Prague, Feature

Fairytale Prague

Helena Thompson visits Baroque Bohemia

A smudge-faced boy, a white-draped girl, and a man with a big white beard - not quite the welcome I anticipated upon arrival at Wenceslas Square. But the old women drinking hot wine nod to me to take the devils' coal and the angels' sweets, and I soon warm to Prague as the one place where Old Nick and Christmas really come to life.

Amidst all the festivity it's easy to forget that I'm happily standing where thousands once protested. The Velvet Revolution against the communist regime started in this very square, and nothing in Prague is quite as it seems.

In fact, this Bohemian city has always combined many influences, morphing Baroque and Renaissance architecture with the darkly gothic stamp of Charles IV 14th century rule. The big, gleaming gems on the walls of Saint Wenceslas' chapel add to the charm of a place poetically deemed "the golden city of a hundred spires" - but the Jewish Cemetery tombstones leaning one against the other marking layer upon layer of graves tell a different story.

How appropriate, then, that the man who wrote of Prague's communal joys and the secret sadnesses should be buried in this cemetery. Far from forgotten, Kafka's tales of humans transformed into beetles and ordinary citizens trapped in maze-like castles are available in Czech, German and English. Well may his tortured protagonists haunt you when confronting the painting of the bearded lady in the Loreto church, or the Vitrius Cathedral's underground tombs of Czech Kings, not to mention the skeletal figure of death tolling his bell in the centre of the Old Town square.

But I digress. From this car-free zone nothing is more than a thirty minute walk away, and I determine to put the mysteries of Prague in perspective with some good, sturdy Czech grub. Sturdy is the word, judging by the copious amounts of dumplings, goulash and meat salads on sale, although traditional soups offer a slightly lighter alternative. The dented zinc counters designed for upright eating might pose a threat to the weary, in which case be sure to reserve before venturing to a restaurant. On the other hand, a caffeine jolt is a hit the Czech's specialise in, and it's worth knowing that cafe Kava Kava Kava means coffee fit for a connoisseur. As daylight dwindles, there's just time to catch the changing of the guards at the Prague castle, a Romanesque palace erected in the twelfth century, rebuilt under Charles IV in the Gothic style and currently housing the President of the Czech Republic. And don't ignore the former Burgrave's House - it may look like any other 16th century Renaissance building, but it actually houses a museum of toys!

Then its time to enter a darker kind of fantasy, set to the tune of Prague's most popular music-makers. The Roxy club attracts a young crowd of dreamers keen to keep it real with the industrial sounds of house, techno alongside live acts. To see them dancing at the mercy of the beat just goes to show the truth of Kafka's words - "once she gets her claws in you, Prague won't let you go."

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