It has been a year since my last trip to Praha. I love the streets, the people(most of them) and some of the most interesting shops there.
A happy Valentine’s day for couples married or not.
2/16/2010
3/29/2009
Free walk in Praha
Joining a free walk group is a great way to start your day in Prague. It helps to learn the city in 2 hours plus you get the chance to ask insider's idea of where to eat and hangout. Then you get to develop your own itenery in the following days.
Free is indeed fasinating for most budget travellers but expect to tip the guide at the end of the excusion, depends on how good he or she is. For this particular Free Walk group I joined, the guide is friendly with clear English and really knowledgable considering her European history majored background.
Stories make places alive. She told tons of stories along the way. Stories that you don't get to read in the travel guides, stories that go beyond what's told by other tourists. I enjoyed her way of outlining the city and learned some personal experiences from this American lady on the way.
She said it's a bit challenging to pick Prague as the first stop of Europe since English is not the popular language here. The Cezchs are mostly more aware of foriengers espeiclaly those from free countries. Indifferent maybe the word to describe Cezch people but I came across a lot of locals offer to help along the journy.
Well, sometiems it's all about luuck.
Free Walk takes around 2 hours and covers mostly every major tourist spots. The guide usually holds a placard says Free Walk early in the morning around 9 in the Old Town Square( in front of the information centre). The Walk finishes in the castle area.
3/08/2009
Bone church 2 人骨教堂
人骨教堂的由來多起源與13世紀的十字軍東征時,有一位修士自聖地巴帶回來一把泥土並灑在教堂四周.教堂立刻成為當時的貴族與富人熱衷的埋藏地點.直到17世紀時的30年戰爭開始有大量湧入導致教堂墓地供不應求.據估記目前教堂至少容納約4萬具屍骨.
那麼小的教堂腹地,你絶對無法想像是怎麼消化4萬具人骨的.
於是傳說指出負責看管教堂的半盲修士開始將人骨排列成幾何形狀,有些人聲稱那位修士瀕臨瘋狂狀態.但是人骨教堂能發展出像現今的規模還是要到1870年受Schwarzenberg 家族委託的雕刻師父František Rint,他受命以人骨裝飾教堂來提醒生命的終曲與人人皆難逃這樣的結局.
教堂的寧靜與明亮,對映成堆的人骨,近在眼前的頭骨,我卻感到相當平靜.
我想著不知道這些或是因病因戰亂還是幸福終老的人們,
最後殊途同歸一起在這個偏僻的小鎮教堂裏.若真有after life,他們不知道怎麼看這個教堂呢?
捷克的教堂多是金光閃閃的天主教堂,但唯有在這個安靜偏僻的小鎮教堂,我才真的放下旅人的警戒心,
做了久違的祈禱.
也許就如同教堂工作人員說的,'It’s the living who scare me'!
3/05/2009
The bone church人骨教堂
最近幾天心情和人造雨一樣很彆扭.不如繼續寫寫布拉格遊記,重溫一下.
每個人對死亡的感受都不同,也許有些人因為生活經驗而熟悉,有些人雖未經歷過但也多能想像出那回事.
我對死亡這回事,是屬於後者.
但是我怕看恐怖片,連異形都可以把我嚇得面部表情扭曲至極,鬼片更不會在我家出現.
因此要說去bone church的原因是什麼,連我自己都有些說不清楚.
從Prague到Kutna Hura大約是一個小時的車程,我到Florance轉車到Kutna Hura.售票亭小姐照例是張死魚臉,但是我當時已經挺習慣這樣的臉色了.反正不管什麼臉色,該做的事就要做.該問的就得問.
還好司機挺和善,我指指旅遊書上的地名再次確認目的地.他點點頭.
下車的地方有些荒涼,附近有個Billa超市建築物,走到超市附近的馬路邊就有標誌指向市中心.
這是捷克的"月台",長相不太符合我的想像,
車票上印的platform 號碼就是對應於這根杆子上的號碼(號碼在背面啦! 沒拍到)
車站旁有個類似售票處的地方,那裏也有電子看板提供搭車資訊
NAST=platform
走到市中心後到處晃晃, Kutna Hura和布拉格一樣是個相當適合步行的城市.
