So it’s good to be back in Brentwood after almost a week away in Prague. I had a great time touring around this beautiful city and on today’s show I talked a bit about my trip there. First though I must say a great big thank you to the legend that is Scott Ross for sitting in for me on the programme last week. Now it’s my turn, so I’ll be in on the show every day this week with the exception of Wednesday when it’s the lovely Mike Jones as usual.
So my trip to Prague last week included taking in the Easter Markets. At this time of year market stalls appear with all manner of goods including tempting snacks and drinks, including Czech beer. I found this very appealing of course as were the Czech sausages, but it was the main meals in the evening I liked the best, Duck and Dumplings, Sirloin Steak in a cream sauce with cranberries and dumplings, honey spare ribs with much more meat on them than we’re used to here. All very delicious especially the dumplings, but pretty unhealthy I guess, still, I was on holiday! Salad for me from now on!
What really impressed me in Prague was the transport system. Admittedly Prague is of course a much smaller city than London – Their Metro only has three lines. All the same they manage to have a completely integrated transport system of trains, trams and buses that is both cheap and very reliable. Miss a tram and you know that another will arrive in a few minutes. A ticket for a whole days travel on the entire network costs just under £3.40p and that even allowed us to ride on a funicular railway to the top of a local beauty spot. The cheap travel means that most people use the public transport network so congestion on the roads is kept to a minimum, although it still got busy in the rush hours.
I found the people of Prague polite and civilised – seats were readily given up on public transport to anyone elderly or infirm, queues were orderly and staff in restaurants and shops were always helpful and seemed genuinely pleased to see you. As with many cities, the centre looked affluent but the further you went out of town the poorer it looked. Most of the ordinary people seem to live in grey blocks of medium rise flats from the Communist era, and commute into the city to work. There are beggars in the centre of Prague but even they seem to have the same sense of politeness as everyone else. Yes they are begging but not at all in an aggressive way, just passively holding out a cup or a hat. One evening I saw a man searching through a bin for cigarette ends and collecting the remaining tobacco from them. I gave him a small pack of tobacco and his gratitude was unbounded. It’s a shame people have to live this way and one wonders what the Czechs as a nation is doing to help these people, but they seem to co-exist peacefully with everyone else and never seemed threatening or intimidating to me.
The modern history of the Czech Republic is one littered with troubles, from the Nazi invasion to uprisings in 1969 and 1989 and the rejection of the communist system. The people or Prague today seem to be working together and have a fine and mostly beautiful city, well worth a visit for a few days. Not only that, but the beer’s cheap too!
Back Tomorrow!
