Europe Trip: Praha, Prague or Prada, beautiful under any name.

Prague A beautiful City

Praha is beautiful day or night. The city and government have done an exceptional job of cleaning it up. Even tho it is very cold, just above freezing, I can just imagine how wonderful the city must feel after the first snowstorm. They do a marvelous job of keeping the streets clean, running street sweepers every night on the major thoroughfares. And there is no trash anywhere. Unlike other major cities that have refuse bins on every corner, many times full to overflowing. The small and innocuous bins here never seem to have much in them. Yet you do not see trash in the gutters or flying around. In a word, it is a very clean city.

This is a modern building by the architect Frank Gehry on the riverfront.

It is also a safe city. Walking around at midnight leaves no hint of any kind of danger. Yes, there is crime but it is not significant and is kept to the periphery areas. The public transportation, trams (streetcars) and subway (Muni) run frequently and reliably. And runs on a limited schedule all night, from Midnight on. There is an extensive tram network, and you can buy an all day pass which allows you to use any of the public transit, including the subway. The subway is fast. Hold onto your hats, because it is up to max speed in seconds, and waits until you are in the station to slow down, but it does get you where you are going in a hurry. There are 3 lines, in a pinwheel so it covers the city well. Combine that with the trams and the bus lines, and you cease to wonder why there are few cars. The lack of auto traffic, compared to just about any city of comparable size in Italy is noticeable and striking. It is a very pedestrian friendly city, as are most cities I've visited. Its just that here, you notice it a lot. You are not constantly dodging cars to cross streets Or squeeze between cars, which in themselves are "more normal" in size. Lots of 4 door, 5 passenger cars.

While there is an official recognition of the Euro, the Czech still have their own currency, the Krona (?) which today is worth .07 to .09 of a US dollar or 14 to 18 per dollar. They are a part of the EU but have stalled the conversion to the common currency because of concern if they can meet the stringent financial disciplines now being set on new member nations.

There are lots of Prague pictures. the daytime pictures can be found here. Prague Daytime

Prague at night is a very vibrant and alive city. Had great fun visiting bars until midnight (too old for the 2am crowd). Buildings are lit up well, so the photo shooting is a lot of fun.

Praha is beautiful at night. The city and government have done an exceptional job of lighting it up. Even tho it is very cold, just above freezing, I can just imagine how wonderful the city must feel after the first snowstorm. They do a marvelous job of keeping the streets clean, running street sweepers every night on the major thoroughfares. And there is no trash anywhere. Unlike other major cities that have refuse bins on every corner, many times full to overflowing. The small and innocuous bins here never seem to have much in them. Yet you do not see trash in the gutters or flying around. In a word, it is a very clean city.
It is also a safe city. Walking around at midnight leaves no hint of any kind of danger. Yes, there is crime but it is not significant and is kept to the periphery areas. The public transportation, trams (streetcars) and subway (Muni) run frequently and reliably. I never felt there were pickpockets scoping me out, like I found in Rome. I was assure they are there, just not as many and not as obvious.
The City has 8 districts Prague 1 thru Prague 8. The main ones of interest at night are really Prague 1 where the river runs, and the buildings are governmental and cultural, and old. So they are lit up. That is where I spend most of my time walking in the evening. It starts to get dark at around 4pm this time of the year so I wasn't having to stay up late. I did, because my friend Boris, a german who lives in Prague and speaks Czech, kept taking me to different bars and dessert cafes to taste the local culture. He made sure I saw everything I wanted and took all the pictures I wanted. If you need to know, It was more than 1000, tho I have edited them so you don't have to wade thru the ones I think are not good enough or redundant.
The trams and the metro runs on a limited schedule all night, from Midnight on. There is an extensive tram network, and you can buy an all day pass which allows you to use any of the public transit, including the subway. The subway is fast. Hold onto your hats, because it is up to max speed in seconds, and waits until you are in the station to slow down, but it does get you where you are going in a hurry. There are 3 lines, in a pinwheel so it covers the city well. Combine that with the trams and the bus lines, and you cease to wonder why there are few cars. The lack of auto traffic, compared to just about any city of comparable size in Italy is noticeable and striking. It is a very pedestrian friendly city, as are most cities I've visited. Its just that here, you notice it a lot. You are not constantly dodging cars to cross streets Or squeeze between cars, which in themselves are "more normal" in size. Lots of 4 door, 5 passenger cars.

This clock in this tower has been in operation for over 600 years and thousands watch it chime ever hour.

If you look carefully at my photos, you will see that above the clock face characters appear in little boxes

The like to all the nighttime pictures from Prague are here. Prague Nighttime

One of the great attractions to Prague is the St. Charles bridge. Lots of statues and vendors selling things.

Sunset on the St. Charles bridge.

The nighttime view back to the city from the bridge and the river.

the views are so wonderful, I went a little crazier than normal taking pictures. Humor me, please.