Walking in Prague
“My first arrival in Prague in July 2008 was by train, a lucky happenstance. In that way, this exquisite bowl of a city was delivered to me from the rim of the flat plains surrounding it like Brigadoon appearing from the mists.” Thus began an essay written and posted in May 2011 at Design Destinations about a place which remains compelling to me still.
St. George, slaying the dragon
I had the good fortune to live in Prague for all of July in both 2008 and 2010 while working as a teaching assistant for Western Michigan University’s Prague Summer Writing Program. To be so immersed in this magnificent city twice was a rare and cherished opportunity. In addition to the program gatherings and events, there was abundant time to explore. Between my walking feet and an unlimited tram pass (a highly valued perquisite of the job), I indulged a favorite pastime: blending curiosity with a strong skill for navigation to wrangle the unfamiliar into the familiar.
View of Prague Castle from Charles University
There is no better way to get to know a place than to walk. From the start point, you concentrically make your way outward, connecting the dots and making the connections. Seeing street intersections here, and later, there. Noticing tram lines as they fan out from the city’s core. Watching for landmarks such as the palace above, or the river below. Seeing the gold leaf on the state theater from different directions. Remembering the gelatto shop because of its proximity to the old clock. Making connections between streets and squares and bridges and all the elements of such a fascinating city is exciting. Every chance possible, I could be found poking around Prague, discovering new ways to get from here to there.
From castle viewpoint, looking toward Old Town
My love affair with Prague often carried me well beyond what a person could manage in the average tourist stay of 2.4 days. And I never got lost, even if, to be honest, I sometimes maybe didn’t quite know where I was. Eventually, I rode every tram line out and back, just to see what was there. I enjoyed feeling like I really knew the ins and outs of this historic city. When I returned with friends in 2018, I was gratified to note how wonderfully embedded Prague had become as I guided them with ease around the city.
Our dormitory
The contemporary vibrancy of Prague is real: the music and arts scene, the beers and liquors, the sublime visual setting. I reveled in the endlessly variable cobblestone designs, artful door handles, statues old and new, striking (sometimes obscene) public art, and other whimsical embellishments. At the same time, the undercurrent of dark memory was there. Scratch the surface of 21st century Prague and there is still a certain heaviness. Despite its brilliance as it rests there on the banks of Vlatava River, Prague has suffered eras of tragedy and darkness, much of it not so long ago. From our Czech professors at Charles University, we learned four centuries of often devastating history. As I walked, I studied the faces of the elderly people who had been witness to years of wartime and communism, and wondered what they had seen and had to do to survive.
Our dormitory was just uphill from Prague Castle. The 35-minute walk from there to the Charles University classroom building beside the Vlatava River was among my most treasured time. At 8:00 A.M., before the heat of the day, I exited the bland Communist-era dorm and walked under fragrant linden trees, along cobblestones, and through arched passageways to the castle’s upper gate. Then I went diagonally across two courtyards to a passageway that slowly revealed mighty St. Vitus Cathedral, its courtyard still muted at that hour, the daily hordes yet to arrive. Around the corner was a favorite Prague statue, a quiet fountain of a kindly-looking St. George bending forward to slay the dragon.
Changing of the castle guard
“Good morning, St. George!” I would say as I paused at the sight of dozens of windows in the castle behind me, the Bell Tower above me, and the giant obelisk nearby, all often topped by a brilliant blue sky. Then onward, past Vladislav Hall, St. George’s Basilica, Golden Lane and Lobkowicz Palace. Passing through the lower gate (where I was sometimes the only witness to the changing of the guards), I often stopped again at the overlook. Immediately below were the red roofs of Malastrana, where embassies and emissaries have been housed for centuries, and to the right, the inviting green of Petrin Hill. Bisecting the scene, the Vlatava River, its many bridges—Charles Bridge being the most famous—stitching this side to the other, where I could see Old Town, Wenceslas Square, the Jewish Quarter, and many other beautiful landmarks.
Interesting public art!
When in Prague, drink Becherovka!
Onward then, descending steeply down via one of several possible routes to the river and the bridge to my building. But to begin by walking so freely in the quiet air of this famous city, every day? Pure magic.
[Note: An earlier version of this blog appeared in 2011 in “Design Destinations,” at https://designdestinations.org]
Morning on (deserted!) Charles Bridge
