Prague: Beautiful but watch your back and wear your money belt!

St. John of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge, Prague. It is said that if you rub the plaque beneath the statue, you’ll get a wish. One wish per person, per lifetime, please.

I’ve been letting our Prague vacation simmer in my brain for a while hoping I would get some inspiration on what to tell you about our trip. On the whole, weighing the positives against the negatives, I have decided this: Prague is a beautiful city worthy of at least three days of your time.

So, why not my usual gush? Well, here’s part of my reason (the other part I will share another time). The tourist parts of Prague, in particular the Charles Bridge and the Old Town, have such a “rip off” feel. I am sure people will tell me that is common in large cities, but I have been to big touristy cities like Rome, Paris, NYC and London, and I can say that I have never felt as vulnerable as I did in Prague.

So, I’ve made this sound rather dramatic. Actually our bad experience boils down to two small things, really.

The first day, we walked to the Charles Bridge (gorgeous views, pictures later) and to the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town. Somewhere, probably on the Charles Bridge, someone managed to unzip Mr. DJ’s backpack. Luckily, there wasn’t anything to steal as we were just wearing our backpacks that day to do a little grocery shopping. We were a little taken aback but happy nothing was stolen.

Later in the Old Town, we bought a Trdlo (Czech sweet bread grilled over a flame) at an ice cream stand near the Astronomical Clock. It was 50 Kč (krounas or crowns). I handed the woman 100 Kč bill and she gave me… a 10 Kč coin. I waited for the rest of my change, and when I gestured to the sign with the price, she yelled something at me in Czech. I know she spoke English because I heard her talking to the people in line in front of us. Anyway, I am not sure what all she said, but she was pretty emphatic and angry about it. Ah well, karma will even things out at some point. Forty crowns isn’t a lot of money–about $2–but it’s the principle of the thing. And gosh, please don’t yell at me.

I told Mr. DJ we could now cross off two Prague experiences: Backpack pick-pocketed: check. Overcharged for food: check. Both weren’t big deals, but they did leave a bit of a bad taste in our mouths (Did I mention the yelling? So unattractive.). If you want to learn more about pickpockets in Prague, read this post.

Ok, that is all on this subject. The only other bad thing that happened during our vacation was Mr. DJ was sick for two days. Still, we managed to have a nice trip and the rest of my posts will be mostly positive about Prague. I promise. Here are some good things right now, just to tide you over:

- Good, cheap beer
- Grog and mulled wine
- Gorgeous views from the Charles Bridge
- Lots of old stuff
- Amazing Cathedrals
- In general, the people were quite nice
- The tourist stores aren’t as tacky as others I’ve seen
- We loved our hotel (Appia Residence–I think this was the bedroom in our suite!)
- Eating out in Prague was about 1/2 the price of eating out in England
- It’s only a 1.5 hour flight from London Gatwick, or about 7 hours door to door
- Pretty cobblestone streets and sidewalks
- Interesting architecture
- Czech door hardware is the best I’ve seen so far
- Excellent and inexpensive classical concerts
- Hiking the Petrin Hill was fun and we had a great time in the mirror maze

Ok, that should be good for now, right?