Getting Lost With a Purpose...

Prague, Czech Republic

August 28, 2007
N50°04.920
E014°24.425

We quickly discovered Prague is a difficult city to navigate, possibly the most difficult we’ve experienced to date. We’re always up for the challenge and don’t care if we get “lost” every now and then. In fact, getting lost in a new city is part of the fun; allowing you to see things you might not otherwise see, and meet people you might not meet.

Our goal for the day was to explore the massive Prague Castle and take a self-guided walking tour outlined in our Lonely Planet; passing many of the main sites and possibly strolling into a few beer halls for a break.

As we slowly climbed the Old Castle Steps the sweeping views of the city to our left were astonishing. The bridges, including the famous Charles Bridge, were beautiful and buzzing with traffic; pedestrians, cars, and trams scurried from one side of the river to the other. We pulled ourselves away from the lookout point and walked through the entrance of the Prague Castle; guarded by two very stern looking Czech soldiers.

We walked into a long passageway, packed with tourists, before we arrived in the Third Courtyard. Magnificent gothic-like spires of the St. Vitus Cathedral stood before us. Again, as with the Taj Mahal, we were taken aback and the only word that could describe the sight was “Wow!”

As if in a trance, we weaved our way through the people, continuously looking up at the massive structure, trying to capture as much as possible with the camera; knowing pictures will never fully do justice to the massive cathedral.

The inside of the cathedral was as impressive as the outside. Ornate stained glass, towering ceilings and extraneous side chapels, one which was adorned with semi-precious jewels, filled the awesome church. It still amazes us that something this large and detailed was built hundreds of years ago. The foundation was laid in 1344, but construction continued all the way until 1921—covering several architectural periods.

After a few hours we found ourselves wandering through the Second Courtyard, the First Courtyard and finally out the main entrance. We walked up the street to check out another unique building. The Renaissance Schwarzenberg Palace caught our attention because of the unique pattern on the outside. After sitting patiently for ten to fifteen minutes, Marc was finally able to capture an image without any tourists in front of it.

This is when we started to get a little lost… again. We knew we were going the wrong way for our walking tour, but we wanted to visit one of the famous Czech beer halls. The smoky room with large wooden picnic tables was packed with locals and tourists. Everyone shared tables, sipped cool draught beer and a few people munched on chicken fried steak or chips (potato chips). Enjoying our beer we studied our map, hoping to get our bearings, and head back onto the streets.

We weaved our way down the cobblestone pathways, in the direction we thought would link us back to the walking tour, when we found yet another famous beer hall listed in our Lonely Planet. Knowing we may never be in Prague again we figured we should stop in for another tasting and enjoy the atmosphere.

We sat down at a large table near the front of the hall, where we could look out into the street and enjoy the fresh air. A few sips into our beer a couple that appeared to be in their late 60s, nodded politely, and sat down across the table from us. They spoke only Czech and we figured they were locals.

When you order a beer in one of the beer halls, they place a piece of white note paper on your table, and simply make ticks for each beer that’s ordered. When the gentlemen across from us ordered his second beer, Marc and I commented on the efficient process. The lady, who we didn’t know spoke English, said “Yes, it is important to know what you owe.” Marc followed that up with “Yes, it’s also wise to know how many you drink.” We smiled a little and agreed we liked the simple, yet competent, way to keep track of things. We were mildly surprised that the woman spoke such good English since her and her husband were only speaking in Czech for the past 20 minutes.

When the couple asked us where we are from, we thought they were going to jump out of their seats at our response—smiles gleamed across their faces. They said they love San Francisco and their children live nearby in Dublin. Then they mentioned they had lived in a small city in the Central Valley in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Stockton. Marc proudly stated he went to the University of the Pacific (Go Tigers!) in Stockton.

We really enjoyed talking with the couple, listening to their story, and asking questions about their lives. It ends up the lady was granted permission by the communist government to move to the United States with their three kids (the oldest one was 16) in 1979, but her husband was not granted permission to leave the country until two years later in 1981. Similar to other immigrants, they came to the US with very little cash; only $48, and moved to where they could find jobs.

They perfected their English and landed jobs with the City of Stockton. They had a house near Twin Cities Road, an area Marc is very familiar with. When they reached retirement age they sold their house in California and returned to their homeland in 1999, a country that obviously changed after The Velvet Revolution, and the fall of communism, in 1989. Their children still live in California and they visit twice a year to see their grandchildren.

We believe the couple would have sat there with us for hours, and we wish they did, but they had a prior engagement with their church. They were now late because it appeared they found it difficult to pry themselves away. We really enjoyed the conversation and the excitement in their voices as they talked to us… it really is a small world.

When we finished ours beers we headed back out onto the streets, still thinking about the couple we met. We had so many questions for them about the history of the Czech Republic and their personal story about escaping the communist regime.

Navigating our way through the city and towards a restaurant for dinner we realized we were never really lost during the entire day; we were exactly where we should have been.