Best and worst of Prague

Best has to be kings of Bohemia, such as Rudolf II and Josef II. The eccentric (read barking) Rudolf amassed a collection of curiosities and patronised astrologers, mystics and alchemists, including Edward Kelley and John Dee. Josef II established a haven/ghetto for Jews (known as Josefov) by the banks of the Vltava.



The name Prague is derived from a proto-Slavic word for 'threshold', while Bohemia is named for the Celtic tribe that settled there, the Boyars. Czech is a bloody difficult language possessing a near-impossible consonant sound (r with a hook) that is voiced with jaws together but teeth bared in a snarl while the tongue is fluttered against the teeth. You have to think the sound 'd' while you do it, and blow quote hard to get the tongue-trill. My two-word Czech vocabulary is basic (prosim- please) and abstruse (holub- bogey).

Drank coffee at the table next to Vaclev (c with a hook, making it say 's') Havel in a art deco cafe, sitting underneath Manet's portrait of the absinthe drinker, the Green Fairy.



Worst is the Prague beggar's stance, kneeling on the snow with head down and cup extended in outstretched hands, or (worse still) prostrate in prayer, still extending the McDonald's cup. Medieval, penitent, flagellant and repellant- the observer doesn't know whether to be more disgusted with the beggar or themself.

There are no Starbucks in Prague, yet, or black people (except touristi)...