I've had a few requests to do Prague in the Indie Travel Guide recently and, since it was in the news last week as Wayne and Coleen flew there to try and save their marriage, I thought I'd oblige. So get ready to 'Czech this out' (sorry - couldn't resist) it's time to get Bohemian...
Beautiful buildings and not so beautiful stag parties...
Prague - 'the city of a hundred spires' is one of the most stunning cities in Europe. It's got a lovely river, a beautiful old town, picturesque cobbled streets and a stunning castle. Unfortunately, more recently, it's also earned a reputation as one of the places to go on stag dos so you have to brace yourselves for the possibility of encountering some very drunk men in fancy dress costumes. If you know the places to avoid though you'll be fine...
The winter is a good time to visit. The Christmas markets in the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square are pretty amazing. They certainly beat the average Christmas lights display we have here in the UK.
If you have any problems while you're there, Huey knows the Mayor apparently so drop him a line and I'm sure he'll swing bail or whatever it is you need....
Czech Tunes
Music is pretty important to the Czechs. In our country, where musical rebellion amounts to trying to make sure the X Factor song doesn't get to Number 1, it's hard to imagine a band being a figurehead for a revolutionary political movement, but that's exactly what The Plastic People of the Universe were. The band started out in that seminal year 1968, just a month after the Soviet tanks crushed the fledgling resistance movement that was The Prague Spring. They were very influenced by Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground.
They became a bit of a symbol for the democracy movement when people were prevented from going to one of their gigs by the police and then they became unintentional martyrs when they were imprisoned in 1976. They split up in the late 80s just before the Velvet Revolution occurred and the Czechs finally got democracy, but they reformed in the late 90s and are still going today.
Rock was pretty central to the pro-democracy movement - the dissident and writer Vaclav Havel who went on to become president was definitely a rock'n'roll figure - he made friends with The Rolling Stones.
Today, there's a healthy music scene in Prague. Classical and Jazz are probably the biggest draws but there's quite a few indies acts out there. Some are made up of foreigners settled in Prague - it's one of those cities that attracts musicians - bands such as Canadian-American-British gypsy-punks The Tower of Dudes and Freak Parade who play female-lead guitar rock a la Hole or The Distillers
One home-grown Czech band who are doing well are The Prostitutes who do good solid indie rock.
Where to see bands
Prague's a good place to see bands. All the big names come here but prices are a lot cheaper than in the UK, so you can see your favourite acts for a lot less (though you've got to get to Prague of course!)
The Prague Music Scene website is a fairly good English language resource for finding out about what gigs are on where.
A couple of good places to check out the listings for:
The Congress Centre - this is where the Communist party would meet back in the bad old days and the seats are extra big to accommodate well-fed bureaucrats' backsides but now it's an atmospheric venue that bigger name yet still cred acts like Tom Waits and Lou Reed play.
Lucerna Music Bar - a smaller venue under Wenceslas Square. They've got Biffy Clyro and Tricky coming up in the next few weeks. Word of warning - it hosts cheesy 80s and 90s disco nights on Fridays and Saturdays when bands aren't on.
It's part of a complex of venues in the art nouveau Lucerna Arcade (designed by Vaclav Havel's granddad) entered through a atmospheric passage that features a statue of Good King Wenceslas suspended in the air sitting on an upside down horse (I'm sure we all know what that feels like).
Within the Arcade, there's a bigger great hall that used to be a venue for wrestling and boxing bouts but now attracts higher-profile acts and also a cool art nouveau cinema that is just like going back in time - a beautiful interior, proper curtain in front of the screen and you can check your coat in.
There's also shops in the arcade to browse before the gig- including a shop selling toupees!
Beer, beer and more beer...
This is very definitely a beer city. Czechs firmly believe their beer (or 'liquid bread' as they like to call it) is the best in the world. Apparently it's all to do with 'bottom fermenting' which sounds potentially smelly but I'm told makes for a good lager.
The big guns of Czech beer-dom, Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus and Staropramen are available pretty much everywhere. For something a little bit different, you could try Pivovarsky dum, a microbrewery in the New Town that is freestyling with traditional Czech beer in a 'jazz' way. They do coffee, banana and champagne flavoured beers and even one with nettles. All nicer than you might imagine.
But you need to take in the traditional Czech pub experience too. The best ones all seem to be called 'U' something - with names like U Medvídků, U Černého vola, U Houdků, U Provaznice, U Vejvodů - look any of those up and you'll be in for a quality traditional Prague pub with some fine pilsners. (I think 'U' means 'By the' as in 'by the station'.)
One of the most famous 'U's is U Zlatého tygra, which is round the corner from Old Town Square. Václav Havel took Bill Clinton here when he came on an official state visit. Apparently Bill knocked back three beers and then cancelled his daily jog the next day. Great story - that's the way you'd like international diplomacy to be done.
Czechs are quite into their bar snacks when they're out on the razz. They like a smoked meat platter or perhaps some pickled mackerel, or most challengingly of all, what they call 'head cheese' which may sound unappealing and, well... is. It's bits of pigs heads in jelly, served cold. Tempted? Goes down a treat with a pilsner (that's another way of saying you'd have to be drunk to eat it).
Unleash your inner Goth...
One last tip... If you're in Prague for a bit longer and can drag yourself out of town then just over an hours drive away lies the beautiful medieval town of Kutná Hora which is home to one of Europe's more macrabre tourist attractions. It's a church quite literally made of human bones.
I seem to remember mentioning this as a possible quirky date for Valentine's Day back in February. The Sedlec Ossuary contains up to 70,000 bones that were exhumed from the mass graves of medieval plague victims and then used to decorate the church - there's even bone chandeliers. It's all rather eerie - expect to see lots of moody looking people in black having their photo taken next to some bone decorations.
Learn the lingo
Czech is a pretty hard language to get your tongue around so I thought we'd focus ourselves on just one subject. In the same way that Eskimos have loads of words to describe snow and we have loads of words to describe rain, Czechs have loads of word to describe the sensation of drunkenness. Here are some quite truly surreal ones I found in a phrasebook.
You can say that you're "zlitej jak dan" - "drunk as a Dane" or even "zlitej jak doga" - "drunk as a Great Dane." That might be because you've been "nasavat jak houba" - "drinking like a mushroom". And if that's the case, you may well wake up the next day and "nadavat jako dlazdic" - "swear like a cobblestone layer."
And a few 'twips' from listeners...
thealexavery - "Check taxi fare before you get in."
Philip Brodie - "Buy leather there... cheap and excellent. Also, if you have a free eve... go to old cinema in the art house..fantastic."
Robin Buller - "Find a Pilsner Urquell beer hall where a fresh glass arrives automatically as you drain the last one, until you say stop or fall off the bench. They also have the best bar snacks, cured meats, pickles cheese and breads. Also for a traditional Czech pick me up the following day try a glass of Becherovka liqueur, it really works but tastes a bit like my dentist's finger."
James Hendrie - "I went to an Icelandic restaurant there called Reykjavik, nice seafood. Owned by the Icelandic ambassador it was said."
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|11:41 UK time, Friday, 29 October 2010
