[ponygirl]

I was in Prague for three months during college - 1991. They put us in the ugliest cell-block dormitory I had ever seen. The rooms were so small that I could lay in my little bed, reach an arm across and touch my roommate in her bed. (Not that I did that, mind you. But I could have!) But the hallways were big enough to drive a Panzer tank through.

But the city...ahhh! The Prague is the most beautiful city in the world.

I also remember going into Prague castle and seeing these extraordinary, ornate ballrooms with beautiful murals, gold leaf ceilings, crystal chandeliers...and the Communists had filled them with auditorium seating made of ugly, blocky chairs covered with filthy beige vinyl. Talk about a contrast.

[AnAmericanAbroad]

Heh. Sometimes the contrasts can be striking indeed.

My city is a former steel-mill town, now with one steel mill left. The other big has switched over to heavy industrial production and manufacturing. Once you get out of the very epicenter of the town, it’s pretty much either standard-issue concrete blocks of flats or horrifically run-down First Republic building that have definitely seen better days.

Prague is indeed a beautiful city. It’s become far more “touristy” than it was in 1991, I’m sure. It’s why I don’t live there anymore.

‘The Prague’....nice reference to the way a lot of the locals here inadvertently refer to it as in English. :) My ex-wife used to do it all the time; “I was in The Prague today at ——”.