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Prague, Pilsen and Budapest
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by Amy Ng (10 to 17 May 2004)
Czech -'Ahoj', ' dekuji' ... Right my first stop was Czech! It was entirely different from Western Europe. There are many churches, old buildings and monuments. However, even some are just common residential or commercial buildings, they still look so classical and historical that you are walking in the streets, you would mix up the common buildings from the real attractions and you could not tell which one is which from their appearance. To round it off, great pleasure at a low price -- that's what you found in Czech.
Prague
Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) - This is the oldest bridge in Central Europe. There is a total of 30 statues of important figures of the Church built along both side of the bridge. If you decide to check them out one by one, I am sure that it will take you about a half day to do so.To me, I prefer to enjoy the performance given by the buskers and to look for special local accessories showed at the booths along the bridge. There were some painters drawing portraits for the tourists while there was one who was playing music out of the water-filled bottles. It was around evening, and from the bridge I could see the sun going down. The picture was so nice and peaceful!
Black Light Theatre -- It is a very unique kind of performance in Czech which is a combination of drama, puppetry and mimic. I went to a theatre in the Center and watched 'Cats'. This is a musical show in which many cat puppets were singing and playing and asking to be loved. The songs were easy to listen and the performance was nice. This show was in English. Apart from that, I noticed that there were also shows without any sound, and the actors communicate with the audience only through their body language. Also I have heard that usually black theatre without sound were of higher quality, so next time when I got a chance to go to Prague again, I would surely go for that.
Astrological Clock -It is situated in the Old Town Hall. This clock was completed in the 15th century. It was divided into 2 parts. The upper part shows the time and every hour the statues of the 12 saints come out from the window and they toll the bell to ring. There are two 'clocks' at the lower part. The first one imitates the precise orbits of the moon, the sun and the earth and the zodiac sign the sun represents at different time. The second one demonstrates activities of the bohemian throughout the whole year. Next to the clocks are some statues which got special meanings behind, like the skeleton symbolizes death, the Turk symbolizes desire and the Jewish is greediness, etc.
Pilsen
Pilsner Urquell Brewery - My trip to the brewery was really not easy! It was raining so heavy that day. When I finally got to the right place, I still had to walk for a long way to the brewery building. But I had to because it is worthy doing. Pilsner is very famous beer brand name not only in Czech but all over the world. The Pilsner Urquell Brewery shows tourists how their beer was made and you can also try the fresh made beer. Next to the brewery, there is a restaurant and a souvenir shop. A tip for the beer lover ... to try the fresh Pilsner beer in restaurant instead of the canned one because the fresh one is much nicer!! There is also a beer museum nearby, but I did not go there as I had to catch my bus back to Prague.
Budapest ---I was first arrived there by train. My first impression of this place is like 'oO any English instructions?' Later I realized that Hungary is a single language country. Only minority learns a second language like English, German or French. But I could still feel the people there are very friendly through the facial expressions and body language. Hungary is like an isolated country but inside the country, the people seem to enjoy themselves a lot.
Esceri Market --It is a flea market full of second-handed stuff like antiques, pins and watches from the Russian regime, paintings, accessories, electrical appliances and cameras. I guess I was there too early, that's why some of the stalls were not ready yet. Most of the people I found there were tourists and it seemed that they were all well prepared for doing a good deal because I could see them having a calculators in their hands. Some people have told me that like other flea markets, you could bargain with the owners for up to 50% of the listed price. I spent about 2 hours exploring the opened stalls.
Halaszbastya -It was a very old building located on the top of the hill. Tourists can choose either to take the tram or to walk up to the top. I chose the latter one because from the path I could over look the breathtaking view of the other side of the river. In English, Halaszbastya means fishermen fort. In the 19th century, the fishermen were there to protect the fort, that's why it was named as fishermen fort. From the top of the fort, you can have a gorgeous view of the whole Budapest and the Donau River.
Wine Cellar - It was like a little city on the top of the hill and had different special shops. I decided to stroll down the streets to look for some wine for my friends. Then I found a wine cellar that the wine lovers should definitely go! Why? Because the cellar offers more than 40 different Hungarian wines to the customers to taste and they can purchase the wines instantly if they find it nice. I was not a wine expert, so I did not do the wine tasting, instead I asked for some customers to give me suggestions about both red wine and white wine. And finally I was able to get the 'best' ones back!
Hungarian Dance -- One of the activities in my agenda is to watch the traditional Hungarian dance. So I went to the Budai Vigado, which is kind of national theatre, to check out the dance shows schedules. There are three common kinds of Hungarian dances, the Round Dance, the Couple Dance and the Showing off Dance. That night I watched the Round Dance. It was performed by a large group of young dancers. They all wore very colorful costumes and the guys even put on special boots with bells hanging around. I supposed the guys were the focus of the dance. Their movements were so vigorous and they kept either crashing their foot or using their hands to hit their legs while dancing and singing. It was quite a great contrast when comparing to the movement of the girls. Like most of the tourist attractions, I could hardly find local people watching the shows, just some local students worked there as the ushers. |
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