Prague (Praha in Czech) is like a history lesson come to life. As you walk among the Jong stone palaces or across Charles Bridge, with the Vltava flowing below and pointed towers all around, you will feel as if history had stopped in the 18th ceniury.

This storybook city in the centre of Bo­hemia experienced two architectural golden ages: a Gothic period under Holy Roman Emperor Charics IV and a baroque period during the Counter-Reformation. There is also an incredible smorgasbord of Ro­manesque, rococo and Ait Nouveau archi­tecture, all packed into Pragues compact, complex, medieval city centre.

Unlike Warsaw. Budapest and Berlin, which were major battlefields during WWII. Prague escaped almost unscathed; after the war. lack of modernisation pre­vented haphazard development. Since 1989. however, central Prague has been swamped by capitalism as street vendors, cafes and restaurants take over streets and parks as they did prior to i94S.

Today, more than a decade after the fall of the Czech Republics Communist gov­ernment. Prague is a city with over a mil­lion inhabitants, the seat of government and ihe leading centre of the countrys in­tellectual and cultural life. Known already for its musical and literary life and culture, and more recently for ground-breaking visual arts and cinema, todays Prague is also a magnet for top-flight jazz, rock and post-rock music.

Prague has also become one of Europes favourite tourist destinations - in summer the hotels are full to bursting and the citys narrow lanes are choked with tour groups, weekenders and school children. Thousands of young Westerners have settled here as artists, consultants and entrepreneurs, lead­ing journalists in the early 1990s to effuse about a new Left Bank.
How you feel about Pragues current tourist glut may depend on where you are.

HIGHLIGHTS

Visit Prague Castle and the awesome St Vitus Cathedral

Explore the quiet and rarely crowded back lanes of Hradcany

Develop a passion for Dvorak, Mozart and Smetana at live summertime con­certs in Liechtenstein Palace

Celebrate sunrise or sunset on Kampa Island overlooking Charles Bridge