Vienna Views: Moje návštěva Prahy s Benem

What? You don’t speak Czech?

Well, nor do I actually. And my Russian wasn’t of much use either. But that didn’t stop Ben and me from spending three wonderful days together in Prague in mid-July. English truly is an international language, so communication was not a problem.

The weather was favorable, my feet held up through kilometer after kilometer of wandering the city over endless cobblestones (at least until the end), and we enjoyed the sights and each other’s company at our own happy and leisurely pace.

Of course, in three days you can really only sample a city. And with one as old as this, for anyone not familiar with the language and history, I imagine it could take quite a while to get to know it. Still, one can’t help but immediately appreciate its architectural charm, cultural richness, and beautiful landscape. You also readily sense the people's strong feelings of national identity and pride, particularly the reverence for their political and cultural heroes (e.g. Václav Havel, Franz Kafka, Antonin Dvorak).

I do hope to go back for more visits, but I also want to explore some villages and other places along the way … my maternal grandmother was from a small town in Moravia called Boskovice, about 30–40 km north of Brno, which used to be the home of one of the largest Jewish communities in the region. But that’s for another time.

For now, here’s just is a brief travelogue of our visit.

Vistas from the castle on the hill

Yeah, we were pretty happy about that view

...and also about the apfelstrudel we ate, too!

St. Vitus Cathedral, on the castle grounds

The Prague Castle is the largest castle complex in the world, with an area of roughly 70,000 square meters. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it is also the seat of the Czech federal government.