We took a walk around the Vyšehrad Castle area yesterday. I always enjoy it there but this particular visit felt even more special. It was a beautiful, warm evening, late enough for the day visitors to be gone, yet lively enough with dog walkers, joggers and parents with kids. The beautiful views from up there took me by surprise again.

A View of the Prague Castle, Lesser Town and the Nusle District from the Vyšehrad Castle Area

A View of the Vyšehrad Castle at Sunset

The Prague main train station (hlavní nádraží) is finally starting to look like a train station. A nice one I mean. One that a city like Prague deserves. A clean one. Bright and airy. Organized. With ways for passengers with strollers, bikes and heavy luggage to get to their platforms without having to drag their strollers, bikes and luggage up stairs and non-working escalators. With wide hallways and civilized looking public toilets (still paid, but oh well…). The repulsive, dreary, smelly basement luggage locker area is gone! It magically disappeared into thin air and was replaced by an open, modern ticket window and information center that doesn’t smell of urine. Boutiques, bakeries, fast food restaurants, regular restaurants, flower shops, and a really nice bookstore are now in place of the handful of tired looking newsstands and plastic wrapped sandwich stands that were once your only “entertainment” and “refreshment” options at the station.

The restoration of the Prague central station is far from finished, but the city no longer has to be ashamed of the pathetic welcome it offered its train traveling visitors until recent months. The work is currently estimated to be finished by 2012. Let’s see what other surprises the Italian investor has in store for us for the coming years.

Here’s just a little personal request: Would it be at all possible to put benches on the platforms? Please?

A blooming flax field is not a common sight in the Czech Republic. Here’s a picture of a field of flax growing right in front of my eyes as I type from my summer getaway spot.

And a closeup of the pretty flowers:

I went out yesterday in the hope of finding some signs of spring in Prague, considering that the official first day of spring (March 20) is just over a week away.  I ended up at Petřín Hill, which is a favorite place to go for a walk.  Well, it was pretty devoid of people and the weather was cool and cloudy with some rain.  I did not see any buds on the trees just yet.  There were some nice views and the few dogs I saw looked to be enjoying themselves.

Today is December 5th, the eve of St. Nicholas Day or Mikuláš in Czech. We have written about our experience spending a fun Mikuláš evening on Prague’s Old Town Square. This year, we decided to visit a smaller Prague square away from the center. We went to Náměstí Míru in Prague 2. You rarely run into foreign tourists here and the area has quite a local feel. The Christmas market that is put up on the square every year is a small, rather intimate affair and you’ll mostly find Czechs here, shopping for Christmas gifts on their way from work, showing their kids the lights or enjoying a cup of mulled wine and a klobása purchased at one of the stands. Before we headed out this evening, we had expected some commotion on the square, some families with kids and a few Mikuláš-Devil-Angel groups. We got there a little after five and were surprised to find the square literally packed with people. So packed you could hardly move amidst the crowd. People dodged each other, looked for each other, stood in lines to buy sweets, beer, hot dogs… They carried their children in their arms and on their shoulders, or tried to make their way through the crowd pushing strollers. A number of Mikuláš and Devil characters clad in elaborate costumes handed out candy and tangerines to well behaved children. People had fun.

Jeff took some pictures as usual.