>Germans and Russians are generally not well liked in Central Europe for obvious historical reasons.
What a completely stupid and inaccurate statment, wow!

Redstater - assume you are talking about the sort of tolerance and appreciation of diversity your son has been taught. I think the fact that you were happy to quote him says it all

We enjoyed Prague. I don't know that we LOVED it - but we had a great time during our 4 day stay. There was plenty to do and we found quieter spots away from the hoards on the Charles Bridge and the Royal Way. We thought Prague castle was intolerable because of the crowds, but the cathedral was grand indeed. Walking around the neighbourhoods boardering the castle was wonderful with georgous views of the city and far fewer tourists to trip over.

We did not find the Czech's rude - in our experience every big city has more brisk interaction. We were aware in advance of the scams and so were on guard for them. However it is shameful that a police officer would behave in such a fashion and I'm sure that would taint my view of a place as well. We chose restaurants from our guidebook and everything was fine.

I doubt we will go back to Prague with all the other places in the world to go... but we would love to see more of the Czech Republic definately.

After catching a pickpocket red-handed my wife swears she'll never go back to Prague.

I liked the beer, the castle and the extremely pretty women, but I can get plenty of the first two in Germany and the last one is unattainable for this old geezer.

Sorry logos, you're wrong. I'll stick with my statement. After all, it's only based upon actual travel and observation.

Can it be you're a little fascist? Looks like it.

It's too bad Aramis isn't reading this thread.

<<Redstater...with an attitude like that, I think it's best for everyone if your son's passport is confiscated.No, make that destroyed. The world doesn't need attitudes like that.

Thank you, Portuense, for your eloquent statement supporting tolerance, diversity, and respect for others' points of view.>>

No, Portuense, I was writing of your suggestion that travel be prohibited for those who don't share your world-view or your opinion of a place. Strikes me as arrogant and judgmental.

Perhaps the lad was being a tad bit harsh....but after seeing his mother browbeaten by a waiter for failing to leave a tip (though there was clearly an ten per cent service charge added to the bill), being ignored by passers-by when politely asking for a map reference, and being brusquely handled time and again (funny about that...they hit us up three times. Do they target tourists?) by metro cops seeking to examine his perfectly valid ticket, perhaps you can understand his point of view.

<<I'll stick with my statement. After all, it's only based upon actual travel and observation.>>

What BigRuss said.

I'm one of the travelers who loved Prague! I was there in the summer of 1994. I remember that there were many other tourists around, but not being at all bothered by them because it was just so beautiful! And it had a wonderfully free-spirited, Bohemian feel about it. The people I encountered were friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Maybe it has changed since then. If so, I'm very glad I saw it when I did.

Thanks Carmar for posting this, we are thinking of Prague and Budapest as a spring destination so I am interested in everyone's opinions.

"The people I encountered were friendly, helpful, and welcoming. Maybe it has changed since then."

We were there in 2008. It has not changed. I don't know where these people went and were treated so poorly, but it's not the Prague we witnessed. From the guy who owned the apartments to our numerous waiters to the people who owned the wine cellar to the guy who rented us our car to the guys at the beer hall to the hotel people that let us park their car there overnight and, yes, to people who we asked directions, they all treated us nicely and fairly. Kim, Mary, Tracy and I have our thoughts why some people have so many bad experiences on their travels while others do not, but I'll leave it at that.
"Enjoy the Journey! Attitude is Everything!" It certainly works for us.

CAPH52; Don't worry about your son. We have visited Prague three times and it's a great city and very nice people. He will enjoy his stay. Keep in mind that any city in Europe, the U.S. or elsewhere could be substituted in this topic and you would find the same positives and negatives. It could be pickpockets, too many tourists or rudeness and you will find some who have had unfortunate situations everywhere. My pocket was picked on the Paris subway. It happened and we don't dwell on the negative. Love Prague. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/prague or www.inyourpocket.com/ Click on the city and then 'instant' for a download of information. BigRuss; I would say I thought your comment was profound, except for your opinion on Germans. We just returned from Germany and found any number of German's we had very nice long conversations with.

cd, to get a feel for whether you would like Prague and Budapest it might be helpful (new thread?) for you to post a list of the cities you have liked and disliked in Europe in general and see how others opinions match up with yours. The most frustrating thing about European travel for me is not really knowing what a place is like til you get there! Some people absolutely adore the cities I've not enjoyed and vice versa. So reading people's opinions of places is hard to weigh without some idea of their own biases in a place.

Me - I liked Budapest enough that I wouldn't avoid going back again (like if I was passing through), but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to visit again. I was neutral on Budapest (though there are some amazing photo ops, so in some ways my memories of Budapest are clearer thanks to some nice pics vs. Prague - which I loved but didn't quite get as nice of pictures for some reason...)

We didn't find the people rude at all but were let down somewhat as it has been hyped by so many to be more than we experienced.

Andrew
The main reason we want to go to Budapest is to hire a car to take us to Pecs, Hungary. My husband's father was born there and we want to find the Lutheran church he was baptised in and read his baptismal record, maybe take a picture of it, and just walk around the little town where he would have played as a child and where my DH grandmother lived before coming to the States. It's a little difficult as we do not speak hungarian. I have googled Lutheran churches in Pecs and cannot find any information in English.

Do you know how we would go about hiring someone for the day who speaks English and could take us there? I understand it is about 105 miles from Budapest.

Also, I have never been anywhere on any of our trips, that I did not find interesting. Well, maybe the Wisconsin Dells....

Reductio ad fascisti from Logos -- ignorance rears its foolish head. If you really think I'm a fascist, I hope you don't live in the UK, because you'll be funding my retirement with that arrantly nonsensical statement. Perhaps you need a short tour through the Museum of Communism in Prague or the KGB Museum in Budapest for a bit of smartening up on how the Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, et al. lived under the Soviet boot. The only good thing about the Berlin Wall was that it fell.

CAPH: I'd not quarrel with your opinion of Germans you met in Germany, I have no experience in Germany other than an airport transfer and that was no problem.

Encounters with German tourists have been occasionally displeasing for me, but that may have been more an issue of their ages (pushy 50-60 somethings skipping lines or loud twentysomethings in their cups) than their home nation because we've met some very nice German tourists too. But there certainly have been boisterous German tourist we've encountered getting their drink on.

I think the Czechs are less rude than brusque. If you're from a big East Coast city in the US, that's nothing extraordinary just a lack of small talk and not necessarily open and welcoming even though they are just going about their business. If you're not, it is easy to think people are unpleasant based on their tone instead of the end result of their actions. The boss (better half) and I have different reactions to folks taking the same course of conduct due to the perspective we have based upon which part of the US we're from.

Happy: I had the same reaction to Krakow.

I agree with maitaitom (Oct 26, 09 at 04:34 PM)...

Enjoy the journey! Attitude is everything!


I look forward to going back to Prague next month.

Dobry den, Praha...

...and I look forward to going to Germany next month too!

Guten Tag Muenchen!

"CAPH: I'd not quarrel with your opinion of Germans you met in Germany, I have no experience in Germany other than an airport transfer and that was no problem."

I've never been to Germany and have said absolutely nothing about Germans on this thread or anywhere else.

Thanks very much to all of you who've been encouraging about my son doing a study abroad program in Prague. Unfortunately, while you've been so kindly making me feel better, another part of the process has been falling apart. It looks like he may be doing an internship at home during the summer instead. But I've very much enjoyed this dialogue as Prague is a place we all hope to visit at some point.

ooops. That was iris quoting you. Sorry CAPH.

With some grand exceptions, I have found that if you are treated rudely it is returned in kind.