I Could Be A Millionaire....If I Had The Money...
Ahhhhh.....just been perusing the Prague photo folder on my hard disk. Such a photogenic confection of a City. Youngest is there at the moment for four days with his best mate. Lucky bugger. Here's some snaps.What I don't understand about this City in the heart of Europe though is how it manages to experience all the shenanigans that wars, revolutions, overthrowing of Prague Springs and communist 'town planning' can throw at a destination without losing any of its medieval architecture. I mean I'm not talking bog standard architectural delights here - I'm talking 'bugger me let's sit here for an hour and just gaze at this wonderfully perfect house' - that snuggles contentedly halfway down some nondescript side street. The place, for me, just seems to be the location where all my 'imaginings' of the places all those childhood fairy stories we were told were set.
Dearest and I enjoyed the place enormously. The bars, the vibrancy, the history, the people. It's the first ex-communist country I've been to so, consequently, the embrace of raw capitalism is still in its early days. Even so, the McDonald's, the Starbucks and the rest are putting down roots and pushing up prices. I guess that in a relatively short period of time the rapacious greed of big business will have converted the place into a prettier replica of almost every other City from Chicago to London. Shame. But, who are we to tell Czechs not to try and earn more money from their fabulousness? If the men and women who are employed to oversee the next ten, fifteen or twenty years development have any sense though, they must realise that the future lies in culture-vultures and not the male half of Doreen and Kevin's pre-nuptual 'let's-wreck-an-entire-City-in-a-drunken-stupour-weekend' celebrations.
One of the few things that Manchester lacks - and there's not many - is an obvious, in-yer-face river.I've always felt it should be a pre-requisite to becoming a City: having a proper river like the one on the left mirroring Prague Castle. A bit like having a Cathedral, Blockbuster, Pizza Hut or whatever it is you need to acquire Civility these days. Manchester is lagging a bit here as ours - the Medlock, Irk, Irwell etc., have been culverted out of sight. Rivers, for me, are a geographical focal point. A way in and a way out. A place to sit, stare and ruminate. A commercial highway, a lifeline, a provider, an artery. The Tyne, the Weir, the Thames, the Mersey, the Isis, the Ouse. "River Man". "Watching the River Flow". "Many Rivers to Cross". "Down by the River". "River of Dreams". "Lazy River".
Rivers. Fabulous. Unless, of course, you live in Boscastle
When I took this I was sitting, staring and ruminating - (see above). What we have here is a snap of the pints of draught Budvar on our dining table after we had enjoyed a lunch of goulash (Dearest) and a ham sandwich like a baby's arm (me - not finished 'cos it was full of unrequested thousand island dressing - Note to Self: ALWAYS ASK WHAT'S ON THE INNOCUOUS SOUNDING HAM SANDWICH BEFORE YOU ORDER THE BUGGER). We had stared at the rushing river for a good two hours before we left. I told you it was hypnotic didn't I?The view behind is the Charles Bridge - epicentre of Prague. Rivers again. A 14 - 15th century edifice that is rammed full of sellers of slightly better tat than that you can acquire from Newton Heath Market, Manchester every Wednesday and Saturday. On either side we can experience Gothic statues of more saints than you ever thought existed. However - you get tat-sellers everywhere. One of Dearest's favourite relatives was disgusted to find blow-up Santas for sale in the heart of Bethlehem. Strangely I would never have expected anything less from the little town - apart from blow-up sheep, shepherds and 'wise' men. All with orifices ready for the next 'true believer' to do what a lot of 'true believers' secretly do.
Expectations eh?
And finally here we have a snap of the Astronomical Clock at night - the only time (apart from just after the hour) when it's not looking down on hundreds of tourists waiting for the next 'extavaganza'. The 'extravaganza occurs when a sorry bunch of clockwork saints appear at the window. There are chimes from the clock tower then, a minute or so after it started. It ends. Everyone looks at each other and says: 'was that it?' A mate of mine told me that the best photograph would be of the pickpockets who thrive here on account of everyone looking up.Dearest and I would really like to go back in deep midwinter. As I said earlier, the entire place reminds us of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm. Don't get me wrong, the place is marvelous in Summer. Truly marvelous. But Winter.....dressed in the right clothing, must be wonderful. A Winter wonderland in fact.
The funny thing is, everybody else I've talked to who has been, has toured in Winter. They all want to experience the place in Summer. It's a funny old world isn't it?
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