CZECH REPUBLIC
​I visited the Czech Republic in the summer of 2019.

Since the fall of communism in 1989 and the opening up of Central and Eastern Europe, Prague has evolved into one of Europe's most popular travel destinations.*


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Prague just wouldn't be Prague without the jazz spilling out of windows, the tubas being lugged across the squares and the posters advertising nightly concerts.+
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Strolling across Charles Bridge is everybody's favoruate Prague activity.  However, by 9am it's a 500m-long playground with an army of tourists squeezing through a gauntlet of hawkers and buskers beneath the impassive gaze to the baroque statues that line the parapets.*​

During the Communist period, writers and artists risked imprisonment by the secret police for decorating the wall (the John Lennon Wall), but each time it was painted over, the graffiti reappeared overnight.+

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The National Revival, which had its roots in the last decades of the 18th century, led to a blossoming in the Czech visual arts that reached its apogee in the latter half of the 19th century.+
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An alternative musical culture also emerged. Here, rock'n'roll went hand in hand with revolution.+

​*These captions are from Eastern Europe - Lonely Planet's travel guide.
​+ These captions are from a featured article Prague: Musical City by Lonely Planet writer Abigail Blasi