After spending several days in Krakow, we hopped on a minibus and then connected to a train to make our way back to Prague. It was difficult finding accommodation in Prague for New Year's Eve. Most centrally located hotels were fully booked, but we were able to stay in an apartment converted into a guesthouse which was right near the Old Town Square, and right around the corner from the church we got married in.
Many restaurants around us were fully booked on NYE, so we decided to wander over the Charles Bridge to the other side of the river where the "Lesser Town" (Mala Strana) is located. Several years ago we had Christmas Eve dinner at a place called "The Three Violins." We found the steep road that led up to Prague Castle, and then located the placard of the violins over the doorway. Luckily the restaurant was not full. We could choose a fancy set menu (quite expensive and not exactly what I wanted to eat), or we could go down to the basement of the restaurant to order off the menu. We decided to go down to the basement. It was quite cozy and there were only two other people down there (it only had four tables anyway). It looked like a wine cellar and was lit by candles and lanterns. The food was really good and it was almost as if we had the restaurant all to ourselves, as the other people left early and it was a long while before anyone else came downstairs to eat.
After dinner, we made our way to the John Lennon Wall. The Lennon Wall was a cool burst of colour on a quiet street of Mala Strana. People started leaving graffiti messages on it in 1980 after John Lennon's assassination. Under a communist regime, the Lennon Wall was a symbol of freedom. It became a tourist attraction after the fall of communism in the Czech Republic. However, in November 2014, a group of student artists painted over the wall - some considered it an act of vandalism. They thought that it was time to create a new art project, and after painting the wall completely white, they left a message in black letters "WALL IS OVER." Since November, the wall has been filled with more graffiti, but it just isn't the same. Last summer I wrote a message on the wall, but it's gone now. I miss the old wall, but it isn't coming back. It only exists in memories and old photographs. I'm just glad I got to see the original wall twice before it got painted over.
After our visit to the Lennon Wall, we took our free bottle of champagne courtesy of the guesthouse owners, and headed down the street to the Charles Bridge, where the fireworks show was supposed to be held at midnight. We got there about 20 minutes to midnight, and it was already packed. After getting on the bridge it became ridiculously packed. We could barely move... it was a claustrophobic person's nightmare! I was very uncomfortable and people were getting a bit rowdy, so we left the bridge before the fireworks show. We had to literally push people out of the way to get off the bridge. We wandered down the street where we could at least move around, but had an obstructed view of the river fireworks. We didn't mind too much because we got to see fireworks being lit off in the street right behind us. It was cool at first, but then the fireworks tipped over and were shooting in all sorts of directions! People were running away and we decided we were safer just at our guesthouse, so we went back there for the night.
Early the next morning we had to wake up to catch our flight back to Dubai. The streets had trash strewn about them and there were a few drunk people still wandering around at 6 am. After a few awkward conversations with drunkards we got onto the subway and then transferred to the airport by bus, along with a surprisingly large number of people considering it was before 7 am! Another NYE has come and gone... I wonder what will be in store for next year?
Many restaurants around us were fully booked on NYE, so we decided to wander over the Charles Bridge to the other side of the river where the "Lesser Town" (Mala Strana) is located. Several years ago we had Christmas Eve dinner at a place called "The Three Violins." We found the steep road that led up to Prague Castle, and then located the placard of the violins over the doorway. Luckily the restaurant was not full. We could choose a fancy set menu (quite expensive and not exactly what I wanted to eat), or we could go down to the basement of the restaurant to order off the menu. We decided to go down to the basement. It was quite cozy and there were only two other people down there (it only had four tables anyway). It looked like a wine cellar and was lit by candles and lanterns. The food was really good and it was almost as if we had the restaurant all to ourselves, as the other people left early and it was a long while before anyone else came downstairs to eat.
After dinner, we made our way to the John Lennon Wall. The Lennon Wall was a cool burst of colour on a quiet street of Mala Strana. People started leaving graffiti messages on it in 1980 after John Lennon's assassination. Under a communist regime, the Lennon Wall was a symbol of freedom. It became a tourist attraction after the fall of communism in the Czech Republic. However, in November 2014, a group of student artists painted over the wall - some considered it an act of vandalism. They thought that it was time to create a new art project, and after painting the wall completely white, they left a message in black letters "WALL IS OVER." Since November, the wall has been filled with more graffiti, but it just isn't the same. Last summer I wrote a message on the wall, but it's gone now. I miss the old wall, but it isn't coming back. It only exists in memories and old photographs. I'm just glad I got to see the original wall twice before it got painted over.
After our visit to the Lennon Wall, we took our free bottle of champagne courtesy of the guesthouse owners, and headed down the street to the Charles Bridge, where the fireworks show was supposed to be held at midnight. We got there about 20 minutes to midnight, and it was already packed. After getting on the bridge it became ridiculously packed. We could barely move... it was a claustrophobic person's nightmare! I was very uncomfortable and people were getting a bit rowdy, so we left the bridge before the fireworks show. We had to literally push people out of the way to get off the bridge. We wandered down the street where we could at least move around, but had an obstructed view of the river fireworks. We didn't mind too much because we got to see fireworks being lit off in the street right behind us. It was cool at first, but then the fireworks tipped over and were shooting in all sorts of directions! People were running away and we decided we were safer just at our guesthouse, so we went back there for the night.
Early the next morning we had to wake up to catch our flight back to Dubai. The streets had trash strewn about them and there were a few drunk people still wandering around at 6 am. After a few awkward conversations with drunkards we got onto the subway and then transferred to the airport by bus, along with a surprisingly large number of people considering it was before 7 am! Another NYE has come and gone... I wonder what will be in store for next year?
I loved the sculpture of the three violins and the story behind the NYE dinner...HOWEVER not too crazy about the fact that the bridge was so crazy... too bad because that would have been beautiful to see the fireworks... thankfully it all worked out...
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