The Other Prague, as it Used to Be

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Created on Monday, 02 July 2012 11:42

Last Updated on Monday, 02 July 2012 12:06

Published on Monday, 02 July 2012 11:42

Written by Farouk Hamzi

The first time I was in Prague, almost fifteen years ago, barely four years after the fall of communism and more than twenty years after the Soviet invasion of 1969. Stores and McDonald's were already there, as well as street vendors of police uniforms, but most of the streets were full of Czechs still surprised by this newfound freedom, neighborhood stores, grocery stores and cafes.

Today the picture has changed completely. We must move away tens of kilometers from the center to find some trace of everyday life, of authenticity. Within that radius, the shops of tourist trinkets and memorabilia have occupied the city, restaurants show photos of food (a sign of poor quality), the real Czechs were replaced by Balkans, Indians and Vietnamese and Eastern Europeans taking advantage of the naivety of tourists. Something similar has happened to the great taverns downtown, Czechs no longer there, their place was taken by international restaurant chains.

The explosion of tourism has open the appetite to everybody, and the Jewish community, as usually wasn't an exception, they are charging high fees for access to Jewish monuments and synagogues of the city, if a traveler wants to visit the old Jewish cemetery in Josefov and the Old-New Synagogue, he must pay two tickets costing about 40 euros, and that price does not include audio guides (another 40 euros), nor the right to take photographs (2 euros). The old town square had been taken over by Hyundai, which placed big screens to watch the Euro 2012 and huge platforms displaying their new models, cornering the monument of Jan Hus and preventing the whole architectural overview.

Originally posted by M. A. Santos