Me, with St. Nicholas at the background
With Rafi at the square
The famous Astronomical Clock, the Old Town Hall Tower
Friday afternoon the first three took the metro, then tram, to reach a bathing lake on the north west outskirts of the city, much like the bathing ponds on Hampstead Heath, only better, cleaner, quieter, with clothing optional areas.
יש לפראג סודות השמורים מפני (מרבית) התיירים, כמו למשל אגם שאקרה, בפארק בצפון מערב העיר, בו הילידים, ועכשיו גם מספר תיירים נהנים משחיה באגם מקסים, נקי, ומוקף בדשא רענן, עצים, שיחים ושבילים. יש שם גם כמה מבנים מתפוררים לאיטם (הפארק הזה היה מחנה נופש רשמי לפונקציונרים במפלגה הקומוניסטית לפני הפיכת הקטיפה). היום יש שם שירותים בסיסיים בלבד, וכמה בעלי יוזמה מנהלים שם שני קיוסקים קטנים להנאת המתרחצים והמשתזפים, עם או בלי בגדים
Saturday we walked across the heaving Charles Bridge, against a tide of other tourists, people trying to hand you leaflets and flyers for various "attractions", beggars prone on the ground, and the pitfalls of the cobbled streets of the "Lesser Town". By the time we got to the Prague Castle, it was raining... Yet, such is the beauty and charm of Prague, that we adored it utterly. I was only able to take pictures whenever I could be shielded from the rain. Here are a few of them.
Detail from St. Vitus Cathedral
Castle Guard, with Carmi and Angus looking on
The ornate "Golden Gate", east wing of St. Vitus
Amit and Rafi taking five
Me, flanked by Amit and Carmi
With Angus, still within the Castle walls
Saturday night we set off to sample the Bohemian delights on offer. After drinks at the Old Town, we proceeded to the drag club Tingl-Tangl for a dinner (which was so-so to say the least - luckily it wasn't so much about the food!). A medley of drag acts followed. The only form of drag we got to see was the good old miming to various pop divas (complete with a baroque opera prima donna "doing" a Mozart aria). here is a selection of them. Carmi and Angus chose to have dinner at a proper restaurant, so they never got to the Tingl-Tangl. But look closely at the drag artistes - I reckon you will never see Carmi and one of them at the same room at the same time. Hmm... As I expected, Carmi denied the charges but he did it with such panache!!!
From Tingl-Tangl we went for a drink and a bit of a dance at Friends (or was that on Friday?) Amit and I went on to a seedy little place called Club Cannes - really a basement flat's sitting room with some 6 sad cab drivers (or so they seemed to us, as they looked vaguely like the cabbie who ripped us off on the way there). We took one look and knew we were'nt staying. Rafi had gone home - his foot was giving him hell and he suffered with really bad hay fever. We went on to another bar - The Saints, again, a tiny (though smart looking) space the size of a small living room. Angus and Carmi joined us there. From Saints we walked the short distance to Club Termix - a narrow, long loud space with a tiny dancefloor at the far end. This was the liveliest place we found in Prague. From there Amit and I went on to Club Alcatraz for a drink (both of us) and a cruise (just me, obviously). No pictures available from any of the bars/clubs (except Tingl-Tangl)
On Sunday I walked around the Old town, the rest of the gang went for a guided tour of Terezinstadt. I passed as I have done that tour on my first visit to Prague.
In the evening we had dinner at a lovely Czech place which Carmi and Angus discovered, then a quiet drink at Friends bar, then home for an early bed.
Monday we spent strolling around the Havelska market area, the Estates Theatre, and finished off with a stroll around Josefov before taking the minivan to the airport.
As you can see, I am writing in a bit of a hurry - I'm off to Israel on Thursday, so without further ado, here are a few more pictures I (and Rafi) took, untitled, so to speak. Next stop Tel Aviv!
New Synagogue
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