從市中心到bone church要轉搭當地市內公車才行,問了在Santa Barbara Cathedral的小姐公車位置,(她特別強調教堂中午休息1個小時).方向感不佳的我又是來回走了幾遍問了家水果店老闆順便買了3顆蘋果後才順利找到站牌.在此註記:水果店老闆與公車站旁的送報小姐都很和善,所以還是有很多和善樂於助人的捷克人
公車司機很親切的告訴我bone church的位置,由於仍在教堂午休時間,我便去附近超市找了家咖啡店小坐一會兒,想嚐嚐看起來像是小店特別的點心,無奈語言不通作罷.
雖然午休時間尚未結束,但是我想到教堂附近走走也好.
當天天氣氣溫尚稱溫和,街上照例冷冷清清,偶而呼嘯而過的車子更突顯小鎮的寧靜.
走著走著就看到教堂了
再近看一點...
捷克人其實也相當隨性,雖然話說是有午休時間,但是其實...並沒有!
付了50元克朗,拿了一張由台北雙連教會姐妺寫的教堂繁體中文簡介,管理的太太還用中文說了句"謝謝"
教堂其實相當小,但是非常攝人的呈現各式人骨創作.
是的,那些掛著的,罷著的,吊著的,相互串連著的,全都是人骨,真的.
我到時只有一對情侶.
也許是採光佳或是我天生較鈍感,我完全沒有感到任何令人害怕的氣氛,反而是相當詳和的地方.
保守估計這座教尚至少保存了4萬人的骨頭.
我很喜歡這一張
Mia說這張很有油畫的感覺..
投下4塊克朗,點一盞燭光.我在教堂裏做了已很久未做的祈禱,希望主保佑那些這一路上幫助過我的人
3/01/2009
The many WOWs I have in Prague
離開布拉格已快1個月了,我仍然時常想到那個城市,那個國家,那些只能對著自己說wow的時刻.在那個時候,獨自旅行的我,開始懷念身邊有個伴的感覺.
到達布拉格的第一晚,從 starromaska地鐵站出來, 問了2位捷克女士怎麼走到old town square, 沿著不怎麼寬敞的石子路,吃力的拉著行李,終於走到廣場時,我站著呆立了好幾秒..
wow....I wish you can see this.
視線所及不再是兩旁林立的建築物,而是豁然開朗的廣場.打著燈光的Tyn Cathedral是最佳的地標.我住的Hostel Tyn就在附近.雖然號稱是歐洲最冷的冬季,當晚卻不怎麼冷.街頭上賣藝的2個提琴手,被三三兩兩的觀光客包圍著.雖說是淡季,仍然有相當多來自歐洲的觀光客三兩成群的出來夜遊. 後來我也能深切體會到冬遊捷克的樂趣,簡而言之,就是相對於置身龐大的歷史資產所須付出的代價,對喜歡旅遊的人來說,捷克都是相當划算的目的地.
當然,如果你愛聽故事的話,布拉格不但提供故事內容,也給你非常authentic的場景.
倒是方向感很差的我,不斷的發現自己處於迷路的狀態.從old town square走到我的第一個住宿點其實應該只有5分鐘的路程,但是卻花了我20分鐘,問了4,5個人都不得其門而入.後來我終於找到時,雙臂已經酸疼的要命.
布拉格的小巷子很多,小巷子中的court yard也很多,往往店家隐身於court yard裏,對不熟悉這樣的建築風格的旅人來說,往往過門而不自知.
像是背包客裏相當受好評的hostel tyn,由於地理位置絶佳,收費又低廉,我付的是700克朗一晚的雙人房.在背包客間很受歡迎.
從舊城廣場到hostle tyn得先走卡夫卡書店旁那個巷子(如下)
接著走左邊那條巷子,會經過一些art shop和一間pub.
然後會經過下面這個gate,要穿過這個corridor
穿過corridor 之後會來到一個 courtyard. Hostel Tyn就在這裏.
實在不是個好找的地方.但是很乾淨,暖氣很強(強到我得開窗調節氣溫).唯一不好的是...
沒有手扶梯亦無電梯,因為我背著背包提著行李到5樓!
2/14/2009
熱情與哀傷的捷克人
也許是因為獨自旅行,這一路上陸續遇見幾位捷克男士主動幫忙.這應該是例外,應該是不尋常,但是都讓身為旅人的我感嘆人性的複雜,一個國家或是民族的形象,是不能也不宜以一兩句話來概括形容的.Stereotypes實在是人類文化中的黑洞啊!
我碰到的第一個捷克好男人是在到達庫倫洛夫的第一個晚上.
