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Nuremberg - Prague

December 2023
The winter market of Nuremberg and The mesmerizing Prague Read more
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  • Nuremberg - Prague
    Day 6

    Day-3 @Prague

    December 28, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    This day belonged to visiting Charles Bridge, the Lennon Wall, the Dancing tower and the museums - esp. The Franz Kafka Museum.
    We started our day early (as per vacation standards), and left our stay by 10 am, so that we could sufficiently enjoy Charles Bridge in the sunlight. Fortunately enough, there were no much clouds: the day was bright. And we enjoyed watching the making of Trdle / Trdelnik which is also known as Baumkuchen (Tree shaped Cake) in Germany, or in English it is known as Chimney Cake. It is more famous in Czech republic though, with different flavors added into it..
    We were able to enjoy more this day, as we came across many funny ads and concepts on our way to Charles Bridge. In the broad daylight, Charles Bridge is a sight to see! It's huge entrance archways on either side are intricately designed, and the bridge is quite broad, with many statues adorned on the railing walls. These Statues have different elements to it, and some have Halos or Wands or the Scepters made with glittering yellow metal - seemed like Gold. In the sunlight, they looked beautiful, and when viewed with the river as background, it was all the more colourful and vibrant. Many people were flocking on the bridge, which made it a bit difficult to walk through and take good pictures. But then, it's Charles Bridge, and we know why it is so famous.
    After exiting from here, we went towards the Lennon Wall, where lot of graffitis were drawn on it. It looked weird, yet beautiful in the sense of Prague surprising us with something different than usual. And then there were the regular lovers who'd try to paint their names on this wall, establishing their love to the world (#apparently #notclassy). Nearby, there was an art store that showcased various shapes and types of glasses, and some designs were really fascinating. They were up to be sold as well, but looking at the prices, we decided to stay away from them, even to look at them, as we started fearing that we would somehow make one of those fall down..
    After our visit to the Lennon Wall, we decided to try having our lunch at Vegetarianska Samoobsluha which was situated near one of the busiest streets in Prague (in my opinion) - Narodni Trida. In front of this restaurant, there was supposed to be a rotating statue of head of Franz Kafka, made our of mirror/ reflecting glass. However, he was out of commission as "something was not quite right in his head" 😂 As comical as it could get, we enjoyed the buffet lunch offered here, at such cheap price. We ate to our heart's content and set about to checkout the Dancing building.
    We reached the Dancing building after getting down at Karlovo Namesti (Charles Square). It was situated very close to the river and we were able to see the Castle with the lights in the evening.
    The dancing building was finally fully visible, and it was very interesting. Wonder if the architect was a fan of Michael Jackson, and it seemed like the building was saying 'Ouch' ala Michael Jackson style.
    We decided to check out some museums, as it was dark and we didn't want to see any other tourist attractions without sunlight. And then we stuck the jackpot: Visiting the museum of museums - The Franz Kafka Museum..... ☠️    Read more

  • Nuremberg - Prague
    Day 6

    The 'World of Franz Kafka'

    December 28, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    "Nothing is the way it looks"
    "I am free that is why I am lost"
    "I write differently from what I speak, I speak differently from what I think, I think differently than the way I ought to think, so it all proceeds to deepest darkness.."

