Prague: it gets my vote

May 13, 2011 at 9:04 pm (Travel)

The best way to start this off is with a quote from my clustermate Kyle:

“You know, when we were young we never heard anything about Prague.”

I could not agree more. I don’t think I even heard the word until I was in college. I vaguely remember saying Czechoslovakia when I was younger, enjoying the way the check and the oslo and the vak rolled off my tongue, saying it so many times that the word sounded and felt absolutely foreign to my mouth. But after that, I never paid any attention to the now 2 separate countries. Along the way I think I’d met 2 people who told me Prague was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but all I could think was, no wayyy. Have you been to Paris? Have you seen the history in Rome? Have you reveled in the tourist culture of London?

I’ll admit, I was prejudiced against Prague’s location. Anything that starts to be considered Eastern Europe, to me, back then, couldn’t compete with  what the Western side had to offer, simply because the West had more stable economies and tourist industries. (Sooo elitist of me, I know, but bear with me, I get to the part where I change my mind soon.)

By the time I moved to Ukraine, Prague became a regular on the list of places visited or to be visited by people I knew. Now I was just starting to feel left out. What was this city that I knew nothing about that is apparently the beauty of Europe?

I added Prague to my list, not to be outdone. Eventually, the opportunity to run in a marathon relay in Prague arose, and I jumped at it months in advance. I paid way too much for that relay spot, but I had taken the first step. Gauranteed that I too would get to see what all the fuss is about. I’ll admit, I was skeptical up until the point I got there. I’ve seen what Eastern Europe looks like, and I have to say that beauty, in most forms, is very relative.

How did the city measure up?

It’s got my vote for most beautiful city in Europe.

Prague luckily escaped the Soviet architecture, the war bombings and the disrepair that comes hand-in-hand with a struggling economy. The city is speckled with architecture spanning just about every period I’ve ever heard of (and know nothing about), yet the patchwork quality of the buildings, the lack of uniformity, is its charm. At some point I decided that Prague is what Disney World tries to do when it creates one of those fake cities meant to make you forget that you’re in Florida, except that this one is real, and very old. The cobblestone streets, the artwork on building walls, the meticulously patterned sidewalks, the time stained bridges. All of it, the culture and the character of it, is beautiful.

The treat about Prague, for me, was that this old beauty wasn’t restrained to just one small corner of the city. It stretches throughout. And while there are more modern buildings along the way, you can walk for hours and still be entertained just by tilting your head slightly up and admiring the 3rd floors of the buildings around you. Some people don’t like this, I’m told. They prefer smaller versions of this city, but I loved it.

In Prague, my relay team and I stayed with my uncle’s father, Tom. He’s been living in Prague off and on for 6 or 7 years, teaching English; doing the same thing as me, but getting paid a lot more and living in a beautiful city like Prague. The Peace Corps definitely has its own advantages, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a tinge bit jealous.

The marathon itself, the culmination of my entire trip, was awesome. When you do races in the States, you meet people from different States and you think, oh this is really cool, people from all over. But when you do races abroad, you meet people from all over the WORLD. The announcer’s steady stream of pre-race commentary flipped from one language to the next as thousands of people gathered in the city’s center, music blasting, balloons all over the place. The energy was intense, and when the race started I was almost able to ignore the horribleness that is running on cobblestones. Almost. (For anyone wondering, I don’t recommend it.)

The nice thing about doing a marathon relay is that you don’t have to run the full marathon. I ran the first 10k leg, then I headed on over to watch the finishers. I was honestly shocked at how emotionally moved I was by this. Watching these people achieving such a big accomplishment, some being carried across the finish line, others holding hands, some crying, most with huge smiles on their faces, a few towing their smiling and proud 4 year olds by the hand. Honestly, I thought I might cry. Sometimes I’m just stupidly emotional like that. I swear I didn’t used to be that way….

So the marathon was fun, and motivating, and well worth the trip. And I’d like to say to any random college students reading this and thinking in the back of their heads that Europe is the place to go, consider looking outside Western Europe. There is a unique experience waiting not too far East.