Prague History and Fun

Prague is called the City of a Hundred Spires. It is the largest and most populated city in the Czech Republic, with a history dating back to the 9th century.

Jezzebel and I, together with our two travelling companions and their two year old toddler, explore the city for hours, weaving through churches, basilicas, castles, palaces, theatres, historic bridges and the Jewish Quarter.

Like thousands of others, we visit the Old Town Square to see the medieval astronomical clock, which the country boasts is the third-oldest working astronomical clock in the world. Dating from 1410, it is also one of the city's most popular meeting places, as I discover when I attempt to meet Jezzebel there "on the hour, under the clock".

Finding a needle in a haystack would have been easier. It appears 500 other people had the same idea. In future, The Whinging Pome Random Rule No. 332: "Meet people at a named location, café or bar." At least you can have a drink while you wait.

The streets of Prague are buzzing with life. Bars, cafés and restaurants are plentiful. If the weather permits, sit at a pavement café and while away the hours watching people.

Getting around Prague is easy. There are trams, an efficient underground network, trishaws and old style open cars. The streets are crowded, made even more so by the locals who insist on walking their dogs along them. If your budget can stretch to it, stay at The Buddha Bar, a fantastic, funky and colourful hotel in the centre of the city.

Two disappointments await me in Prague. One is discovering that the city is not a gastronomic delight. Food is expensive and revolves around goulash, dumplings, stewed cabbage and crêpes. I find it bland, boring and lacking flavour, and I am British! The local wine is surprisingly pleasant and good value for money. I also find that service in the street cafés can be poor.

The second disappointment comes when I discover the city is attracting large numbers of brides and grooms from other countries for their hen and stag nights. This results in groups of people heavily under the influence of alcohol, bar crawling and displaying the worst type of behaviour imaginable. They are not all British.

The Whinging Pome Random Rule No. 45: "Never walk past an Irish pub."

Everyone loves an Irish pub, including me. Prague does not disappoint. Irish pubs are plentiful and, as one of my travelling companions is Irish, it would have been sacrilege not to partake in a pint or two of Guinness while listening to some good old-fashioned Irish toe-tapping music.

Regardless of which city in the world we are in, shopping is never far from Jezzebel's mind. It is therefore inevitable that the wives would go shopping. They decide to do so without the husbands and the toddler, based on a nefarious belief that both would be more hindrance than help.

Somehow, we lose the ladies. Or did they lose us? Worse, they have both left their phones in our backpacks. For some extraordinary reason, they have taken the toddler's pushchair and left us with the toddler. I can only assume they saw it as a shopping trolley. We spend 40 minutes trawling through shops looking for them. Finally, we agree to return to the hotel and wait.

Whinging Pome Random Rule 401: "When something goes wrong, always go back to base."

You can imagine our surprise when, upon arriving back at the hotel, we find them sitting at the bar sipping their third cocktail. I do not think it is necessary to elaborate on the ensuing conversation.

Leaving my grumbles about food and pre-marital parties aside, I can say, with hand on heart, that Prague is a great city. It has come a long way since 1993, when it gained independence.

Lots of bars, buzz and stodgy food, fused cohesively with history, architecture, castles and charm, make for a city that gives you far more punch for your pound than many of its European counterparts.