Street trams (from the 50s and noughties), clocks, castles, churches, towers, turrets, palaces, bridges, museums, art galleries and restauraces (restaurants) were the order of my stay in Prague last week…plus a lot of steps. I discovered a new impressionist, Alexandr Onishenko who paints on a black canvas, and who after he sells a painting, prints the original and repaints the same strokes to make the painting again! I also loved the exhibition of Banksy work which was cleverly put together in a very old and massive empty church.

My son, Joe and I were in Prague for three days. We arrived from Dublin at 10am on Wednesday (2am bus from Cavan) and left at 3am Saturday and made good use of our time, ending up at a Brutus (you may well ask) gig in a Prague cavern on Friday night along with 300 other old rockers of my years! The keyboard player was an old fella with a humped back, long flowing grey hair and beard. He seemed to be the sound engineer too. They played covers but in Czech, and everyone pumped the air and danced. It is very strange how difficult it is to remember the name of a song you know well when it is sung in a different language…particularly after a few drinks.

Prague is very beautiful, full of magnificent buildings, squares, cobbled streets and wide, grand avenues. We were lucky enough to have no rain and even some sunshine, so walking and exploring was a pleasure. The Vltava river wends its way through the city, under the famous Charles Bridge which was a bit of a nightmare so we stared at it from a distance, usually from a great height. Prague Castle, which overlooks the city, isn’t just a building, it’s a small town, wedged with palaces, basilicas, houses, law courts with the gothic/baroque St Vitus Cathedral (it took 600 years to build) centre stage with the ubiquitous cafes and restaurants everywhere in between. There are 240 steps up to the Castle…but it was worth it. After the castle, we made a last minute decision to go to the petit Eiffel Tower on the opposite hill. It took me nearly an hour to climb up there…but again it was worth it, and I loved the mirror maze next door. It reminded me that the way I look could be worse!

The clunky mechanical clicks and ticks of the Astronomical Clock of the Old Town Hall with the figure of Death ringing his bell, the Philosopher, the Miser, and the Vain man amongst many other characters popping out to parade on the hour is pretty cool. However, the old square itself is a bit of a nightmare. I can’t imagine what it must be like in the height of the tourist season.

Another museum we went to that I loved was the Illusion Art Museum. Apparently, there was a Fantastical Illusion Art Museum too but we didn’t get there. There is no better gleeful delight for my inner child (definitely striding back into form in my third age) than seeing Joe at the end of my hand, standing on a chair. Or seeing a boring two dimensional painting turn into a raging three dimensional animal or seeing a messy floor of toys turn into a face. I was in my element.

In terms of Czech food, we bit into real cake, strudel, sausage, pickle, and goulash in the cafes and pubs. The beer was good and we tasted lovely craft beers, even one made by the monks at the Strahov Monastery on our way down from the Castle. On our first evening, we went to a Katmandhu restaurant and had an excellent and very cheap curry. On our second evening, we went to a small middle eastern restaurant, Habibi’s, and had a platter of Jordanian dishes which were truly excellent. Habibi means sweetie, by the way. For our last supper, so to speak, on the recommendation of a friend of Joe’s from Prague living in Limerick, we went North of the city. After visiting the Contemporary Art Museum (which had a very alarming, rather scary Kafka exhibition but also an interesting wooden blimp construction hanging over its rooftop) we went to the rather fab Cross Club. We hadn’t been able to get tickets to the gig but we had excellent pizza and cocktails before going back uptown to see Brutus.

It was lovely to wander around with Joe (he is witty, and a brilliant navigator, I don’t know where he gets it from) and enjoy the city, the art, the museums, the drinks and the food. Prague is similar to Riga where we visited en famille last year in its Eastern European vibe. However, it is much more touristy and reminded me of a giant toy town. I did love the small convenience stores that were dotted around. As in Riga, they were stuffed with everything you could possibly need ranging from tooth brushes, hoovers to packets of rice.

Finally, I loved travelling by tram in Prague. They were very frequent, on time, and made trips across town really easy. You got on one, got off elsewhere, got on another from the same stop, got off again, got on another (if you wanted) and arrived exactly where you wanted to be without taking a step! Excellent stuff. However, thinking back on it, Joe might have facilitated this wonderful experience! It was a brilliant Christmas present. Thank you, Joe.