Christmas Czech Point

The adventure is on! 

Excitement (hopefully), romance (uhh…), and mishaps (with a money-back guarantee)—just a few of the many things everyone has anticipated about my solo jaunts across Europe. Instead of going home for 2 weeks for the holidays this year when I’d just have to come back to take my exams before heading to the States for good, I decided to run around the Continent a see the sights. Part of which, I have planned to do alone (*queue shrieks of terror from all my relatives*). This has unsettled many adults in my family who have seen Liam Neeson’s crowning achievement “Taken” a few too many times. Luckily, I, unlike Neeson’s street-naive daughter, do not plan on telling any strange men where my hotel is and what my room number is, and therefore do not anticipated being kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. 

So far, that plan is working. Rest assured guys. 

My first stop on my own was Prague in the Czech Republic, where I spent Christmas. It was the most relaxing Christmas of my life, I’m not gonna lie. 

I stayed at this swanky hotel, the Art Nouveau Palace, which was almost a little too glamorous for me (I said “almost”). It had the most beautiful breakfast buffet I’ve ever seen in my life, with smoked salmon, pate, eggs, bacon, pancakes, and they served some kickass coffee, too. 

I arrived in Prague after a long and arduous journey: I had a layover in London Heathrow (and we all know how I feel about Heathrow: I hate it, and it was an airport designed by an idiot). Then, upon arriving at the Prague airport, I had to go through passport control since I was entering the EU from beyond. Now, in these European countries, they have lines for European passports, where people just zoom right on through, and then a line for everyone else, which is where I ended up waiting for an hour. It was hot, it was late, I was tired, and I had hired a car service to pick me up at the airport that I was praying would wait for me. Eventually, I was next in line to get my passport stamped, but as soon as the family in front of me was finished, the man in the booth put up a sign and shouted to go to another window. I was at my wit’s end by this point, and might have half shouted “No!” in the middle of the airport before running and shoving my way to the shortest line, near tears of frustration. Or, we could all choose to believe that I handled myself with grace, dignity, and poise. 

To their credit, the car company did wait over an hour for me at the airport. And after an ordeal of a day, I spent that evening languishing in the massive bed I had all to myself. 

View of Prague Castle from across the Vltava

I went exploring over the next few days. Prague was the one city for which I had no real expectations going in; honestly I went to Prague purely on the recommendation of others, and boy did it pay off. Overall, there wasn’t a ton “to do” in Prague, but it was an absolutely lovely city for walking and wandering. Apparently it was one of the few major cities that was spared bombing during the 20th century wars, which means that quite a bit of it’s old architecture remains intact to this day. The city was filled with rambling streets and a myriad of Art Nouveau style buildings in Easter egg colors. 

Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square

I explored various Christmas markets, and did quite a bit of souvenir shopping at the market in the Old Town Square. It was picturesque (though there wasn’t any snow!), especially at night when all the lights were turned on. And it was massive, making the dinky little market in Daley Plaza in Chicago look like a toy version. One day, for breakfast, I had a trdelnik, a traditional Czech pastry that is essentially just dough covered in sugar, so where could you go wrong, really?

Aside from just wandering around and eating things at the Christmas Markets, I did try to do some sightseeing. There were several small niche-interest museums that I visited including the Kafka Museum, the Museum of Communism, and the Mucha Museum. Now, when I say “small” and “niche” I mean in a house or on a side street in an old shop front. The Kafka Museum was cool, though definitely trippy and would not make any sense to someone who was unfamiliar with Kafka. It was fun and I got through the whole space in just over an hour. The exhibits were a strange, and sometimes startling, mix of historical artifacts (mostly letters, a few drafts, some photos, and even an object like a watch now and then) with audio-visual…experiences…I’m honestly not entirely sure how else I would describe them. There were often eerie sound effects in areas where reading letters between Kafka and his father, and a strange video interpreting one of Kafka’s most contentious and mysterious works, “The Castle”, along with many other oddities. But it was interesting and informative, and definitely a fun way to pass the time for an hour or so. 

The Museum of Communism was tucked away near on of the main modern shopping thoroughfares, the sort of place that you wouldn’t be able to find unless you knew exactly where to look, but I think it was well worth it. The museum was bursting with artifacts from its own Communist history, many of which were quite fascinating, though I wish I’d had the foresight to book a guided tour in advance, as I think a tour guide might have helped bring the exhibits to life. There were old uniforms, exhibits about propaganda and political cartoons (the ones they used against the US were particularly amusing, and not altogether irrelevant today actually). My favorite exhibits were the small recreations of Communist era rooms. There was even a rather moving video about the history of resistance against Czech Communism and the events leading up to the Velvet Revolution in 1989. I found myself crying right there in public after watching that video—I sometimes forget that Communism was a very real and very scary and very unironic thing in many parts of the world. However, the museum gift shop did not kowtow to such emotional sentiments. This gift shop was, in fact, the most self-aware and ironic gift shop I have ever been in. Naturally it was the perfect place to get all of Ethan’s souvenirs. 

Me and Lenin 

The Mucha Museum was lovely and very conveniently located just across the street from my hotel. I popped in on Christmas Eve and had a look around. I’ve loved Alphonse Mucha for quite a while (but the aesthetics of Art Nouveau have always appealed to me), so this museum, filled with a range of his works, including many of his most famous posters and subjects, was a dream and the perfect thing for me to do on Christmas Eve. Chances are, you’d probably recognize some of Mucha’s more famous works, actually, as his whole aesthetic is making a comeback. I’ll include some photos of his stuff. 

Mucha's Flower Series

Aside from the niche museums, I found ways to keep myself busy. One night, I happened upon a woman selling tickets to a Christmas Carol Concert that would take place in a Medieval church. How could I say now to that? Plus, with the insanely favorable exchange rate, the ticket was only like $3 (everything in Prague was so cheap it was incredible). I had to wander around a bit to actually find the church, but it was gorgeous. The concert was really fun as well, the choir performed Christmas carols from around the world in their original languages. 

Views of Prague from Petrin Hill Park

On Christmas Day I slept in and then decided to take a walk in the famous Petrin Park on the other side of the river. It was quite warm on Christmas, and the park turned out to be on a rather steep hill, so by the time I got to the top, my coat had come off, I was red-faced, and out of breath. But the views of the city were definitely worth it. Plus I got a little exercise in and saw Prague’s own mini version of the Eiffel Tower (I didn’t go up because it was going to be another 200-some stairs). I took the famous Charles Bridge back across the river, and then had a lovely traditional Czech dinner in the hotel restaurant before a 4 hour Skype session with my family. 

And back down the hill...

Overall, it was a really really lovely holiday. I don’t think I’ve ever really just been out and about on Christmas Day before, so it was nice to just sort of wander at my leisure, it felt very luxurious, though I did miss my insane family a bit (is this better than eccentric guys? *wink wink*).