<div align="justify">We visited Prague (or Praha) as part of our backpacking trip across the region. Prague is one of the prettiest cities in the world and is in its elements during the summers. We stayed next to the Old Town Square, which embodies Prague’s medieval spirit even today. The spellbinding gorgeous baroque architecture, spotless cobblestone streets, quaintly cheerful cafes, seemingly random but beautifully tended roadside gardens and ornately aged lamp posts make this area a series of compelling photo ops.<br /><br />The best way to see Prague is on foot and we joined a free walking tour in the afternoon. The guides work only for tips. We covered many historical attractions including a tribute to Kafka, Jewish Ghetto, Opera House, Wenceslas Square and the 15th century Astronomical Clock. Such walks are an excellent way to orient oneself while picking up valuable tips from fellow travellers. The walk finished at Charles Bridge which is the prettiest amongst the seven bridges across the Vltava.<br /> <br />We enjoyed looking at the numerous statues adorning either side of the bridge, browsing through the local handicrafts in open kiosks and listening to the omnipresent roadside musicians. The next morning, we walked up to the Prague Castle which is situated on a small hill on the other side of the Vltava. The castle complex includes the President’s residence and houses a number of buildings, again predominantly in baroque and a few in Gothic. We looked around the castle, visited the cathedral, but were not allowed to enter the part where the President resides. <br /><br />The castle square provides an astoundingly picturesque view of Prague’s skyline and one suddenly realises why it’s also called the ‘City of Spires’. One can see countless domes, towers, spires and turrets all interspersed amongst red-tiled roofs, as far as the eye can see. On our way back from the castle, we took a quick detour via the Golden Lane and peeked into a few of the multicoloured Lilliputian houses including the one where Kafka stayed for a while. That night our dinner was some authentic Czech grub — pork knuckles, fried cheese, mashed potatoes accompanied by some tangy mustard and horseradish dip washed down with Pilsner Urquell. The day ended with a sunset river cruise where we had a lazy couple of hours lapping up the sights and sounds of Prague as the city lit up on both sides. <br /><br />The next day we visited Karlovy Vary. It’s a small picture postcard pretty town famous for medicinal hot springs. Today it’s a spa cum casino town and is the playground of the nouveau rich, the Hollywood royalty and the Russian oligarchs. We also visited the Moser Glass Factory nearby and were pleasantly surprised to discover that their clientele included the Indian royal families of the mid 19th century and early 20th century. The glass produced in this region is called Bohemian crystal and the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad was a regular customer of Moser.<br /><br />We returned to Prague late in the evening pretty tired. However, we couldn’t resist the temptation of walking around the Old Town area yet one more time. We left Prague next morning for our next destination, happily carrying memories of a trip which lived up to all our expectations.</div>
<div align="justify">We visited Prague (or Praha) as part of our backpacking trip across the region. Prague is one of the prettiest cities in the world and is in its elements during the summers. We stayed next to the Old Town Square, which embodies Prague’s medieval spirit even today. The spellbinding gorgeous baroque architecture, spotless cobblestone streets, quaintly cheerful cafes, seemingly random but beautifully tended roadside gardens and ornately aged lamp posts make this area a series of compelling photo ops.<br /><br />The best way to see Prague is on foot and we joined a free walking tour in the afternoon. The guides work only for tips. We covered many historical attractions including a tribute to Kafka, Jewish Ghetto, Opera House, Wenceslas Square and the 15th century Astronomical Clock. Such walks are an excellent way to orient oneself while picking up valuable tips from fellow travellers. The walk finished at Charles Bridge which is the prettiest amongst the seven bridges across the Vltava.<br /> <br />We enjoyed looking at the numerous statues adorning either side of the bridge, browsing through the local handicrafts in open kiosks and listening to the omnipresent roadside musicians. The next morning, we walked up to the Prague Castle which is situated on a small hill on the other side of the Vltava. The castle complex includes the President’s residence and houses a number of buildings, again predominantly in baroque and a few in Gothic. We looked around the castle, visited the cathedral, but were not allowed to enter the part where the President resides. <br /><br />The castle square provides an astoundingly picturesque view of Prague’s skyline and one suddenly realises why it’s also called the ‘City of Spires’. One can see countless domes, towers, spires and turrets all interspersed amongst red-tiled roofs, as far as the eye can see. On our way back from the castle, we took a quick detour via the Golden Lane and peeked into a few of the multicoloured Lilliputian houses including the one where Kafka stayed for a while. That night our dinner was some authentic Czech grub — pork knuckles, fried cheese, mashed potatoes accompanied by some tangy mustard and horseradish dip washed down with Pilsner Urquell. The day ended with a sunset river cruise where we had a lazy couple of hours lapping up the sights and sounds of Prague as the city lit up on both sides. <br /><br />The next day we visited Karlovy Vary. It’s a small picture postcard pretty town famous for medicinal hot springs. Today it’s a spa cum casino town and is the playground of the nouveau rich, the Hollywood royalty and the Russian oligarchs. We also visited the Moser Glass Factory nearby and were pleasantly surprised to discover that their clientele included the Indian royal families of the mid 19th century and early 20th century. The glass produced in this region is called Bohemian crystal and the erstwhile Nizam of Hyderabad was a regular customer of Moser.<br /><br />We returned to Prague late in the evening pretty tired. However, we couldn’t resist the temptation of walking around the Old Town area yet one more time. We left Prague next morning for our next destination, happily carrying memories of a trip which lived up to all our expectations.</div>
