Fantasia of dreamers

“The streets of Prague were a fantasia scarcely touched by the twenty-first century—or the twentieth or nineteenth, for that matter. It was a city of alchemists and dreamers, its medieval cobbles once trod by golems, mystics, invading armies. Tall houses glowed goldenrod and carmine and eggshell blue, embellished with Rococo plasterwork and capped in roofs of uniform red. Baroque cupolas were the soft green of antique copper, and Gothic steeples stood ready to impale fallen angels. The wind carried the memory of magic, revolution, violins, and the cobbled lanes meandered like creeks. Thugs wore Motzart wigs and pushed chamber music on street corners, and marionettes hung in windows, making the whole city seem like a theater with unseen puppeteers crouched behind velvet.” 


- Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor pretty much sums up the magic of Prague in the above quote from her book "Daughters of Smoke and Bone". This city is truly delightful. Around every corner there is a new, even more beautiful surprise to be found. As I wandered up towards the castle, I took a wrong turn (but really, there can be no wrong turns in Prague) and came across a woman and her daughter hurrying to school. The woman paused to put on her daughter's beanie, which had fallen to the ground. It was such an every day, ordinary thing that it struck me a bit. How could there be normality in a place as fantastical as Prague? Surely the only people who live here permanently are the jesters and musicians that line the streets. But no, I was wrong. This is a lively city, full of people who truly care about their heritage. The history is all around you, but so is the present too. In the shops and restaurants, in the people heading home from work each evening. Prague is truly the gem of Eastern Europe.