Prague and Praha

Prague- There are two different cities here. Prague and Praha. Prague is the internationally known city where tourists come to see the famous St. Vitus Cathedral surrounded by a castle were hundreds crowd around to watch the ceremonial changing of the guards every noon. Praha is where the citizens of Prague live and work, unless they work in Prague.


One of the many bridges crossing the Vtava River in Prague.

Every major tourist destination has these split personalities. One is a facade of a town which we are told actually existed and functioned as a normal town several decades, or even centuries ago. This fraction of the city still provides a very important economic and cultural role for every resident involved, but never seems to fully reciprocate the feeling with the actual town, in this case Praha.


A park in Praha.

Praha is the Czech spelling of Prague. Like when an actual Parisian pronounces Paris, "Pari," unlike the American emphasis on the "s." Although, this does involves an entire different spelling of the name of the city. This alternate spelling is not solely and English affair. In German it is spelled "Prag."

This difference in spelling may merely be an issue of semantics, but it relates to a separation in the city as a whole. Two days ago, Ian and I set off to do some shopping across the north end of the Vtava River, outside of the tourist boarder of Prague, Praha. We scaled through local parks and side streets to find your typical busy city full of trolleys and pedestrians. Nothing more and nothing less than the financial district of San Francisco, minus the super tall buildings.


Nearly all buildings in Prague are about six stories tall. This buiding is across the courtyard behind our own building.

As said before, every tourist town as this. But Prague sets the bar for its separation of historic and function. Never have I seen such a dramatic drop in travelers when I cross a single road. The old Jewish Quarter in Prague is packed, shoulder to shoulder with tourists, guides and store owners, but none exists outside of the six square block section. When you leave Prague and enter Praha you literally feel like it's a different town.


An apartment building in Praha.

While on the train to Prague from Budapest, we met an older American couple who explained to us that around 60% of Prague's GDP comes from tourism. I'm not sure if this statistic is accurate, but it sure feels right when walking through the city. Budapest felt nothing like this. Budapest felt like a regular city which happened to have some land marks which some visitors might like to see. There were no neighborhoods devoted to tourism. Prague doesn't just have squares, or streets, but entire neighborhoods, 100% devoted to tourists.

It is very possible that this is only an initial reaction to a fact of a continent that has been around for much longer than the country I was raised in- that I am yet to grasp the understanding of how real tourist destinations righteously function.



I really do love Prague. It is small enough to walk anywhere a traveler may need or want to go. And living here would not be so bad- known of those damn tourists would get in your way. You live in Praha, while they are visiting Prague.