Definitely a lot different from Vienna. Where Vienna is ordered and is more or less laid out in a plan, at least the inner city....if you consider a ring around the city that makes it easy to get around a plan, Prague just rambles. There are talk old buildings and narrow winding streets; it's easy to lose your way. Our hotel is right in the middle of the old tourist district, which is cool and convenient, but that puts us right in the middle of the maze. It took us a little while to learn to navigate it. That's not to say the entire city is a maze. There are a number of plazas and squares; Wenceslas Square in particular is huge! And once you get out of the central touristy area, the streets widen. This pic looks from one end of the square to the other: it's probably a km across or longer.
Other street shots:
The Moldau river cuts through town, adding to its aesthetics. It really is a pretty town.
The people are much less orderly than the Viennese. Folks walk in the street (unavoidable at times because of their small size), and there's a big press of folks milling around most times. While I saw some graffiti in Austria, it was only along railways where it's not generally visible. In Prague, there's graffiti everywhere. Vienna is meticulously maintained; Prague has chipped paint and crumbling facades. There's in general a more rowdy feel to the city.
This especially shows after dark. The clubs open up and folks wander and have fun. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, there are strip clubs and cabarets almost on every corner. There are so many the clubs hire guys to recruit customers to their particular club. They apply the hard sell and really don't take no for an answer. Even if you clearly express that you have no interest in their club, they'll follow along espousing its virtues until you about want to beat them. Now, I would hope that not everyone gets this treatment, but the presence of two ladies in our group of young(er) guys didn't dissuade them. Maybe we just look like tourists.
Other things that you see here that were not to be found in Vienna (at least the part of Vienna we visited): streetwalking hookers and pickpockets. I got propositioned a couple times walking back from the bar last night. I didn't partake, of course. One member of our group caught a pickpocket in the act of lifting his wallet earlier in the evening. He and the guy he was with chased the villain, intending to pummel him, but he got away. That alerted us to THAT particular danger. However, I did not anticipate the angle MY pickpocket experience would take. As I neared the hotel, a woman approached me. She was a bit older than me and looks Persian or Turkish. She walked right up to me and asked me to take her, then grabbed where only the Admiral should. I tried to push her away but she was insistent, grabbing and pawing and practically pushing me into the wall. Very quickly I became annoyed, then suspicious. Hookers are NOT this aggressive. I reached down, grabbed her arm, and lookie what we had there: the cash from my pocket, clutched in her (not-so-hot) little hand! I snatched the money back and shoved her away. She muttered something in Czech and scurried off. Very quickly checking, I found nothing missing. A nearby cabby, who witnessed the whole thing, wagged his finger and said "you have to be careful". Thanks for the tip, buddy. And the assist.
So that was my little adventure. Despite that little mishap, I still like it here. While it's a bit less safe, it's also more energetic than Vienna, which, while elegant stately and enjoyable, seemed a lot slower and more focused on the past in some ways. Prague almost feels more young, if that makes any sense.
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