After the first day in Prague, I spent the next couple of days exploring parts of the city and visiting the zoo. I know that people have a lot of thoughts about zoos, but the Prague Zoo was well kept and maintained and provided a good way to spend the day. It was easy to get to on public transport, and had a lot of my favourite animals on display.
The sea lions were hilarious and the show was great. Well worth a viewing.
In addition to the zoo, I walked all over the city. This included going over the Charles Bridge, Prague Castle and a sex museum.
The castle is atop a hill that gives views of the entire city. It was a cloudy grey day, but I bet in the spring time, it is absolutely beautiful. I thought I could do the castle without doing a tour, but on hindsight, I should have joined a tour. There was so much to see and not all of it marked, so there are a few things that I couldn’t identify. The castle took 600 years to complete, and people that broke law were chucked out the windows of the castle….a pretty nifty alternative to jail.
After the castle, I wandered down to a garden that I saw and found the Dripstone wall, which looked like a giant rock wall of faces. The gardens are part of the Wallenstein Palace, which was built in 1623. The gardens were home to some really cool birds, and a really creepy wall.
My last stop of the day was at the best shop in the entire city, The Duck Boutique. That’s right, an entire store full of rubber ducks. I only bought two, but would have bought 1 of everything if I had the money.
I took home a Prague Beer duck and a giant unicorn for my collection.
In April 2023, I decided that I needed another trip out of Scotland. I’d always heard good things about Prague and knew it would be easy to explore solo. I packed my overnight bag, booked a hotel room and spent Easter weekend in the capital of the Czech Republic.
The city is known for good beer, a number of museums, and my favourite, a large Jewish quarter. There are around 1.5 million people that live in Prague and I remember it from my history days as a place where the Habsburgs and the 30 Years War.
I arrived on Good Friday and stayed in the Old Town at the Century Old Town Prague – MGallery. The hotel was great, it was very modern with a huge comfy bed, and it was right next to a big mall and public transportation. I spend most of my time walking when I am in other countries, but it was nice to know that there was a tram and buses if I needed.
The first thing I did was go to the Prague Municipal Library to see the Idiom Installation. According to Atlas Obscura:
For bibliophiles, an infinite tower of books is a nightmare disguised as a dream—a huge collection of literature that you can’t get at because pulling a book or two out will cause the collapse of the tower. But it does make for a wonderful sight.
A real-life iteration of this dream-nightmare is on display at the Prague Municipal Library. Artist Matej Kren’s “Idiom” is a long-term art installation where hundreds of books are stacked in a cylindrical tower. Mirrors placed at the bottom and the top give the exhibit the illusion of being infinite. A tear-shaped opening on one side of the tower allows visitors to peek in and experience what it would be like to drown in a book well.
It is a cool installation, but the 10 minutes in line was not totally worth it. To cheer myself up I got a really nice brat and some amazing chimney cake and sat in the square watching all the Good Friday celebrations. There was music, crafts and lots of good food.
Once my belly was full, I took myself to One Love Tattoo Praha. I make no secret about how much I love tattoos and getting tattooed in other countries, but I am also very particular about where I go. Because the trip was planned last minute, I didn’t have time to actually book in a session like I normally would, but this shop was highly rated and did walk-ins. When I stepped into the shop, not only were the people in the shop super cool and ridiculously nice, but they agreed to fit me in right then. I asked for a small tattoo that they all thought was cute, and the tattoo was so soothing that I fell asleep while it was being done. I cannot recommend the shop enough. The prices are great, the artwork is amazing, and the artists and people working in the shop are a great time. I’m not vain enough to need people to like my tattoos, but I do like it when even the artist has fun with it.
On my way back to the hotel for the evening, I stopped to see the Astronautical Clock that is attached to the Old Town Hall. The clock was first installed in 1410 and is the 3rd oldest in the world, and the oldest one still in operation. According to Wikipedia:
The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square. The clock mechanism has three main components – the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; “The Walk of the Apostles“, an hourly show of moving Apostle figures and other sculptures, notably a figure of a skeleton that represents Death, striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. According to local legend, the city will suffer if the clock is neglected and its good operation is placed in jeopardy; a ghost, mounted on the clock, was supposed to nod its head in confirmation. According to the legend, the only hope was represented by a boy born on New Year’s night.[3]
I ended my first day in a nice big bed and Netflix, which was just the break from work that I needed.
The Scamp Abroad 