(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)
In 1999, Klatovy was not the most obvious choice for our first destination in the Czech Republic. Even now, with a population of just 22,000, not too many people have it on their travel radar. But I thought it might make a gentle introduction, as it was not very far from the German border. It wasn’t just close to Germany…it is also known as Klattau, and many of the surnames in the area are clearly German in origin (our inn was run by the Hauptmann family).
I took a LOT of pictures of Klatovy’s main square (náměstí Míru), because it was just so photogenic. One of those appears at the very top of this post. But we enjoyed other aspects of the town too. Klatovy was where we first enjoyed Knedlíky (boiled dumplings), and also hosted the first store in which I saw Ukrainian champagne. After a couple of days here, we were ready to move deeper into the Czech Republic.
Our next destination was Plzeň, a considerably larger city on the way to Prague. LIke Klatovy, Plzeň also has a German name (Pilsen)…after which Pilsener beer was named. The highly respected Pilsner Urquell beer is from here. Alas, our accommodation in Plzeň (a cross between a hostel and a budget hotel) won a different kind of recognition from us: due to the openly hostile service and lack of cleaning, we declared it the inaugural winner of the Anti-Tourist Awards (a shortened form of the actual name!). It really was a letdown after our fine accommodations in Klatovy,
Many of my photographs in Plzeň were taken from the top of Katedrála svatého Bartoloměje (St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral), located in the absolute centre of the city. As you can see from the photo above, it required a steep and narrow ascent with very low ceilings. It was worth it in the end, however, as the 46 m high tower afforded some great views.
Although parts of Plzeň were a little rough around the edges back then, we still found some cool places to visit. I stumbled across the hockey arena, which foreshadowed a subsequent part of our trip, and my friend found a spectacular wine shop. Although it has a fine history of beermaking, the Czech Republic also takes winemaking very seriously. Once again, this foreshadowed something we would return to later.
We also found a very ornate synagogue, which turned out to be the second largest one in Europe. It had been restored only in 1998, after being closed in 1973. The Plzeň Jewish community had numbered about 2,000 when the synagogue was completed in 1892, but now numbers only about 70. Part of the synagogue is once again used for worship.
After Plzeň, we were ready for our biggest challenge yet: Prague, the legendary capital of both Bohemia and the Czech Republic. Would it live up to its advance billing? Stay tuned!