Public transport in Prague
We relied entirely on public transport to get around in Prague. We had acquired this 3-day pass at the airport that allowed us to use public transport within the city limits for a very reasonable price.
Public transport in Prague is a mix of buses, trams and the metro. Unlike Paris, where they’ll soon need to invent new colours for their Metro lines, Prague has just 3 lines and they are adequately served by primary colours (A - Red, B - Yellow, C - Green).
What Prague metro lacks in breadth, it more than makes up for in depth. Many stations are very deep underground.
Staromestska
The escalator rides seem to last an eternity and make your head spin. Such depths must take a toll on the escalators because we saw that about a third of them were out of order.
The never-ending escalator rides
The concerned authorities would hang this placard in front of them forbidding you from getting onto them. Each time a train would pass it would circulate a dank draught through the station and make the placard dance fitfully for a few seconds.
[The wife is of the view that they were merely reserved for use during peak hours]
The stations were utilitarian but a few of them had an avant-garde decor comprising of dimpled golden and red/blue/green (depending on the station) plates:
Staromestska
At one of the Prague metro stations
Malostranska
The station names kept reminding me of Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi. Had the metro stations played Philip Glass on their public address system, I would have been greatly spooked.
Which brings me to the aural aspect of the public transport. The announcements in the Trams in Amsterdam are in a voice that is pleasant, polite but firm:
It’s like an old friend of your father counseling you about your prospects after college.
The voices I heard in public transport in Prague were feeble and lacked any authority. It was the voice your mother’s sister suggesting a home remedy for your cold.
I think traveling around the world assigning personas to public transport voices will be an interesting thing to do.