Traveling in the Time of COVID: Europe

Czech Republic/ Prague

The train from Munich to Prague took 6 hours, so we splurged for 1^st class tickets. We expected more legroom, reclining seats, service for snacks and coffee. We got slightly wider, more comfortable seats, no legroom, not even a working café car (“because of COVID” – but other trains in Germany had working café cars). The wifi showed 4 bars, but would not connect until we got into the Czech Republic – 3 hours into the trip (at which time it was very fast). Definitely not worth the extra 80E each. We did, eventually, get a “free” bottle of water.

Once we arrived, we finally connected with an Uber on the 3^rd try (we didn’t know where to go to get the car). Our hotel, The Ametyst, is about a mile from the train station in Praha 2, the first region of the New Town – which began building in 1348 under Charles IV, and extends as a crescent around the Old Town. It’s about a mile from our hotel to the Astronomical Clock.

The history of the clock and function is really interesting and worth a quick read- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_astronomical_clock

John and I first visited Prague in the early 2000’s (either 2002 or 2003) and fell in love with the city. The people were very friendly to western tourists, and cost was ½ that of Austria, and about 1/3 less than in the US. The people are still accommodating, but not as friendly as we remember – over 20 years of tourists over running the city likely did that, and costs have come up. Hotels are still very reasonable – about 30-40% less than similar would cost in most major US cities, and restaurants are about 10-20% less depending on relation to the Old Town. They are very nice to older individuals – public transportation on all the local tram, subway and buses (except the tourist tram) is free to anyone 65 and older, and all of the museums we’ve visited have a senior discount of about 25%.

One of the fascinating features of the city is the sidewalks. They have complicated stonework in varying patterns – some are extremely complex. 

There may be some practical advantage in the winter with ice and snow – adding extra traction, or it may simply be a feature of the grand city. 

Although the tram station is only a few blocks away, and passes are inexpensive – a 24hour is 120Kc (about $6) and a 72 hour is 330Kc (about $16), we’ve been walking. On Monday, we logged over 30,000 steps going from the hotel, meandering through Old Town, over the bridge and into the Castle District. On Sunday, we took the #42 tram – the tourist tram, which costs 160Kc for me and 100 for John, around the city. There is an English translation you can download to your phone, but since we didn’t know about it in advance, we just watched the world go by and got off at places that looked interesting.

We found out that there is a Hop-On-Hop Off bus, but the city tourism office doesn’t steer people to that. There is a private tourist office that sells tickets to that and for the “Prague Card” – for $110 US you get a 1- hour boat cruise (which costs $14E/$17 on its own), the HOHO bus (20E/ $24) for 2 days and “discounts” to other museums. Not a bargain. 

One place the city tourist office said we really needed to see, on the edge of Praha 2 – was the Basilica of Saint Peter and Saint Paul – built upon the edge of the old city walls. It is amazing, although you have to climb 10 flights of steps to get to it on foot (there is a road for buses and car). The stained glass in each window demonstrate painstaking delicate artwork. 

How so much survived the Nazis and the Communists is amazing, though not all churches fared as well – they have a display area of relics recovered since the fall of Communism – including a beautiful work rendering Joseph and the Baby Jesus. 

We have three more days to enjoy this great city. I decided to decorate my hotel room with a little plant since I would be here the entire week – it cost 25Kc (about $1.25).