WALKING AROUND PRAGUE

IN PRAGUE, EVERY STROLL IS A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME, AND EVERY VISTA IS A MASTERPIECE PAINTED WITH THE BRUSHSTROKES OF CENTURIES PAST

- UTTARAN DAS GUPTA

OISWARJYA BASU, 29, USUALLY GETS INTO A BAD mood around her birthday. So, she did not have any great expectations from the day, December 30, 2019, when she found herself in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

"We were staying at a hostel in the centre of the city for EUR 7 a night," recalled the assistant professor of law at O P Jindal Global University, Sonipat. "Besides the two of us (Basu and her cousin, Sayantani Ghosh, 33), six French boys were in the room. Only one of them knew English."

When the boys learned it was Basu's birthday, they went to the Burger King nearby, stole a large menu card, and inscribed a birthday wish. "They also got a lot of liquor," said Basu. "I got quite drunk and then threw up in the bathtub. But the receptionist at the hotel did not make me clean it nor charged me extra—all because it was my birthday."

Basu and Ghosh took a cruise on the Vltava River the next day. "Everything was so bright," said Basu. "I think it was the brightest day of my life."

The two young women stayed in the Czech Republic from December 24, 2019, to January 2, 2020.

Basu, a frequent traveller in India and abroad, believes that Prague is probably the most beautiful place she has visited. "The only exception would be Vietnam," she said. "But Vietnam has natural beauty. Prague is beautiful because someone made it so."

She also recollected spending Christmas and New Year in the Czech capital—often described as one of the best times in the year to visit the city. Unlike many European cities, such as Berlin, Paris, or London, Prague had endured less damage during the cataclysms of the 20th century, like World War II. Its medieval spires, clock towers, opera houses, and cobbled streets are lit with a thousand lights. Snow adds a touch of magic.