Praha 32, or The Return of Tourism

(written 3/11/07)

Until my parents arrived, I hadn’t realized how much I no longer identify as a tourist. In the days that they’ve been here, we’ve traveled, seen museums, taken tours, and eaten in restaurants every night. They’ve come to be tourists, and I’m enjoying the ride.

“The ride” was a literal one on Friday – my parents hired a car, driver and guide to take us to three sights outside the city. The first was the glass factory in Nizbor (pronounced NEEZH-bohr), where we saw the famous Bohemian glad being melted, blown, cooled and decorated. Almost as interesting as the work itself was the condition of the factory. In the manufacturing room, where workers handled melted glass at over 1,000 degrees Celsius, there seemed to be no safety standards in place whatsoever. Workers were dressed in tshirts, shorts and Birkenstocks. They wore no protective gloves, eyewear, or aprons. One man was knocking back a few beers at his workbench as he twirled the glass, and then took a cigarette and lit it off his lump of cooling glass!

It was cool to see the etching rooms, where workers – again with little to no protective gear – sat at grindstones and held the glass to the spinning wheel to create the intricate patterns on the glass. The light in there was fantastic – my dad got some amazing pictures of people and glass, and I, as usual, forgot to bring my camera.

From Nizbor, we went to Karlstejn (KARL-shtayn), a small and pretty tourist town. Its main attraction is the castle called Karlstejn, after Charles IV, who often felt unsafe in the capital city of Prague, and had the castle built as a residence for both him and the crown jewels. I have to say, I’m sick of castle interiors – they really do start to look the same after awhile – but the exterior of Karlstejn was beautiful. Karlstejn is so close to Prague, that it’s possible to walk the 14km trail between the two. Our guide said he often ran with his dog along the trail. I want to visit Karlstejn again, with friends – it seems like the perfect picnic spot, a good place to spend a day outside the noise and pollution of the city.

From Karlstejn, we went to our final stop, Plzen (PIL-sen). Plzen is the sight of the brewery for the famous Pilsner Urquell beer that is so cheap and readily available in Prague. The tour of the brewery was a perfect way to end a long day – particularly the beer tasting at the very end! Since the beer is no longer brewed in the old-fashioned wooden barrels, but in much more modern stainless steel and copper vats, this was a really special thing. In order to make sure that the beer coming out of the new process tastes as good as the beer they used to make, they still manufacture a small amount of beer in the old way. This, they use for taste testing and quality control – and for the benefit of tourists, like us.

Yesterday, we spent time at Petrin, (PETR-zhin), the Central Park of Prague. Except, unlike Central Park, Petrin is a mountain. We rode the funicular railway up the mountain, and then climbed the “Eiffel Tower of Prague”, which is an observation tower, from which one can see a breathtaking 360 degree view of the city. As we climbed down the mountain, we came upon an orchard of cherry and apple trees that were just beginning to bloom.

And it was then that I began to see Prague’s enchanting side – only from the distance, and only in the sunshine, from the view of a grassy hill. Suddenly, I felt like I was looking out at a postcard, and I understood why everyone told me how beautiful Prague is when I told them that’s where I’d be studying. It is beautiful, from so high up. It’s like a small cluster of red and green roofs, church spires, the winding river, and the many bridges, all in a late-afternoon halo. The birds were singing on the mountain, and trees were everywhere. It was a different Prague from the one I live in. I wanted to sit on that hillside for a very long time.

And, of course, I forgot my camera.