton's MBA program and were working as consultants for Boston Consulting Group. I really don't know what they're up to now, because I didn't have time to stop and chat. Oh well, I sent them an e-mail when I got back to Kempten, but who knows if I'll hear back from them because I don't even know if they still maintain the same e-mail addresses.

Anyway, back to the tour. We stopped at the square by the Powder Tower, which our guide told us was the site of Czechoslovakia declaring their independence in 1918. The tower itself was the gateway to the old city, built in 1475 during the reign of King Vladislav II.

After the Powder Tower, we headed over to Václavské Námestí (Wenceslas Square), the area we had walked through so many times during the weekend to get to and from our hotel, but never knew about it's historical significance. The square is named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron saint of Bohemia. It is one of the main city squares and the center of the business and cultural communities of New Town. Many historical events have taken place there - it is a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. At the top end of the square is a statue of Saint Wenceslas, and behind it is a large and impressive building, the Czech National Museum. In 1968, the square was invaded by the Soviet Union, who came to Prague after hearing there was a revolution against Communism. Mistakenly believing the National Museum was an important government building, the Soviets began firing at the building, only to find out nobody was fighting back because it was just a museum. I found some humor in this story, and after hearing it I noticed the different color spots on the building, which was patchwork from the bullet holes. On January 19, 1969, a student named Jan Palach set himself on fire in Wenceslas square to protest the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union. He was followed by another student who did the same. Every time we walked by the National Museum, I wondered what the two large bumps, covered by a bronze cross were all about. On this tour, we learned that this was a memorial site to those two students. On March 28, 1969, the Czechoslovakian national hockey team defeated the USSR for the second time in that year's Ice Hockey World Championships, a huge deal to them. The country was still under Soviet occupation at the time, and the victory induced huge celebrations - Wenceslas Square being a major site of those celebrations, as about 150,000 people gathered there.














It was another 20 years before Communist rule in Czechoslovakia was finally overthrown, a result of the "Velvet Revolution." On November 9,1989, the most important symbol of the cold-war division of Europe, the Berlin Wall, came down. On November 17, riot police suppressed a peaceful student demonstration in Prague, an event that sparked a series of popular demonstrations that went until late December. With the collapse of other Communist governments, and increasing street protests with hundreds of thousands of people, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announced on November 28 that it would relinquish power and dismantle the single-party state. It was the second-to-last country in the Eastern Bloc to give up Communism (Romania followed). Barbed wire was removed from the border with West Germany and Austria in early December. Then, on December 10, President Gustáv Husák resigned and appointed the first non-Communist government in Czechoslovakia since 1948. Alexander Dubcek was elected speaker of the federal parliament on December 28 and Václav Havel the President of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989. In June 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first democratic elections since 1946. Our guide finished the tour by taking us to the site of the first speech by the new President, a balcony in a building that is now occupied by Marks & Spencer Department Store on the ground floor, and then to the plaque pictured here, which is a memorial to the student protests on November 17, 1989. Interestingly enough, our guide told us that the heads of some of the major companies today in the Czech Republic are former Communist leaders, but the companies are no longer state-controlled.

After the tour ended at around 1:30pm, we wanted to get some lunch before heading out of town. At first, we seemed to be having the same issue of finding a reasonable place to eat. We were close to just skipping it and making some PBJ sandwiches in the car, but then we found a nice cafe that advertised a special "menu of the day" option. It wasn't until our last meal in Prague, but I finally had some traditional Czech food, and it turned out to be very good. Of course, the drinks were again more expensive as the meals. A US$9 liter of water is a bit over the top, and I just don't get it. After our first successful meal in Prague, we headed back to the hotel, gathered our stuff, checked out, and then started the tricky process of getting the car back out of the garage. It only took about ten minutes this time, and then we hit the road. First, we had to spend the last of our Crowns, so we did that by putting some gas in the car. Gas wasn't any cheaper in Czech than Germany, another thing I was shocked about. After a quick fill-up, we were on our way. The girls slept the first half of the drive, but I made some really good time (it only took 4.5 hours to get back to Kempten), especially after we passed back into Germany where the speed limits are lifted on the Autobahn. I think I'll have some reverse culture shock when I get back to the United States, and going 100+ miles per hour is no longer the norm.

Next Up: We're going to the Rhine Region this weekend to meet up with Laura's father and his wife, Marlis.