Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its 1,100-year existence. Founded during the Romanesque and flourishing by the Gothic and Renaissance eras, Prague was not only the capital of the Czech state, but also the seat of two Holy Roman Emperors and thus also the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. It was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire and after World War I became the capital of Czechoslovakia. The city played major roles in the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and in 20th-century history, during both World Wars and the post-war Communist era.
With al of that history and culture, as well as everyone who knows telling me what a beautiful city it is, I am looking forward to 3 full days here.
The disadvantage of arriving on a beautiful Spring day is that every Praguer and tourist is out and about - mostly in the Old Town Square - however, as I number in that group, I can hardly complain, now can I?
After arriving, I found the apartment I'm staying in, which is really a glorified hostel - there are 3 rooms (the other 2 rooms both have 2 people staying in them), with a shared small kitchen, and one bathroom and toilet to share between now 5 people. Not exactly what I expected (the advertisement shows 1 room and 1 bathroom, with no indication of the other rooms at all); however, it's only for 4 nights, and I guess that's the risk that I take not staying in hotels.
On top of all that, there is no Wi-Fi in the room, so that means standing at the kitchen bench, and even then the signal strength is described as "poor"; so that means that I may not be too successful with my posts for the next few days, and might have to do a bulk upload and description at the end - not what I'd like to do, but will see how it goes.
I headed out to do a walking tour of central Prague, which again proved interesting and valuable - a good way to get a quick handle on the history of the city, as well as an orientation to some of the main sites/sights. Prague is home to the country's biggest castle complex, so I'm sure that alone will be worth a half to full day.
It looks like it will be very easy to fill my time here.