Sightseeing

On Saturday late evening we went for a walk on the Charles Bridge. It was the night before the Burning of the Witches (celebrated every year on April 30). Even though it was quite late at night, the city centre was more alive than ever, streets full of tourists and locals, searching for the right pub or disco to enter. Or exiting a pub and entering a disco… Anyway, after abandoning the plan with the disco (it was far too crowded for something to come out of it), we just decided to take the walk on the Charles Bridge. And we were a bit surprised (in the good way), seeing some harlequins handling burning staffs.

They were young, looking maybe a bit weird, but people passing by were definitely appreciating their fiery show and throwing them money. They were cheering the atmosphere. At least until some policemen came and interrupted their show. That was nothing nice to be seen. Imagine, the romantic atmosphere of the bridge, the black night and the red fire juggling and all of the sudden policemen come and ruin it all.

I understand city order and policemen doing their job, but this? Those youngsters were doing nothing wrong; on the contrary, these types of shows are very frequent and appreciated in the city centre, especially the Charles Bridge. They were no beggars or homeless, and even if they had been, they were doing something to earn their money and not stealing or harassing passers-by. But well, life is not always sweet…

Once a friend of mine from the Hospitality Club visited Prague. We was on a trip through Europe and he took the classical route: Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, etc. My job a as good friend living in Prague was to offer some tips about Prague, since I’ve been living here quite a long time and I keep telling everybody how fascinated I am about the place.

Well, said and done. You should have seen my face when after the first day of walking around Prague he said: “Well, ya, Prague is nice, I’ve had a look at it, but I guess I’ll get bored to death in the rest of the 3 days I have reserved for visiting it!”. “Nice?!?!”What do you mean…bored?!?!”I took it as a challenge and started to jot down an itinerary plan for the rest of his stay here. And believe me he couldn’t feel his feet at night when he went to bed exhausted from the day and night trip, nevertheless eager to start it all over again the next morning; or rather afternoon…
I guess the nice thing about Prague is that it has so many hills with wonderful parks and old towers and castles that you can’t possibly get bored of it. And if, hypothetically speaking, you would get bored, you can always pay a visit to the beautiful places around Prague.