For any city to possess true and genuine appeal, it must contain at least one place where people feel calm, at ease, inspired. Prague has not one such place, but many.
Some people swear that it's the Charles Bridge. It's impossible to put your finger on quite why it inspires a feeling of repose - it is nothing more than fifty metres of bridge, after all, linking the Old Town with a Little Quarter. But it is undeniably true that something happens to you when you cross it. Perhaps it has got something to do with the Gothic architecture and the Baroque statues, which fuse together into a coalescence of perfect harmony. But on the other hand, perhaps not. Because other people say that Prague's magic spot is not the Charles Bridge at all, but the Orloj, the Town Hall Clock. This madcap musical box dominates the Old Town Square (Staromestské Námesti). Every hour on the hour it performs its mediaeval puppet show: the apostles process in stately file: Death inverts his hour glass and tolls his sacred bell: the cock crows: the hour strikes.
The best advice to give any visitor to Prague is quite simply to take your time. Don't hurry form sight to sight, guidebook in hand, or you will miss the greatest charm of all, the quirks and curlicues of the architecture. Near the Old Town Square is one of the most beautiful carved doorways in all Prague, that of the Two golden Bears, the house where the rabidly left-wing writer Egon Erwin Kisch was born in 1885. The ferocity of his views earned Kisch the soubriquet "The Furious Reporter".
On a clear day, it is difficult to beat the view from PragueCastle. And even on cloudy or hazy days - which, let's be honest, are more the norm in this city - the sight of the city's myriad spires shimmering up out of the mist is very magical indeed, and it is easy to understand how Prague earned its nickname "the Golden". Prague Castle itself contains such a wealth of things to see, that the first time visitor might well be tempted to give up and go away: with so much clamouring for your attention, where on earth do you start? St Vitus, Cathedral, the Royal Garden and the Royal Palace are all must-sees. The Palace is especially noted for two things: the magnificent Vladislav Hall, an example of Gothic architecture possibly unequalled in Central Europe: and for the fact that it was here that the world's very first official defenestration took place, in 1618, a deed that directly precipitated the Thirty Years War.
One of the most atmospheric places in the whole Castle district is Zlatá ulicka or Golden Lane, which takes its name from the goldsmiths who used to have their workshops here. Popular tradition asserts that it was not goldsmiths but alchemists who lived in the teeny-weeny houses that lines the street, hunched over boiling cauldrons of dross, desperately attempting to refine it into gold to please the eccentric Renaissance Emperor Rudolph II. It's an appealing idea, even if there is no truth in it.
Prague also boasts the oldest synagogue in Europe, tucked away in the Jewish Quarter, and rejoicing in the name Old-New Synagogue. Its most elderly sections date from 1270. It is also said that is was in among the roof-beams of this synagogue that the Rabbi Löw hid the Golem after it had begun to run amok. The golem was a figure fashioned from clay that Rabbi löw had magically brought to life by placing a stone tablet in its mouth. When the golem started to play up, the Rabbi hastly removed the tablet and hid the offending clay monster in the synagogue. Rabbi Löw died in 1609, and his tombstone can be seen in the Old Jewish Cemetery, along with that of Hendela Bassevi, a legendary beauty, and wife of the first Jew in Prague to be raised to the nobility.
But what about the pleasures of the living? Prague, of course, is renowned for its beer, and a refreshing flagon of Staropramen is always available in U Kalíchá, sometime haunt of the fictional good soldier Svejk, Who regularly used to prop up its bar. If beer is not your thing, try an ice-cold Becherovka - but do be careful. Prague drinking habits are such that an empty glass will be refilled automatically without your asking! In fact, fresh draught beer is so important to the natives of Prague, that it is not uncommon to see people turning up to the pub with an empty tankard, having it filled, and taking it home to drink with Sunday lunch. The head on the beer is so stiff that it will support he weight of a number of small coins. For a snack to accompany your beer, go to U Fleku, which is noted for its crispy breadrolls - and don't forget to sample knédli, bread dumplings Czech style. And last but not least, for an yHrabal fans out there, check out U Zlaheto Tigra, the Golden Tiger, which was the grand old man's favourite watering hole. The real Prague doesn't get much more real than this...