Holiday in the Czech Republic. Eternal love of fairy tale
The Czech Republic is a small country in the heart of Europe. More than two thousand castles and fortresses, fabulous architecture, mysterious legends, good ghosts. All this is located on 78,000 square kilometers. For comparison, the area of the Sverdlovsk region is 194,000 square kilometers.
Prague
At one time, Marina Tsvetaeva visited the Czech capital, and Franz Kafka spent most of his life here. Marina Tsvetaeva was quickly forgotten, although Kafka became a good source of income. The city has a museum of a German writer, and one of the most popular excursions is “Prague Kafka”.
If you are looking for a place to stay in Prague, do not chase luxurious rooms with beautiful views and a large mini-bar, because the room will only be needed to take a shower and get some sleep.
Want to know Prague well, see interesting places and sights of Prague? A week in the city will not be enough. To see all the main attractions will take about two weeks, or even more. The most important thing is to wear only comfortable shoes, no heels and new shoes, because you will have to walk for a very long time, and the roads in the city are mostly paved with small pavers.
The heart of Prague is the fortress of Prague Castle. It is a large architectural complex, which is considered the largest residence in the world. It also houses one of the largest castles in the world. It is a small town with a lot of attractions. So you need to stock up on the entrance money.
Another ancient fortress and historical district of Prague is Vysegrad. Go here in the morning, while all the tourists are just waking up. So, you will be able to take good photos. Also, due to the features of the relief, you will need vigor and an impressive reserve of strength for the whole day. After you manage to climb to a height of 350 meters, you have a fascinating panorama overlooking the Vltava. Entrance to the Visegrad fortress is free, but on its territory there are several attractions for the entrance to which you will have to pay a certain amount.
It is worth looking at the work of medieval architecture - Charles Bridge. This is best done at the end of the day. The buildings are majestic in the evening lights. Crowds of tourists are photographed, laughing, artists in the light of dim lamps paint caricatures of young, wrapped up warmer, girls. Dreamy tourists spiritually rub a bronze figure at the statue of Jan Nepomuksky, making a wish. If you want to admire the grand view without noise, tremors or just take fascinating photos, then come here to meet the dawn. You may see a couple of romantics on the way, but no more.
Slightly moving away from the bridge, on the embankment you can find a flock of swans and ducks that boldly grab bread from the hands of tourists, sometimes pinching their fingers. Sometimes you can notice a pair of nutria, which rhinestone attracts all the attention of tourists and take bread (literally and figuratively) from noble birds.
For John Lennon fans, there is a small street near Charles Bridge. There, the musicians, standing in front of the wall with a portrait of John, call in the songs of passers-by to imagine what would happen if all people lived in peace and claim that all we need is love. From under the strings of a vocal guitarist pour familiar to us, simple melodies.
From the medieval bridge close to the Old Town Square. There, live statues scare passers-by, smile and wave to children, red-faced girls sell hot wine cups, talkative tour agents offer excursions. A large crowd of people surrounds the Prague chimes, which show everything: Old Bohemian, Babylonian, modern, time, star time, the time of sunset and sunrise, its position and the position of the moon among the constellations that enter the zodiac circle. Every hour, onlookers gathered at the clock can observe an interesting performance, which has been shown with small interruptions for about 600 years; the skeleton, as a symbol of death, begins the procession of figures. There are apostles, Turks, and two figures who represent allegories of human vanity and avarice. There's always a lot of people here.
At the very least, a full day is needed to visit Prague Zoo, one of the largest zoos in Europe, which is located in the beautiful area of Troy. Hours of work may change, so it is worth checking the time on the site.
The area of the zoo, in comparison with our, Russian, is very large - 58 hectares. For comparison, the area of the zoo in Yekaterinburg is 2.5, and in Moscow - 22 hectares. It is not possible to get around the zoo immediately. You have to come to the opening and leave in the evening. On the territory of the zoo there are many places where you can relax, for the summer it is open cafes and benches, and for the winter - warm eateries with hot wine and fried sausages.
In 2002, the zoo experienced a terrible flood - more than a hundred animals died. Now the zoo is fully restored, and is constantly expanding, carrying out reconstructions. In 2009, there were 5,345 animals in the zoo.
It is very convenient to come here with children. The design of almost all enclosures allows you to see animals even the smallest guests of the zoo. Even for a child, you can take a special cart in which he can sit when running is tired. True, parents will have to work hard, because dragging a child into a steep mountain is hard. But what can we do? Little people want to see everything in this beautiful city.
Prague is a magical city that you’ll fall in love with forever. You remain fascinated by her greatness, tranquility and magic. I want to come back here again and again. Always.
Czech-Krumlov
This small town is located in the south of the Czech Republic. The population is only 30,000. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It seems that time stopped here in the XVI century. Narrow, winding streets with legends of good ghosts, smoked beer, a huge castle, in some places, ancient paintings have been preserved on the facades of buildings, and the walls near the houses are under a slight slope, this is done so that the sun warms the room during the day, and the inhabitants of the Middle Ages do not freeze at night. To understand that in fact we are in the XXI century, only huge jeeps that deftly maneuver among tiny streets and modernly dressed people taking photos on their new gadgets allow.
Residents of the town treat the Renaissance with great respect, and every year return the city to the past. People change into luxurious dresses of the aristocracy or simple clothes of peasants, knightly tournaments are held on the streets, a real medieval fair appears on the square, where you can find everything from elegant lace to real knightly armor. Each action is accompanied by live music. This is called the Five-petal Rose Festival and lasts three days. People come to this celebration, yearning for times in which they have never lived and striving to be in the past for at least a few days.
This year the holiday will be held from 17 to 19 June. So you can still have time to rent a small room from one of the residents, sew or order an interesting outfit and take part in the magic that happens on the streets of Krumlov.
So, Czech-Krumlov, and the Czech Republic as a whole - a very cozy place. Every traveler will find himself here. An ardent partygoer will look into the nightclubs of the Czech Republic, a fanatical historian visits old castles. The melancholy type will fall apart in one of a thousand restaurants and will spend the whole evening sipping beer and mourning a time he has never seen but left his majestic imprint on this country. Someone will leisurely stroll through the most beautiful streets, where each building is an architectural masterpiece.
The whole country is one big fairy tale. One big story, immersed in which you begin to believe in eternal love at first sight.
Author of text and photo: Anna Bochkareva