Written December 30, 2006.
Today, we traveled by train from Vienna to Prague and were greeted by FRIGID weather. Despite the weather, we roamed about the Old Town, New Town and Wenceslas Square after arriving. During our travels, we sometimes find that key items are “popular” within the stores in an area. While on this trip there have been a few (like Nutcrakers and Beer steins in Germany and cuckoo clocks and Bavarian attire in Austria), none of the area’s “key purchases” have been as pronounced as those in Prague.
Certain items did seem to endlessly repeat as we walked Prague’s many streets tonight. We were greeted by countless shops selling Bohemian Crystal (made in a particular Czech region), amber and garnet jewelry, marionettes and wooden nesting dolls (typical of Russia). Are these items popular because there’s a local connection to them, or are they simply easy to source and popular with the tourists?
Nonetheless, we enjoyed the day and look forward to exploring in the daylight tomorrow…