我知道冬季的布拉格4點就開始入夜了,所以本來就打算做早晨11點的巴士到庫倫洛夫,這樣到達目的地時還不會太黑.沒想到當初在台灣沒有先網購student agency的票是錯誤的,我前一晚要訂時已客滿,只好改搭下一班車.那天晚上走在荒涼又下著大雪的夜裏,先是有個英文很好心腸也好的捷克女孩幫我問路並陪我一邊走到靠近市區的交叉口才離開.接著就是一路領教捷克人指引方向的本事.
提著重得要命的行李箱獨自上下樓梯,在看來無止境的石板路上拖著越來越沉重的行李箱,實在不是愉快的事.等到我終於找到hostel skippy時,我心裡只有一個問題就是-怎麼離開這個鬼地方?
沒想到hostel skippy的主人留著紙條在門上,"午夜才回來"....其他的就不再重覆了.那位在大雪的夜裏熱心得幫我撥電話通知民宿老闆的胖胖男人.我很感謝他.雖然他不懂英語,我不懂捷克語.但是我誠心希望他看得出來我銘感五內的心情.
Well, I should have give him a kiss on the cheek...hehehe
然後是轉戰到Telc,另一個世界遺產小鎮時,一位自願帶我從巴士站走到市中心的捷克男人.我們嘗試著要溝通,但是語言的隔閡實在太大了.從巴士站走到市中心還不是普通的遠,對拖著行李又不清楚方向的旅人來說,更是遠.一路上捷克男人主動幫我拉行李箱.我得承認心裏不是沒有想過 other possibilities,那時連連對著天上聖母祈禱,接著聞到他身上濃濃酒味,再加上幾次狼獊險些絆倒,我從為自己擔心開始為他擔心,心裏想著"天啊,他該不會在途中昏倒在我旁邊吧?!我...不會很想幫他做CPR..."...冬夜裏的捷克小鎮,一路上不超過8個路人,我只能重覆那個僅知的捷克文namesti(意思是廣場)不斷和他確認方向.好不容易終於到了廣場,一片黑暗,那位捷克男士剛好碰到他的朋友(至仍不確定那位是男士還是女士),那位朋友再帶我去就在市中心的民宿.沒想到按了多次門鈴就是沒人應答.那位捷克男士的朋友竟然就熱心的拿出自己的手機撥電話給民宿老闆.
我的運氣太好了!
我連連和那兩位捷克朋友道謝,一掃之前在student agency bus 上的不愉快經驗.
回到布拉格後,搭車前往Kuna Hura著名的人骨教堂,參觀完後,散步走到公車站亭等車回布拉格.
拿著地圖又單獨旅行的東方人似乎有點顯眼.一位坐著等公車的不修邊幅的捷克男士靠過來問我是否須要幫忙.
滿嘴的酒氣混合著煙味,捷克男士說他正在學英文,所以英文不太好,但是他會儘量幫我.但其實我也不太需要他幫忙.
接著他又回座位上坐好,斷斷續續的用捷克語夾雜著英語說他的前妻已經再婚,他很哀傷.
我只好木納又有些尷尬得說...I'm sorry foor that.(這時一同等車的5位捷克老太太們一起轉頭看他)
他再敲敲他的腿說這裏曾受過傷,打著鋼釘,之前還得用輪椅代步.
我忍不住說哇那你現在好多了嘛!
捷克男人又苦笑了一下...看得出來他的狀況不太好.
接著好不容易來了一班公車,5位捷克老太太正排隊等著上車,他跟我說這班不是我要坐的.
嗯...對這混身酒味的男人我還是有些不放心,所以只好當著他的面上車問司機,果然不是我該坐的車.
有些歉意的對他笑了笑,他又哀傷的笑了一下,然後就一拐一拐的離開了
謝謝一路上曾經幫助我的捷克人.:-)
2/07/2009
The good, the bad and the uncategorizable experiences in Prague/Krumlov-I
Traveling doesn't always bring good memories, but those bad ones illuminate the good ones.
I dragged my luggage on the cobble road from Tyn Cathedral to Mustek metro station. It is an agonizing trip. I haven't slept much and didn't have much appetite these days. Let me think, what have I eatten for the last three days? I had a baggute, a honey pie and latte, a bagal and latte this morning. That's all. The funny thing is I don't feel hungry nor tired.
I must say the trip from Praha to Krumlov is the most dramatic moments I had so far. First the info center in Andel told me that student agency is "opposite"(his word) the street.
Well, that's a no. The place to wait for the student agency bus is on the same side, only it's at the end of the street, 500 meters away from the info center. It proves one more time that Information Centre in Prague really don't help much.
