Company Trip to Prague

This year our company celebrates its 10th anniversary. To mark this event, everybody (including partners) was invited to a weekend in Prague, Czech Republic. Unfortunately, Luda could not come along because we had nobody to look after Anne Sophie, and taking Anne Sophie on this trip (as much as I wanted) was out of the question with my employer.

(Photos: courtesy of Alex Vishnyakov)

Prague is a really beautiful city. It has a very large and well preserved old town, with several different architecture styles. It was once the third biggest city of Europe (I presume after Paris and London), which was due to the fact that the emperor Karl IV of the Holy Roman Empire made it its capital in the 14th century. Everything is named here after Karl: Karl University, Karl bridge, Karl street, etc. The Jewish quarter, just a couple of blocks north of the main square, is very well preserved (it was surprisingly spared by the Nazis, unlike its inhabitants). Prague is really worth a visit, and it is quite inexpensive to stay and eat here.

It was also interesting to roam the streets of the newer part of the city, which is a strange mixture of the modern western influences and the Soviet past. Many things reminded me of home (that is Minsk).

The Czech people seem to be pretty gloomy and unfriendly. From a guide I heard that it is a complaint he heard many times from the westerners. Even young people, not “spoiled” by the Communism, wear blank faces. This is especially feelable in restaurants, where waiters treat clients in a rather rough, unfriendly manner. Well, may be the Czechs are genetically unhappy people. I don’t know.

I had previously been to Prague once, in the summer of 2000 with a baha’i youth choir from Benelux. This time was different: everything was arranged and paid for by the company. We stayed in a hotel just a couple of blocks away from the headquarters of Radio Liberty (Radio Svoboda), my favorite radio station broadcasting in Russian (among other languages). The hotel reminded me, at least in some ways, of the communist times, but was quite good.

One of the highlights of the trip, was a bike tour of the old city. What a great way to explore a city!

All in all we had a great time! I will definitely go back to Prague with Luda and Anne Sophie one day!