Brno or Bust: In the Shadows of Prague
Written by Craggy
Sunday, 16 December 2012 03:30
Coming to Prague would mark the beginning of a new era for me as it forms the first real step in my emigration to the Czech Republic. The next month was going to be tough, I knew that. So of course, I arrived a week early so I could go out and have some fun in the Bohemian capital before I set to work in laying foundations in the country.
Walking around Prague is a rewarding experience firstly because it is just so damned beautiful. The architecture is varied and breathtaking, from gothic to cubist via art nouveau, the capital has luckily remained largely unharmed throughout a century which has devastated many others. The alleyways wind and dive through the city, often appearing to get lost in some unknown darkness. The best that you can do is light a cigarette and descend in to them. There is often something worth discovering.
Early on I found a bar that is popular with Czechs and foreigners alike, U Malého Glena, and climbed down the stairs from the main bar to find myself in an underground blues club. I paid the small cover, and as I was early just took up a seat at the bar, smoked cigarettes and drank wine. The act on tonight is Stan the Man Bohemian Blues Band, an old growling blues guitarist who, I discover, has been ripping his way through every Monday night for the last 15 years. The bar fills up to packed until there is barely air to breath, and I’m living off of cigarette smoke. The blues is good tonight, it’s raw and packed with a good vibe as the band offer up both originals and covers. Stan, it turns out, is Scottish/Polish (although I’m informed he can’t speak a word of Polish). I chat a little with those in the know, buy a CD for the trouble, and depart in to the cold Czech night.
The main bar is decent too and I revisit it a couple of times, although the night of heavy rotation of Police greatest hits pushed me out of the door late one night. I haven’t been back since. There are other great jazz clubs in the centre such as Ungelt, but I didn’t get a chance to visit this time. I did visit Klub Újezd a couple of times, a great rock bar down the road from U Malého Glena. The music here ain’t too bad, but it’s more about the atmosphere, which can be lively and varied. Its close proximity to the castle means it’s easy to reach from the centre, but also is far enough just off the main tourist strip to avoid some of the worst characteristics. The rest of the month was spent indoors, sprinting through bottles of cheap Frankovka and cups of shit strong coffee in order to keep my brain fed through an intense month. Through episodes of drunken delirium I was lucky enough to be able to write music with a beaten up old 5-string Spanish guitar I found in the house in which I was staying.
The month in Prague having recently ended I popped across to Lyon for la fete des lumieres – the illuminated annual December festival where the streets of Lyon are decorated with impressive light shows, and the streets are positively running with mulled wine and tartiflette. In and out of the street music and cries of ‘vin chaud’ a path is carved to the base of la Croix Rousse where, by some twist of fate, I find I am staying the apartment of bassist of a successful French rock band sharing the name of my football team, Aston Villa. It’s an amusing way to end my trip before I depart early on Saturday for my flight back to Blighty for Christmas.