    These are some of the quotes we were greeted with in our visit to this Museum. Situated right below the City Municipal office in the Old City square - Starometska Namesti, it has a dark theme. We were welcomed initially with the caution "Please leave your logical mind behind to explore the absurdness of the world", and still we dared to enter here. This museum was created by Mr. Miroslav Joudal, who was a Police Photographer earlier, and in his job, also observed the absurdities in the world, and got interested in Kafka's works. He was inspired by Kafka, and created this museum trying to recreate the thinking and philosophy of Kafka.
    There were some very weird paintings on our way to starting point of tour, and I think Miroslav did a great job in creating a museum how he wanted it to be - Dark areas with few lights here and there, making the place look depressing. There were references and explanations to his famous works - The Metamorphosis, The office, The letter to his Father, Before the Law, The Burrow, etc. Each story has Kafka in the view-point of the character and his job (Sometimes lawyer, sometimes a writer, sometimes as a Fly / Insect, and the absurdities he sees through them. This part was interesting to know. There was also many background that was given on his life, how he had a really terrible father, who was always scolding and discouraging him, how the government officials and the bureaucracy that was meant to be 'for people', was almost always against them. Just to point this absurd hypocrisy, there was a reference to the broken pillar in dire state, and how right above this, was a Municipal office, which looked beautiful and elegant.
    In the end, there was a place where many small video clips / stories were being played on a screen, which were absurd, and wouldn't make sense normally. And the fun part - it is not supposed to make any sense. If we feel it doesn't make sense, then we are viewing the videos and in-turn, the museum in the right mindset - "The world is full of absurdities".
    Once out of the museum, we were feeling thoroughly weird. I guess the museum served it's purpose after all. 🤷

    We went searching for good restaurants to have dinner, and on our way grabbed a Trdle (Chimney Cake) filled with cream and strawberries and chocolate, which tasted absolutely delicious. Still we were hungry and decided to visit Namaste India again, after we ran out of patience finding something new to try. We happily ate our dinner and retired to our hotel for the day.    Read more

  • Nuremberg - Prague
    Day 7

    Day-4 @Prague

    December 29, 2023 in Czech Republic

    This was our last day in Prague, and we wanted to round off our trip by visiting the places we had planned but couldn't visit: The Spanish Synagouge, The Hanging man and Letna Park.

    On our way to the Spanish Synagouge, we came across a Hanging Angel, which felt as if it was made out of a nest. The connecting thread was so thin that it almost felt like the angel is floating!
    We reached Spanish Synagouge, and were greeted with a big crowd guided by the tour guides. We were blessed again by Mr. Kafka at the Synagouge, and this time with his absurd Statue, where one had to touch his boot to get good luck!
    We went inside the Synagouge and got to know that there was an entry fee (and due to some music event also held over there, the entry fee was quite hefty. We decided against going in, but we're able to get some glimpses of the exhibits - quite posh and expensive.
    We decided to have our brunch at a Cafe nearby - Mansson's bakery. It gave a feeling of a British owned bread and breakfast cafe, and the cakes and coffee offered here were delightful. They boast of preparing world's best Carrot cake (it becomes hard to believe when someone claims they prepare world's best something), but it was not disappointing. Liked it. It was filling, and delicious.
    Then we proceeded to watch the actual hanging man, and to be fair, after reaching there, Firstly we got the glimpse of a hanging woman! (Woah! Where did she come from! ) We were searching for the man too, and I didn't expect him to be hanging by an umbrella on a wire!
    I guess the Hanging man was feeling lonely, so to give him company, the Hanging woman decided to join in his situation. When the wind blew, it was feeling like both would really fall down - they were shaking so vigorously.. After enjoying the conundrum of their fall, we left to have lunch at Vegetarianska Samoobsluha, and again were not disappointed. This time we also decided to get something for the dinner as parcel, and we were amazed that it still managed to be cheaper than a meal in Germany!    Read more