Then I got the dirty looks out of the blue from a young lady serves in Student Agency (a bus company that does long traveling in Praha), she literally gave me that look in front of me! I was more shocked than feeling angry. What did i do? I don't bloody know!!!!
Then after getting off the bus in the dark on the remote road with snow covering everything, I realized that I have to drag my luggage for another 20 minutes, then prolong to 30 minutes, then 1 hour.
Krumlov is a castle city with countless stairs and bridges. It may gives the city a sense of layer but it is definately not good news for lonely travelers. Just imagine you have to lift your luggage when going up and down stairs, covered with slippery melted snow.
Have I been naiive about traveling alone? hmmmm
but here comes the most daring part of asking for help in my whole life.
After listening to a least a dozen of different direction from Czech locals, (including one that simply said no with a firm hand gesture and long face) I finally found the way to Hostel Skippy.
I was tired, frustrated and ....to tell the truth i want to go home.
Then I saw that note clipped on the door of the hostel. "I'll be back by midnight, skippy"
what?
Ah, my god!
It's only 8 and it's snowing badly and i'm cold and my mobile still doesn't work( ok, maybe I should have checked up on that before leaving but i didn't).
I left my luggage on the doorstep and start heading back toward the centre for public phones. I saw a chubby young man with a kind face walked in my direction so I asked him if there's any public phones around here.
He gave me that very shy smile and said something in Czech. I guess he meant he can't understand me, he doesn't speak English. I was desperate, I need help. I need my sence of security back. So i decide to push my luck.
I asked him if he can dial the hostel number with his mobile and I'll pay him.
He finally knew what I meant and start dialing up the number with his phone. I got to talk with Skippy on the phone and viola crisis resolved!
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this shy Czech man's help. I offered to pay. He just walked away with that shy smile and say "no money, no money".
Thank you, Mr. anonymous. I've prayed for you.
Skippy helped me to move my luggage upstairs. My first impression fo Hostel Skippy is ...very homey.
The entrance is not spacious some may even describe it as crowded but I really couldn't care that much then. I just need a place to stay.
Skippy then showed me around the house. My room is pretty big for one person. It faces the river and the view is beautiful. Finally we sat down in the kitchen and she is definately a good listener coz I just poured out all the unpleassant things I experienced so far in Czech to her. She's an attentive listener and quite an artist herself. I was pretty talktive that night for some reason and later on I realize that she's a chatter box herself too!
I'd love to return to Hostel Skippy one day with W. The price is good. The double room is beautiful. The hosts, Skippy and Teresa are both wonderful, helpful and with interesting characters. Maybe that's why Hostel Skippy is famous around backpackers. The place has a character indeed.
However I do have some notes about Hostel Skippy:
1. No internet access in the hostel.
2. The shower is a bit unstable with temperature. It can be quite agonizing to have a shower in cold winter night.
3. It's probably not a good place to stay for people with bigger build.
4. The place is a bit challenging to find for foreigners. Do ask Skippy to tell you the easier way to get to the hostel. Don't take the hard road like me!
Here's a pretty truthful account of Hostel Skippy.
2/02/2009
A few facts I learned from my first night in Prague在布拉格的第1晚
1. 我的台灣銀行提款卡確定可以使用!
2. 公車站就在機場出站過馬路就到了.要先在售票機買票,但是顯然不接受紙鈔,只好又折回機場買了一瓶39kc的水換零錢
3. 到transfer的站下車後,轉搭捷運.和台北捷運的標示不同,所以到底該在那一側搭車才能往舊城方向啊? 實在讓我有點疑惑.只好捉個看來年輕可愛的OL問一下.可愛的捷克女郎的英文很棒,又很熱情.她說明怎麼看要在那一側搭車的.
例如,若你的目的地是在出發地的右邊,那就搭右側月台的車,若目的地是在出發地的左邊,就搭左側月台的車.
原來如此....
4. Hostel Tyn很難找!至少對我這個路痴而言.問了n個人但一直在同一區轉來轉去.終於找到旅館時我已是在流汗狀態.
5. 並不冷啊? 有點後悔沒帶牛仔褲和短袖來.在室內實在熱得很.
6. Hostel Tyn房間內並無wifi,所以要到廚房才能上網.已用skype 和家人與w報平安.skype真是好東西!
好累...11個小時的飛行讓人又累又乾....
1/29/2009
On my way to Praha到布格格的路上_首爾仁川轉機
It was a pretty smooth flight from Taoyuan to Seoul. I was sitting with no one, and so were other seemingly solo-travellers. This is one of the advantages of traveling alone, you are more likely to have your own space if the flight is not full. I watched a movie starred by Diane Lien and Richard Gere after finish my breakfast. Some people age gracefully and they are certainly among them.
