European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 14, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hrad Cany Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral dominate the Skyline above the 14th-Century Charles Bridge Over the Vltava. Rague better than Ever a amps fil8 Church of %e8uoova �sln1cf>0�?~�?o v. Lesser Chart i town j amp Rotge Al v _ a s a a i via born Macb or statue erf municipal House Oldja i Hus town old town the tatar Wenceslas Square National museum Prague not by Kenneth Reich los Angeles times there is no better place to witness the changes that Are sweeping Eastern Europe than in Czechoslovakia s Beautiful capital. Prague is in a festive mood these Days. Pictures of Tomas Masaryk who founded the czech Republic in 1918, and of Vaclav Havel the country s new playwright president decorate Walls and windows. The Good cheer and friendliness of the citizens make the glorious old City with its medieval monuments and narrow twisting streets More attractive to tourists than it has been since before world War 11. The Best place to catch the spirit of the revolution is in the Center of the City in Wenceslas Square where last november s demonstrations prompted the fall of the hard line regime. There students and political activists still like to debate the country s future with visitors who Are inclined to join in. At one end of the Square the base of the statue of St Wenceslas the country s Patron Saint is covered with All kinds of signs ranging from congratulations from students abroad to exhortations by new political parties. Candles Burn at an Impromptu people s memorial a few feet away where the student Jan Palach immolated himself in protest against the 1968 crushing of the Quot Prague Spring Quot by soviet troops. In addition to Wenceslas Square which also happens to be the most fashionable shopping area Prague s finest sightseeing place is exotic hrad Cany Castle sometimes called Prague Castle where the Kings of Bohemia once lived and Havel has his offices today. Unlike other czech presidents Havel does t live at the Castle instead he retains his modest apartment in the City. Also fascinating Are the old town Square the 14th-Century Charles Bridge with its esoteric collection of 30 statues and the old jewish ghetto with its remarkable cemetery. All Are just across the Vltava River in the stare Mesto or old town Section and within walking distance of each other. Central Prague is Well served by the subway with trains every two minutes and an extensive network of Streetcar lines. That makes the City particularly accessible to exploration by walking and Public transportation. That s fortunate because most of Central Prague is off limits to Ordinary passenger cars. The walking is pleasant even when the path is Uphill As was the trek to hrad Cany Castle. On a Hilltop High above the Vltava River the 1,100-year-old Castle is Home to government offices museums palaces and the famous Spires of St. Vitus Cathedral where czech Kings were crowned and where a ceremony was held in Havel s Honor on his inauguration Day marking the end of 45 years of strict communist party Rule. On Golden Lane just inside the Castle Walls a collection of 17th-Century tradesmen s cottages Are notable for their architecture if not for their souvenir contents. Famed author Franz Kafka who knew something about bureaucratic tyranny once wrote in one of the cottages. It is about a mile from the Castle to the historic w onders of old town. But before you descend gaze Down for a wonderful View of the narrow streets and Broad squares of both the male Strana Section be of the Castle and old town across the River. Beer Halls wine bars Coffee houses and during the summer sidewalk cafes offer pleasant places to take a break separating the Castle and old Tow n is the Charles Bridge. Built by Charles in a holy roman my ror who governed from Prague the pedestrian w Walkway is lined with an Odd assortment of statues of saints 10 stripes Magazine june 14, 1990 1 lamp of i f 4 a if Quot ,\0 Dpi turn above two women in traditional costume hold a poster of Czechoslovakia s new president Vaclav Havel. At left stones in the old jewish cemetery in Prague and part of the memorial at the razed Village of Lidice. A it s mail my. A i it s Mia we and National heroes. Despite Advance reports i found few people in Rague who spoke English. German is More Ommon. Everyone will have his favorite Sites in what is truly Beautiful City one spared serious damage during orld War ii. Mine were the tiny House where Kafka Rote and the jewish cemetery a Block from the inter Continental hotel. Its gravestones hundreds tumbling Over one another have been described Asne of the 10 great historic sights of the world a ascription that is not much of an exaggeration. Next to the cemetery is a Small museum and Art Allery featuring paintings of doomed jewish Wildren imprisoned at Terezin a nazi concentration amp Between Prague and the German  the City there Are Many excursions of a a or half Day. Some of them such As to Lidice the wage whose inhabitants were massacred and Hose buildings were razed by the nazis As a reprisal r assassination of a Gestapo chief