Our first stop the morning after our late night arrival in Prague was Wenceslas Square where the only American Express office in Prague is located. We were unprepared for the expansive boulevard that confronted us. " Square" connotes a place smaller and less panoramic to us than Vaclavske Namesti is. Despite the crowds that thronged it, its charm overwhelmed us. Flowers bloomed in the medians amid an autumnal, misty morning. After walking many narrow streets to arrive there, its immensity caught us with surprise at its panoramic dimensions. You want instantly to take many photos of it. Of course, my eye sought out the Hotel Europa, the Grande Dame of fin-de-siecle hotels . Yes, submerged glory waiting to rise to a repolished surface, clicked my brain as I spotted it across the square. Soon I hope, murmured my heart. But, sadly, we didn’t explore the hotel’s ambiance because we had just become separated from our son who was to spend the rest of the day in Prague with no transport card and token Czech money in his pocket! That’s how crowded the square was. With anxiety, we went to the Amex office to get Czech money, the all-important Prague Card, the 3-day transport pass, and especially the useful booklet that accompanies the Prague Card. Without it, we would have never known about the Technological Museum and been able to navigate the rather labyrinthine way to it. Although I had read several guidebooks on Prague I found most inadequately prepared a visitor for coping with Prague’s treasures. Although Prague has become an immensely popular tourist destination, many guidebooks provide inadequate information about the city primarily because it is so packed with still hidden sights that the Czechs have not blatantly advertised.
Understandably, Prague’s release from Communist domination has colored most recent depictions of it, and guidebooks have tended to emphasize its late twentieth century transformation, especially at Vaclavse Namesti.
After our stop for wherewithal, we, of course, rushed like lemmings to the Hrad. At day’s end, we reconnected with our son at our hotel. He was limping from his long-range walking about this magnificent city and did not recover for almost a week. Prague can have that "must-see-it-all-at-once" effect on you. Yet, I think its joys reveal themselves to those who see it by simply strolling its byways, not just its main streets and squares. Visiting off the beaten path museums and sights not frequented by crowds (in Vysehrad, Mala Strana, Holesovice) allowed us to appreciate that seeing Prague’s "lesser" sights whets the appetite for a return visit . Prague is more than just its "top sites", like this historic square.