| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 01/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 37 |
| Copyright: Other |
Not too Bizet to Czech out some opera
Isabel Choat gets all classical
Prague: city profile
THE old town square in Prague is an unlikely place to come across a llama but there it was being led through the crowds of onlookers.It was late November, the city was gearing up for Christmas and the llama was one of several animals reluctantly taking part in a real-life nativity scene in the historic square.
November may be a rather chilly time of year to visit Prague but it is also one of the best. The shop windows are full of Christmas decorations, the trees sparkle with fairy lights and the smell of mulled wine drifts through the air.
It is also a great place to pick up some bargain Christmas presents, from beautifully hand-carved wooden toys to famous Bohemia glassware.
But whatever time of year you choose to visit Prague, you will find an incredibly atmospheric city, where couples are driven through the cobbled streets by horse and cart and the buildings look like something out of a fairy tale.
A reliable underground system makes it easy to get around Prague by tube but most of the sites are within walking distance and you take in much more if you explore on foot.
A good place to start a tour of the city is the old square. Its most popular feature is the astronomical clock. Crowds gather every hour to watch the clock’s display of mechanical figures, including the 12 apostles, who march past a window bowing to the audience and a cockerel that pops out of a window flapping its wings before the clock strikes the hour.
On the opposite side of the square is the Tyn church, a towering Gothic edifice which is lit by an eerie gold light at night.
From the main square you can walk to Prague’s most famous site – the medieval Charles Bridge. The towers at either end provide an excellent view of Prague Castle, dominating one side of the river. Once you are inside the confines of the castle, it is hard to make out exactly where the castle starts as an 18th-century façade hides much of the older building.
In the middle of the castle complex is the country’s largest church – St Vitus Cathedral, another imposing Gothic building. While the castle, Charles Bridge and the square cannot fail to impress, the most moving site in Prague is probably the Pinkas Synagogue where, in a chilling memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, the names of tens of thousands of Jews are written on the walls.
A ticket to the Jewish museum provides access to the synagogue as well as an exhibition of children’s drawings from concentration camps and the old Jewish cemetery, at the heart of which was the former Jewish ghetto.
If you are sightseeing on foot, it won’t be long before someone offers you a flier for one of the many concerts or plays staged every night in Prague. Whether it be at the sumptuous opera house, or one of hundreds of smaller venues in the city’s churches, concert halls and gardens, it is certainly worth going to at least one performance.
Being complete beginners as far as opera goes, we opted for the ‘Best of Opera’. Held in the room of a gorgeous old sandy-coloured building in the main square with sparkling wine on offer during the interval, it was a gentle introduction into the world of opera.
With a whole week at our disposal we saw the sites at a very leisurely pace, interspersing cultural activities with long lunches and tea breaks. We ate huge hearty meals with dumplings and cabbage, washed down with Czech beer which could easily assume the title of the best lager in the world – probably.
Like so many popular cities, Prague has its fair share of Irish bars but there are also plenty of good traditional places to hole up of an evening, like U Stare Baby (The Old Hag), a small wood-panelled pub on Kampa, a lovely island near the Charles Bridge.
The most famous of the Czech beers is Pilsner Urquell and at 40p for half a litre it is easy to acquire a taste for it. But if you fancy something different, try some Absinthe, the fiery green spirit which has been held responsible for the madness of numerous writers and artists, including Van Gogh, and is still illegal in France.
It is available in most of the bars and, if you stick to just a shot or two, you will retain both your sanity and the memories of your trip.
The town square: makes a perfect starting point for a tour of the city
A must-see: the Charles Bridge
Factfile
Prague
Getting around: the main attractions are within walking distance but there is an underground system and trams run all over the city. If you take a taxi, make sure you negotiate the fare first. The Prague Card entitles you to unlimited travel by underground, tram or bus and gives admission to many sites.
For information: contact the Czech Tourist Authority on 020 7291 9925.