Prague is a living fairy tale. On its cobbled streets, amongst its buildings with their ornate pyramid-like rooftops, in its shop windows aglow with iridescent crystals… To tread the streets in Prague is akin to being part of a fairy tale. Reality disappears and the atmosphere envelops you, wafting you to a world where everything seems to be where it should be. This sensation of being in a landscape created by the Grimm Brothers is accentuated when we walk over the CharlesBridge which, since 1935, allows the citizens of Pragueto cross the river and go to the Mala Strana. There, in the castle, a town in miniature awaits us, despite the grandeur of its cathedral or its palaces.
Prague is theatre. Black theatre in dozens of places around every corner, like The Magic Lantern, Ta Fantastica or in the National Theatre and the State Theatre where, in addition to puppet shows amidst shadows, ballet and opera performances are frequently held.
Music by Mozart, Vivaldi, Corelli, every afternoon and in almost every church: in St. Nicholas, St. James or in the State Opera House. And also, jazz at the Press Jazz Club, at the Metropolitan Jazz Club or at the Reduta Club, decorated with photographs that recall the moment when Bill Clinton made his debut as a jazz trumpet player in this setting.
Prague is literature. The atmosphere distils the ghosts of Kafka, Rilke or Hasek, of writings and conversations in cafés like the Slavia where, since 1863, artists, students, tourists or inquisitive people read and chat while they have a coffee, a babovka sweetbread or a foamy pint of beer while their imagination floats over the waters of the Moldava river which flows past the large windows of the Slavia.
Prague is history. History of wars and cultures. The history of a race, the Jewish race, who lived some of their worst moments in the city. To lose oneself in the Jewish quarter of Josefov, in the OldCity(Stare Mesto) is to relive those hard times, but also to enjoy a culture that is reflected in its gothic synagogue or in the detailed architecture of its buildings or in the cemetery with its 12,000 tombstones from between the 15thand 18th centuries.
Prague is rhythm. The rhythm of the movement of its buildings ranging from the Gothic to the Modernist and Art Nouveau architecture of the New City(Nove Mesto). A rhythm that ends with a waltz as performed by Ginger and Fred in the famous Frank Gehry building which dances, day after day, year after year, on the banks of the Moldava river.
