A four legged perspective on Prague
I had two subjects readied for this letter. This time round you get a dog’s life in Prague - or maybe more accurately a dog and dog owner’s life in the Czech capital.
Once, I hit upon an idea for trying to get round this charge. The dog could be put in a pram with its head partly covered by a bonnet and a big bib sticking out of its mouth – a bit like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood if you like. This idea - before I get into trouble with either the loss-making Prague city transport company, animals rights enthusiasts, or the prams for legitimate mothers movement – was never put into effect. There again, once I was fined for not having a valid tram ticket but the dog was overlooked when the penalty was totted up. He was also allowed once to ride on an historic tram although the official small print probably banned this.
This was only fitting since he was a tram loving dog. He liked sniffing the ample supply of constantly circulating and changing passengers and standing at the door following the less fortunate two and four-legged pedestrians.
Dogs can also help make room on public transport. I do not mean that Vagabond – that was the name of the mid-sized mongrel - bared his teeth at the tram travelling populace. He was a cowardly beast with the inverse more likely to happen. No, I remember one summer donning dark glasses and getting on the tram with the dog. The front seats – designated for the blind – immediately cleared. I protested that I was not blind, but it made not, can I say, a blind bit of difference. A seat was a seat and, I concluded, should be sat in even if obtained by underhand means.
There are also the handily sited Prague parks and free poop bags supplied around them by the thoughtful local councils. The use of these bags can make you famous in far away lands. I joke not. Once a group of Japanese tourists could think of nothing so funny as taking a picture of me cleaning up after the dog at a park near Vyšehrad.
After reading how a US family’s photos came to be used by a Czech company for its ads without their consent or knowledge, I have now have nightmares about what products myself and the late dog could now be selling in the land of the rising sun.
Most of the restaurants and humble pubs are also dog friendly. There is one that used to ask whether the dog would be having a meal as well as the two human guests. His order was, however, included in the bill.
There was an unfortunate episode at one smart Prague restaurant – the former Cafe Colonial on the borders of the Jewish quarter. There the dog received some discreet under the table extras that did not agree with him. He was loudly and demonstrably sick in the middle of the restaurant during a busy lunch hour. The staff – if not overjoyed – were not seemingly put out. “Even dogs cannot eat what the chef cooks these days,” one waiter commented.
There is of course a downside. I have not visited most of the Czech Republic’s fine castles and stately homes because they are not dog-friendly. This seems to me a big ironic because of most of them are stuffed full of animals – most of the dead, stuffed and horned variety that were shot by the trigger-happy aristocracy. Churches and cemeteries have also been out of bounds. But this, I believe, was a small price to pay.