After arriving Soul, it took me a while to locate the transfer desk of Korean Air. One of the lady in the counter has pretty good command of Mandarin.
I determined to find a place to use my priority Pas. After going up and down the escalator twice and the information desk didn't really help much, I decided to go back to the lady in the Korean Air. Viola, just around the corner, pass a coffee shop, there's a hub accepts Priority Pass.
The room faciliaties are not much but just enough. Internet services, quite a few selection of food and baverage, most of them are pretty light.
The beauty of it is....I don't have to pay...well, sort of, in exchange with my prior spending;-P
Time to go now.... I'll be in prague 11 hours later!
1/24/2009
5 DAYS from leaving for Prague
8晚的住宿都搞定了.全部住宿費為5100kc,合台幣若概算為1:2的話,也不過10200NT.實在很便宜.
Prague webcam gives u a quick look at how the city looks like at the moment.
I was whining about the temperature the other day now I'm about to fly to the place covered in snow. Hmmmm, talking about contradictory.
Few people hesitate to ask me again how solo is my trip. Yes, solo, as you know, alone, singular, pereiod.
I take this as a way to say goodbye to my single life. My last chance to explore the world in my own pace. A lot of anonymous friends help me along the way. Comparing with a lovely-printed-but-too-thick-to-bring Lonely planet, I prefer local knowledge from those travelers.
The pool of knowledge made traveling alone more interesting, more tailor-made, more individual, sounds like TRAVEL 2.0? This could be a great research topic.
You can learn from/contribute experiences from here:
As for how far you take them into account? That is your decision.
1/03/2009
hotels booked...2 more nights to go
一個人準備旅行的功課還真多!
至目前為止已把前4天和最後一天的住宿訂好了.還有2晚的住宿還沒解決.
我訂的是Prague 的Hostel Tyn(2晚)-Krumlov的Hotel Skippy(2晚)及最後一天住的Miss Sophie.目前為止5晚的住宿費為3400 crown.若算1:2的話約合台幣6800.我覺得實在很便宜.
我也試著在背包客棧上post自己的行程請教高手,到別人的部落格問問題等等.一直都有人認真的指點我,好感動啊!
列出來對我很有幫助的幾個網站/blog如下,謝謝提供這些資訊的人.The best orientation I've ever had!
如果你跟我一樣是後段班的自助(意思是人家2個月前就開始準備,你幾天前才開始),而且對捷克又不熟悉,那麼這幾個網站是很好的起點:
wikitravel 有非常簡潔的介紹,例如prague分10區的由來,每一區的重點.看到這邊對手邊訂到的旅館位置會更有sense.
livingprague.com 是一個旅居布拉格的美國人寫的.內容詳實且提供許多local knowledge.我是在tripadvisor的討論區發現它的.
旅人一轉身 完整詳細的捷克攻略實在令我嘆為觀止!而且相當實用!
Prague daily monitor 當地報紙,在livingprague裏找到的連結.看到一篇很有趣的年度總結文8 events that didn't change the world but affected ČR (沒有改變這個世界卻深深影響捷克共和國發展的8件事).其中COMMUNISTS BACK IN POWER那一段和台灣一直懸而未決的228事件很有異曲同工之妙....
背包客棧更是不可不去的地方嘍!而且會有很熱心的過來人解答你的問題呢!
MY GOOGLE NOTEBOOK 我收集的布拉格資料
12/31/2008
Going to Prague
前幾天想到也許可以去一下布拉格.雖然不是沒自助過,但是going solo倒是第一次.雖然不是心裏有點小嘀咕...但是去是去定了.
在網路上一找才知道原來布拉格是這麼熱門的背包客景點!但是要在幾天之內消化完這些資料也有點小辛苦.
沒腦袋的問問題有時候也是有點 offensive,所以還是悶悶的自己找資料.還好最讓我害怕的聖誕節活動已經過去了,雖然不盡理想,但是我己經盡力.布拉格就當成是這一學期努力的代價吧!
其實最讓我擔心的還是氣候.1-2月在捷克是年平均溫度最低的季節.還好從網路上得知冬遊布拉格不是只有我一個.讓我放心了不少.
在youtube上看到2007與2008的2月的布拉格景緻影片,真希望到時布拉格的天空也是有太陽的!其實我只期望不要一路下雪難走.
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