People!

I am currently in Prague and took the opportunity to stroll around the old town on the past two evenings. I had not been to Prague at this time of the year in a long time and was shocked about the sheer number of tourists milling around there. Even Vienna pales in comparison, it was more reminiscent of Venice and a bit too much for my liking. Here are some pictures to illustrate the fact that I was not the only visitor...

 

Other than the crowds, what really struck me was how...trashy...this elegant city has become in its touristy parts at least. I don't think I've ever seen so many souvenir shops, jewellers and weird "museums" in one place and on top of that, there are aggressively advertised thai massage places in pretty much every street. I suppose stag parties are their main target group. Here's a picture of one such establishment on St. Wenceslas Square. The man-sized shark is used to advertise its fish spa, I guess:

Decline into trashiness or not, Prague is still beautiful and definitely worth a visit. Having taken the train from Vienna which takes about the same time as the one to my native Klagenfurt, I once more realised how close the two capitals are geographically and that there's a reason why (Asian) tourists (in particular) always like to combine Vienna, Budapest and Prague.