Prague

[Chin Diesel]

Just got back from 8 days in Prague. Mixed work and fun for the trip.

Great city and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys classic European cities. It is a cleaner version of Amsterdam.

Pros-
Tons of culture with museums, classic music, historic churches, castles, and neighborhoods.
Very good variety of ethnic Czech amd Eastern European cuisine and also Italian restaurants every 50'.
Streets are clean amd easily walkable. We had a couple of days of 20k+ steps.
Bus, train and subway are also very easy to negotiate.
Plenty of classic European style pubs andoruces for food and drink are very reasonable.
Flying in/out of Prague is a breeze. We connected through Amsterdam to get back to the states was easy too.

Cons- None really. A few homeless but they weren't aggressive. Weed smell gets worse Fri/Sat at night but nearly as bad as some places.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Just got back from 8 days in Prague. Mixed work and fun for the trip.

Great city and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys classic European cities. It is a cleaner version of Amsterdam.

Pros-
Tons of culture with museums, classic music, historic churches, castles, and neighborhoods.
Very good variety of ethnic Czech amd Eastern European cuisine and also Italian restaurants every 50'.
Streets are clean amd easily walkable. We had a couple of days of 20k+ steps.
Bus, train and subway are also very easy to negotiate.
Plenty of classic European style pubs andoruces for food and drink are very reasonable.
Flying in/out of Prague is a breeze. We connected through Amsterdam to get back to the states was easy too.

Cons- None really. A few homeless but they weren't aggressive. Weed smell gets worse Fri/Sat at night but nearly as bad as some places.

IIRC it was intentionally targeted just once by the allies. Mistaken for Dresden by a bomber group another time. Much was left intact as opposed to others in the ETO.

 

[Chin Diesel]

IIRC it was intentionally targeted just once by the allies. Mistaken for Dresden by a bomber group another time. Much was left intact as opposed to others in the ETO.

Yes. Dancing House or the Fed and Ginger House. Frank Gehry collaborated on building it back.
One of the guys I was working with this week gave me the background on the accidental bombing in 1945.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Yes. Dancing House or the Fed and Ginger House. Frank Gehry collaborated on building it back.
One of the guys I was working with this week gave me the background on the accidental bombing in 1945.

Chin, my neighbor just got back from there and she and her friends loved it. Did you stop by the Lennon Wall?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Chin, my neighbor just got back from there and she and her friends loved it. Did you stop by the Lennon Wall?

Not this trip. Ran out of time.

We stayed at a hotel in Wenceslaus Square. Easy walking to many attractions and nearby a few train/trolley stops and the subway station. Bolt and Uber Airport are always available for ride shares.

We did watch the Astronomical Clock do its thing.

Saw the Franz Kafka rotating head.

Spent a rainy Monday at the National Museum in Wenceslaus Square.

Walked over the Charles Bridge and around that area.

Visited Prague Castle and all that is around there.

While I was at work during the week, Mrs. Diesel did the Dancing House, the Czechian Eiffel Tower, and checked out several other parks and churches.

We hadn't really pre-planned anything, we just went with the flow. You can spend a week there and not run out of stuff to do. And we didn't even attempt any of the music concerts at churches and halls at night.

Last Saturday was about 70 degrees and the streets were packed. Walking guided tours in just about every language. A bunch of European bachelor parties where the groom is emasculated wearing sashes, tutus, full on dresses, etc. We must have seen at least 20 bachelor groups just walking around, drinking, and having a good time.

I say all this because foot traffic was heavy and all my colleagues in Czechia said tourist season hasn't started yet. I can't imagine what Jun-Aug looks like. Europe as a whole during the summer is becoming a mess. I must have seen 20+ friends on Facebook posting pics of Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece last year. While everyone said it was fun, they also all said the foot traffic is just unrelenting. I am a big fan of April and Sep/Oct for traveling to Europe and avoiding the summer crowds.