Prague, also known as Zlata Praha in the past, is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the bank of River Vltava in central Bohemia, the beautiful city of Prague is rich in history and definitely has a bright and promising future. The city has seen a major change in its rapid transition from communism to capitalism in the last 20 years but by all accounts of the locals there, people are much happier and have adjusted eagerly.
Whilst most historic sites and monuments have been preserved, the restructuring of Prague city has been vital in order to manage the influx of tourists, especially after joining the European Union in 2004. For example, while we were there a ring road project was underway to ease traffic congestion and we saw that certain historic buildings had been turned into hotels.
Prague claims to be one of the cultural centres of Europe, housing many institutions such as museums, galleries and theatres. There are also dozens of music halls, opera houses (including one at which Mozart conducted the first performance of his opera Don Giovanni, which he wrote in Prague).
We went on a walking tour of the city (for free!) and had a very exuberant Czech guide who provided a great, and humorous, account of Prague's history and showed us some gorgeous places which we went back to on our own later on.
The bathroom situation at this hostel is pretty dire, there is one bathroom for over 30 people and it is hideous! Mould, mildew and peeling paint is just the start. Add in holes in the wall, some filled with some sort of spray foam, no locks and so filthy you don't want to touch anything and you start to get some idea of what it was like.
The manager there was the rudest man I think I have ever encountered, refusing to give us $50 change when we paid for our first night's accommodation, then he said we had to check out after one night at 11am then wold not allow us to check back in for our second night until 2pm. AND refused to store our luggage in the interim hours despite the fact that we were staying in the same room as the night before, we had already paid AND they had no cleaners coming in so there was no need for us to leave. So we trudged with our packs down to the local coffee shop and sat for hours nursing hot chocolates and cursing the manager.
