first time I came to Prague in 2009, I was sooo underwhelmed. it seemed like a smaller, cheaper, simpler version of St. Petersburg1. almost like a village.
only later I found out that Europe does not favor big cities, and Prague was no exception. but the first impression was there. instead of a brochure “vibrant european capital” I found a town with a very compact historic center, sleepy short streets, modest Vltava river, and generally nothing to do after seeing all of it.
we moved here in 2013, and it took me a few years more to start appreciating Prague — precisely for the above reasons.
Prague is walkable. Prague is casually engaging. Prague is forgiving to unplanned routes and is best explored that way. Prague can offer the big city lights AND an escape from them, depending on the turn you take.
even though I knew perfectly well that I would never become a local, for the first time in my life Prague felt closest to home.
- but then there’s no place on earth quite like St. Petersburg. admittedly, the comparison was a bit unfair. ↩︎