Prague

Most of my notes on Jess and my cycling through Germany and the Czech republic are in my first notebook so I'm going to write about Prague here, the final destinatino for our pedal powered progression through the former GDR.

Prague is a city that hums with change and the laid back progress of its inhabitants.

Pragues history, told through exhibitions, brochures and information plaques scattered throughout its precincts tells a story of ongoing almost-greatness. It feels now, still stuck in the post communist hangover, that its potential and international recognition are just moments away.

It presents itself as a mix of other cities with an overtone of Czechishness. The long boulevards framed by elegant , multistorey, three hundred year old apartment buildings gives prague a suggestion of comfortable parisian elegance. The recent architecturally forwardadditions smack of Berlin's bold approach to the future. The quiet, twisting, cobblestoned streets could lead you to either a boulangerie or a bierhall.

There also seems to be an acceptance and absorption into the tapestry of the city of its communist 'episode'. From a distance the smoggy haze over prague convinces the eye that the tall, angular, ridgetop apartment blocks are the ramparts of an acient fortress.

Prague's two main castles, Vysehrad and the city's namesake castle, are themselves a tribute to Prague's almost success. For hundred of years a tension the tension between rival merchant familes and rival wanna-be royals divided the valley. This fighting across the river has ensured that modern Prague seems quite inward looking and may be why it has kept such a low international profile for so long.

The Czech people are so laid back though that it seems that they feel no pressure to conform ro outside standards. While Americans and Australians order soft drinks or coffee as a morning quencher, the Czech's order a Staropramen and sip quietly on a 10:30am brew. Where in western european capitals road works make headlines and cause horn and shouting delirium, in prague work proceeds without note and drivers patiently queue across intersections. This relaxed attitude seems to have moulded, or it is moulding, the city.

Historic squares may have a Baroque cathedral on one side and a flashy shopping mall on the other. Luois Vitton stores are packed full of eager shoppers where outside, horses poo on the street while waiting to pull their tourist laden carriages.

Like hors deurves for your eyes the different facets of Prague are laid out before you as you sip a beer at the lookout bar on Letna Gardens. Spires and domes dominate the skyline in the city valley; high rise offices provide an angular frame. The smog, resting heavily between the wooded valley sides, hides distant Prague while the immediate view reflect the real Prague - Pragie at street level. Hordes of tourists surge ofver Charles Bridge. Scaffolding seemsto be a feature of every second city block and imposing, rectangular buildings built in the days of communism are now luxury hotels.

The laid back friendliness of the people means that negotiating this initially haphazard and dauntingly confusing city becomes a series of pidgeon Czech-English encounters. This alone could get you safely to the end of sightseeing or even grocery shopping day satisfied with your own blossoming cultural enlightenmentand with a sense of hope for the future of the city.

I have to agree with what a Dutch woman in a German campground told me before my visit to Prague. At the time it seemed vague but in retrospect it is spot on... Prague is like Paris but more authentic. The surreal and fantastical parts of the city are balanced by the real people living there and the obvious transition the city is going through. It is an exciting city to visit, not just for what it is now or what it has been but what you come away feeling that it will be in the near future - a city humming on the world stage.

wrapping up france

Ive now cycled from Lourdes in the pyrenees to Rouen in the north of France. Have gone through mountain valleys, sand dune forests, Loire chateau landscapes and rolling brittanian farmland. I am now sitting in a friends house in paris after having a day of louvre'ing.

on the whole i would class the french as weird and starey. a large number of people are super friendly when they see that you are a cyclist but ignore you if you are a pedestrian and they are drivers. If you stop for too long in the one place you are guranteed to have an audience of one person with a friend nearby who they can holler for to stare at you also. public urinating seems to be acceptable and even if a town has no other shops it will almost always have a florist.

The bread, cheese and cider are top class and suprisingly the stone fruit is equal to if not superior to our aussie home grown stuff. the weather has varied to dry and 35 degrees to rainy and 15 and pretty much everything in between - sometimes in the one day.

If I had to recommend one location for a visit I would say le mont saint michel as you get french friendliness and arrogance as well as history and landscape with the opportunity for some proper french food along the way. the only downside is that it sounds like you are in america.

If I was going to come back for more of 'the best of france' for a few days I would defintely bring my bike again and either go along the loire river between tours and nantes or through the pyrenees. both have great chateaus and views; both have great, small tres francais villages and both have fantastic places to get 'fully' french food. the people are much more friendly in rural areas also.

right now i'm looking forward to chillin' in paris for a week and gettin' some culture 'n' that. on the 27th jess and i jump on a train to berlin and begin our german adventure, cycling from berlin to prague.

I will try to get some photos from my camera on to this blog during the next week.