or Terezin re reminiscent of the nation s tragic history madness lingers for the past but in Prague today s Ood is upbeat Hopes Are High and i Felt Lucky to be visited at such a historically important time stayed in the comfortable Esplanade hotel just a Block from Wenceslas Square. I made the mistake of booking the double room through Cedon the czech National tourist Agency at its new York office. The Price was $172 a night payable in hard Western currency. When i arrived at the Esplanade i was told that if 1 had walked in off the Street one of its rooms would have been less than $25 a night. Other tourists managed to get such Low rates by paying the higher reserved rate for the first few nights and then looking around for inexpensive accommodations. But this summer with most hotels fully booked such tactics might not be practical. Prague has Only 6,000 hotel rooms with 1,500 under construction and visitors Are streaming in the Esplanade has a reasonably Good restaurant heavy on pork beef and Duck dishes All with  prices Are right no dinner was More than $10, and excellent Beer is 20 cents or less. Another Good Choice for dining is the three ostriches restaurant at the Western end of the Charles Bridge. It in t excessively elaborate but the food is Good the service very Good and the prices Are within the $10-per-person Standard. The luncheon menu is the same As dinner. The three ostriches also has a few hotel rooms and would be an excellent place to stay if space were available. A visit to cafe Europa by Denis d. Gray associated press visitors still hear about Prague s Golden times when headwaters shaved twice a Day coffeehouses resounded with debate and the pastries were More delectable than those in Vienna. For a glimpse of what once was visit the cafe Europa in the czech capital some evening. The night i was there three elderly men played hapsburg Empire melodies while a pair of prostitutes eyed new arrivals homosexuals in leather jackets embraced and a scruffy Man hopped through the room on one leg clutching his crutches. Paintings of Semi nude goddesses Florid mirrors and Cut Crystal chandeliers a Hallmarks of the Art Nouveau style a adorn the premises. The popular haunt located in the grand hotel Europa dates Back to the turn of the Century when the czechs were part of the Austro hungarian Empire and the coffeehouses of Prague Budapest and Vienna were centers of social and political life. Their heyday continued for 30 years of Independence known nostalgically As the Quot Golden Republic Quot which Many czechs today Hope will serve As a Model for the future. Quot Prague s Coffee houses their Pale remnants can no longer evoke the cafe life Between the two world wars a wrote czech poet Jaroslav Seifert of this Era. Quot in the Coffee houses we discussed planned and engaged in passionate polemics and i never had the feeling of time being  there were cafes wrote the 1984 Nobel prize Winner frequented by artists others by High society Quot where the headwaters had themselves shaved twice a Day Quot and places that attracted students because they stocked newspapers from All Over Europe. These vanished with the Advent of communist Rule in 1948. But students and dissidents like the country s new president Vaclav Havel and author Ludvik Vaculik continued to gather though talk was More circumspect a and hushed. In a cup of Coffee with my interrogator Vaculik wrote that it was suspected some tables in every cafe were bugged by the authorities. Quot do you really think that without coffeehouses there would have been no culture Quot Vaculik asks a Friend in the Book. Quot no of course culture was t created there but it was an environment that encouraged it Quot the Friend replies. These Days cafe talk is once again openly freewheeling. But while the snooping devices May have been dismantled the places themselves have yet to Slough off the outer Shab Biness and a roughness of manner to which communist societies everywhere seem prone. The cafe Slavia one of the last of the great old coffeehouses still attracts artists from the nearby opera and theater but filthy rags and cigarette Butts lie uns wept by slouching waiters. The future of Prague s Coffee houses like Many institutions in the dramatically changing society seems to hang in the balance. Will the country s political leaders and Foremost actors and writers once again be mercilessly dissected Over Coffee and cake will the onetime sense of stylish Ness return with an improving Economy will the coffeehouses succumb to upmarket Chic catering More to tourists than local characters at the cafe Europa at least matrons sip Coffee topped with whipped Cream and Earnest Young men Down czech White wine. The three Gray haired bespectacled men could stand a neater fit to their suits and better tuning of their instruments during a break a West German businessman buys the Trio Beers and in a booming voice offers a lecture about All the changes they Are to expect when capitalistic ways take hold. They nod politely and go Back to violin Viola and piano. After their Strauss and Lehar Staples they venture into Broadway tunes and fittingly As time Coes by Fune 14, 1990 stripes Magazine 11