  • Nuremberg - Prague
    Day 7

    Letna park

    December 29, 2023 in Czech Republic

    After lunch, we decided on going to the Letna Park, which is on a much higher ground compared to the Old city, thereby offering a very good view of Prague.
    It was fitting that we visited the park in the end, because, it gave the perfect spot for us to have a recap of visits to all the areas of Prague (okay not all, but most of them). We reminisced all the things we did over the past 4 days and relived our moments. Gave us the goosebumps. To cap everything off, the view from the park was so pretty during the sunset: with the new Prague /Letna park side on our right and Old Town on the left and the Vltava River flowing right in the middle ! We just imagined how good this view would look during the Autumn and the Spring seasons, with the trees filled with colourful leaves 🍁🍂 🌱🌼.
    There also was a beautiful pond at the heart of the park 🏞️, which had a small path leading to the land in the middle of this pond (Bit confusing here: Should I call it a Lake (but too small for a lake) or should I call it a pond (seemed big enough not to be called one).. okay, let's call it Pake !) There were some people already in the middle of this Pake, and some dogs which were playing in here.. It offered a very calm vibe (other than the hyper-active dogs obviously 🤷).
    Further up ahead, there was a huge Metronome (built for the sake of it, it was not working at all), which looked great given the location: on the edge of a park that looks like a hill from far (i.e. Old City square). After reaching here, we also observed that there were a lot of board skaters who were practicing various stunts that they could pull off when they'd come across any obstacles. If the Front side of the Giant Metronome faced the River and the Old City square, the backside of this metronome was facing the park, and the Skating area was in this part of the park. Actually, it was just a Podium / Floor originally built with concrete cuboidal blocks for people to sit. But now, they are converted to a skating area, where the floor (which is even and relatively smooth) provides a good surface for Skating and the concrete blocks serves as the obstacles on which stunts could be pulled off. Easily around 20 people were practicing skating here, and seemed damn serious about learning the stunts and perfecting it.
    We were betting if someone would definitely break his/her face that evening, as we were in for many bloopers and we saw people failing badly, but somehow they were avoiding getting injured. Either they had excellent survival skills or they initially trained how not to get hurt and then they started with pulling stunts. There were no special instructors here, and people of various ages just came together to practice and sharing their knowledge and practices that could help fellow skaters learn new tricks. This was very heartening to see.
    After watching them for quite some time, it was time we bid adieu to this beautiful city. So we made our way to the main train station - Hlavni Nadrazi...    Read more

  • Nuremberg - Prague
    Day 7

    Departure: Prague

    December 29, 2023 in Czech Republic

    Our return journey was just a single train - Alex from Prague to Mannheim (it's actual destination is Basel, Switzerland). So, we were relaxed, as after finding a good seat, we need to worry till we reach Mannheim.
    And boy, weren't we made to eat those words like hungry people without food for a week!
    This time around, We were with 2 other Indians (from Telugu and Tamil backgrounds) who were sweet, and we didn't realize how our time went by.. We observed that till the Czech Republic was not crossed, the hospitality and service were excellent.
    The moment we crossed over to Germany, nobody cared for any hospitality! We already had checked-in sometime after we left Prague (well before crossing the border), but somehow the TCs didn't seem satisfied with their jobs, and rechecked as soon as we crossed over to Germany (Strange guys). Till Czech republic, we got the luck of hearing announcements in Czechia, English and German (announced slowly and clearly, with great mood), but the moment we crossed over to Germany, suddenly they started feeling we would understand German like we drink water when thirsty.. Announcements were made just in German, never repeated, when announced was unclear (Germans have that habit of including a lot of noise when conveying any information, except in the professional environment), and way too fast to even comprehend a word they said.
    Once the announcement was made, we saw few people squirming, and on asking we got to know that the train would be split up in Leipzig- one half of the train would be go to Münich and other part to Basel. And we had no clue which bogie was going where. There were many things that I liked about the Alex train (speed, punctuality, swat comfort and spaciousness, seat could be bent over to the front completely, and we could make it as a bed, etc) but the only main disadvantage: No real displays that would convey any information. As the other two had to get down at Dresden, they didn't care to change the seats (not required for them, as Dresden came before Leipzig)
    I got to know from the other TC whom I caught finally after searching 5-6 bogies, and he was willing to share just the information on which bogies would go where, and the current bogie number. He was not interested in letting me know which would be the next bogie number in front of me or which bogie number behind my back. When I encountered other TC near my current seat, he blurted out the information about which bogie number would be in my front, and which behind my back. So we started our task of finding a new bogie, with sufficient seats in a cabin.. We found one and shared it with the Germans . They were good, and were calm and able to help us understand announcements and things in this train better. Infact they were the ones who showed us how the seats could be converted into a bed. They got down at Leipzig and we bid them good-bye. We continued on our journey back home hoping from now on, our journey would be pleasant ....    Read more

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