Prague: Six things you must do in the Czech capital city

By GARETH HUW DAVIES

Atmospheric: Prague's beautiful Charles Bridge


Prague is one of Europe's architectural gems, with more knockout picture-postcard views than some entire countries. Unsurprisingly, the Czech capital can also get busy as thousands of tourists jostle for space.

Here is a selection of things to do during a visit to the city - from taking in its best-loved sights to stopping for a drink at a beautifully restored cafe and watching a comic take on a famous Mozart opera.


1... New Jerusalem

Emperor Charles IV planned this intensely beautiful city as the ‘New Jerusalem’ in the 14th Century, and architects maintained the vision until its last golden age in the Thirties. The old centre, with outstanding buildings such as Valdstejn Palace, St James’ Church and St Vitus Cathedral, is still largely intact after 800 years and is now a World Heritage Site.

With nifty footwork you can outwit the crowds. Try walking the famous Charles Bridge before breakfast, and save the striking of the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square until the evening when it’s quieter. I also like the peacefulness of Mala Strana, the cafe-lined cobbled streets under Prague Castle. And take a tram to the Jewish Quarter and wander Petrin Hill for wonderful views over the city’s baroque roofs.


2... Grand re-opening

How about this for a comeback? The Grand Cafe Orient (www.grandcafeorient.cz) opened in 1912 in the House of the Black Madonna, Prague’s architectural take on cubism, the art form Picasso championed. The cafe closed eight years later when cubism fell out of favour but reopened in 2005, faithfully recreated with period furniture and fittings. Try the apple strudel with vanilla ice cream.

Another venue, the Mysak pastry shop, reopened in 2008 inside the Mysak Gallery (www.gallerymysak.cz), with original doors, mosaics floors, a marble staircase and wooden alcoves. The signature dish is karamelovy pohar – ice cream topped with caramel, chocolate and walnuts.


3...Fighting for freedom

After the euphoria of spring 1968, and Czechoslovakia’s short-lived break for freedom from the Soviet Union, came deep gloom that summer when Russian tanks rolled in to consign this proud nation to 20 more years of oppression.

The Museum of Communism (www.muzeumkomunismu.cz) tells the story of those lost years. I came closest to Prague’s tragedy and eventual triumph on the steps of the National Museum in Wenceslas Square. I looked down on the bronze cross at the spot where Jan Palach burnt himself to death in protest in 1969. It's also where people celebrated their new-found freedom after 1989’s so-called Velvet Revolution.


Historic: The Duke of Bohemia is represented by an equestrian statue in Wenceslas Square


4...Recovered treasures

In 1989, William Lobkowicz returned to Prague from exile in Boston to restore the great estate his family had built up over 700 years. It had been confiscated first by the Nazis, then by the communists. Diligent legal teams gradually recovered land, thousands of books, paintings and pieces of furniture. William’s mission culminated in the opening of Lobkowicz Palace in 2007, with its exhibition of the best of the family’s reclaimed treasures. Star exhibits include two views of the River Thames by Canaletto and Haymaking by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Another of the city’s new attractions is totally different. The Kafka Museum (www.kafkamuseum.cz) celebrates the writer (he was born here) whose name stands for the way the ordinary man is defeated by ‘the system’.


5...Pulling the strings

With his mischievous sense of fun, Mozart would have approved of the National Marionette Theatre’s comic performances of his opera Don Giovanni (www.mozart.cz). I particularly loved the puppet cat hissing at an anguished diva in mid aria. Don Giovanni is Prague’s top claim to cultural fame – in 1787, Mozart staged its world premiere at the exquisite opera house, the Estates Theatre, now fully restored as one of the city’s great performance centres.

The two other musical magnets are the Smetana Museum, on the banks of the Vltava, and a museum dedicated to composer Antonin Dvorak at Villa Amerika.


Comic: Opera by Mozart is staged at the National Marionette Theatre


6...Here for the beer

The city centre bars and restaurants are not the real deal. For a more authentic (and cheaper) taste of the city, head for the quieter streets away from Old Town Square. The Czech Republic brews a prodigious range of beers, including Budvar, Urquell, Staropramen, Lev and Rohozec.

Most bars serve food – Czech cuisine is modest but tasty, based around pork, dumplings and cabbage. One of the best new restaurants, serving straightforward French fare, is the Celeste (www.celesterestaurant.cz), with panoramic views of the city from the top of the curvaceous new, glass-fronted Dancing House. The building, designed by Frank Gehry, gets its name because its sensational sweeping outline resembles Thirties film stars Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in a sultry clinch.


source: dailymail