Prague Autumn

Well my last post was half right. I didn't get stuck on the motorway, it took 2 hours to cover 2 miles through Chepstow because four divots had dug a two foot square hole in the middle of the road. The traffic queue was 15 miles long behind them but they seemed oblivious. Anyway I got to the airport eventually and I have to say EasyJet were great, on time, polite and comfy. So much for that terrible tv show that makes them all look like gits.

Prague is absolutely beautiful, everywhere you look is like a film set with fantastic baroque buildings on every corner, gothic spires and churches everywhere and, unfortunately, millions of tourists. On Wednesday I went to Prague Castle and while there was no one there at 9 am, when I turned the corner by the Cathedral at 10 am the place was packed with groups of people all following tour guides with umbrellas. It was unbelievable and I've never seen anything like it before anywhere. Most of the tourists seem to be German and Russian, I hope they realise they can't stay this time. You see the Czech's have had a bit of bad luck in the past. First the Hapsburg's came along and nicked the country, then the Nazi's came along and nicked the country and then the Soviet's came and nicked the country. It explains why a lot of the museums seem to be a bit empty: someone or other has already carted off all the treasures. All these things seem to happen in a year ending with an 8; in 1918 the first Czech republic was formed, in 1938 the Germans turned up and in 1968 the Russians turned up. They must cack their pants every 10 years. I suppose the arrival of Starbucks and KFC is the least of their problems.

The current Czech Republic is only 16 years old, it must be the oldest youngest country around, and still has a slight whiff of the workers paradise about it. For example the customer service is pretty terrible and the hotel I was in was a little austere. Take the towels, there's obviously no word in Czech for "fluffy". The part of town I was in was a bit grimy and unrenovated with quite a few soviet era buildings and roads. The people look a bit unrenovated too as there is still a fondness for nylon clothes and mullets much in evidence. This is probably more to do with the fact that they are central European than that they used to be commies, as the Germans' have the same style issues. Very friendly people though even though they don't speak much English and to be honest Czech is particularly indecipherable if you are used to western languages. This was particularly rammed home when I was waiting for a bus from the airport. I now know what the czech for "replacement bus service" looks like. Actually I don't, luckily about five different people, in various sign languages managed to let me know that I'd be waiting at that particular stop for a very long time before any bus arrived. The least appealing thing is the fact that the czech's all smoke their heads off all the time, all over the place. My hotel even rented hookahs! The food is a bit of a challenge too, very dumpling dependent and I don't think I ate a vegetable for the entire week.

If I'm making it sound still a little grey and communist then it really isn't. I find it hard to believe that only 19 years ago the place was a hard line communist state where now it's a capitalist heaven. So many shops, so much money around and all looking new and sparkly. This is what makes it all the more thrilling when you arrive at a spot and can see the old workers paradise showing through the veneer. Like the metro stations with the mosaics of the heroic proletariat and incredibly fast russian escalators (these go at least twice as fast as any western escalator you've ever been on but are slowly being replaced) or the Tesco supermarket which happens to be in the building which was the showcase store of the old regime. See, we used to be scared of Communism taking over the world, now we need to be scared of supermarkets doing the same thing. 

There is still in fact a Communist party here, it's trying to get seats in Parliament and I can't believe that anyone would vote for them when you consider how grim it was before. This is especially obvious this year as there are displays about the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Union crushing the Prague Spring in 1968 all over the place. I did wonder why there was a massive four lane road built right into the centre of the City and Wenceslas Square. It was so the authorities could always get tanks into the city to squash any uprising. Remember that when your local council tries to build a new ring road. About all that's left now of the old system are the few buildings and metro stations that haven't been renovated and the Museum of Communism, ironically above McDonald and next to the Casino. Stalin must be spinning in his tomb the old bastard. All this does however mean that you don't suffer the constant stream of nostalgia ads on the TV and everyone saying how great the good old days are, because they weren't. Now the Czechs are free to shop in Marks and Spencer, buy Crocs and watch My Family on the tv. 

Well perhaps not everthing is better now.