The Ugly Inside bring you their own Bohemian Rhapsody and tell you all you need to know about enjoying the trip to the Czech Capital.
Prague is in Bohemia in case you wondered why I was bringing up Queen songs in the preamble to this article, it is not only the largest city and capital of the Czech Republic but also Bohemia and yes they will let you go after the game, assuming that you are not in Police custody and then I refer you to the lyrics of Freddie Mercury.
The population of the City itself is around 1.2 million but that almost doubles if you add on the surrounding metropolitan region.
There are several sights that you should really take in whilst you are over there, the Charles Bridge over the river leads you to Prague Castle and Cathedral, whilst on the opposite bank from the castle you have the Old Town with it's square and astronomical clock and the New Town which isn't actually that new having been called that since about 1700.
Of a more modern nature you have the television tower which gives a great view of Prague whilst having a beer and Wenceslas Square which isn't so much a square but a long and wide Boulevard.
Then of course there are the beer halls and pubs, but more of that later.
Football In Prague
There are many football teams in Prague but there are five main ones, Sparta Prague, Slavia Prague, Bohemians 1905, Viktoria Zizkov and of course Dukla Prague who are perhaps more famous in England for being the subject of a song by Half Man Half Biscuit.
Of these five only Sparta and Slavia have support of any real substance, both playing in fairly modern 20k capacity stadiums although neither attract much more than half of that at their home games unless they are playing each other.
Climate
The advice here is to wrap up warm, in late Novemeber the average temperature is about 3c but as you head towards December it drops rapidly, it can also be wet with an average 17 days of rain in November, don't be fooled it will get bitterly cold even though during the day the temperature might be a bit higher than the average.
Getting There
Most Saints fans will arrive by plain at the Vaclav Havel Airport, there are no trains or metro system out to the airport so the best option is to get one of the airport buses either the 119 or 100, both of these take you to the nearest metro station on each of the two lines that go to the West of the City, from there you can change to the metro to whisk you in the city.
Bus 119 terminates at Nadrazi Veleslavin metro station and here you take line A into Prague, the bus takes about 10 minutes and then 15 minutes on the metro.
Bus 100 takes you to Zucin for line B, again the bus is about 10 mins but the journey on the metro is about 25 mins.
You can also get Bus AE that will take you to the main train station in Prague.
All buses leave from outside the terminal building.
You can buy a ticket in the terminal building from several kiosks or on the bus itself although the driver will only accept cash and bank notes of a small denomination there will also be a surcharge if you buy on the bus.
A ticket valid for 90 minutes on the bus, the metro and also the trams is 32 czk (current exchange rate approx 30czk to the £) If you have a large piece of luggage ie a suitcase then you need to buy a luggage ticket at 16czk.
You can also buy a one day ticket at 110 czk or a 72 hour ticket for 310 czk, but unless you are staying right out in the suburbs there is probably no need to do this, if you are in the centre of Prague then everything, including the stadium is in walking distance.
You will need to validate your ticket using the machine on a bus or tram or located at the entrance to a metro station.
The AE bus costs 60czk.
There are also various shuttle buses running from the airport at around 150czk, but in truth you are probably better getting the bus and metro.
A taxi fro the airport to the city centre will cost around 600czk so although cheap in English money terms still around five times the cost of public transport even allowing for four of you sharing, in truth its not much faster than the bus and metro and you have to beware of rogue taxis, always agree the price in advance, if there is a group of you you can find many companies who will book you in advance and be waiting for you.
The Language
Czech bears little resemblance to English although some locals do speak our language very well so you should not have much problem finding your way around or ordering in bars and restaurants.
One Prague tourist website offers this advice.
"Waiters in tourist spots do, at the hotel desk they do, people under 25 do, police officers don't, grandmothers don't."
Thats that one sorted although I'm not sure if Police Officers under 25 do or don't speak English, one thing is for certain though as this is Prague and not Portsmouth there are highly unlikely to be any Grandmothers under 25.
Ordering a beer is not as simple as it might seem. In English if you want one beer you say ‘one beer please’. If you have more than one beer you add an ‘s’ to the end, ‘Five beers please’. Simple - add an S. But in Czech it is a little more complicated than that. Here is a quick guide depending how much you enjoy the world famous Czech beer.
1 beer = jedno pivo
2 beers = dvÄ› piva
3 beers = tři piva
4 beers = ÄtyÅ™i piva
5 beers = pět piv
The word 'beer' changes depending on how many you want. And that is just beer.
Fortunately the Czech people realize their language is difficult so are not disappointed when you try and fail to sputter out a few words. They will smile and correct you. You will say it wrong again.
SEVERAL USEFUL PHRASES
English/Czech- Pronunciation
Good morning Dobrý den - dobri den
Good evening Dobrý veÄer - dobri vetsher
Hi/Hello! Ahoj- ahoy
How are you? Jak se máte ? - yak se maate
Very well dobře- dobje
Thank you Děkuji - dyekooyi
Please ProsÃm - proseem
Yes Ano -ano
No Ne - ne
Excuse me Promiňte - prominte
How much does it cost? Kolik to stojà ? - kolik to stoyi
I don't understand NerozumÃm - nerozoomeem
Do you speak English? MluvÃte anglicky, francouzsky ? - mlooveete anglitski
I don't speak Czech NemluvÃm Äesky - nemlooveem tsheski
Good bye Na shledanou - nass-hledanou
Big / little Velký / malý - velky / maly
More / less VÃce / ménÄ›- veetse / menye
Hot / cold Horký / studený - horki / stoodeni
The City Centre
Prague is a very compact city centre and everything is within a mile of the central Old Town Square, so those staying in the centre will have no real need to get on any of the public transport options.
It is a great city to just stroll around and enjoy the ambience, there aren't a raft of must see tourist sights, in simple terms to have the Charles Bridge to walk across, the castle and cathedral on the other side of the river and then the Old Town square with its astrological clock and Wencelas Square, but in reality the whole city is amazing and its about enjoying its medieval atmosphere.
One oft missed sight is the Zizkov TV tower, you cant miss it it towers above the city and offers magnificent panoramic views, it isn't cheap in Prague terms costing 200 czk (about £6.50) but the views are worth it and you can have a beer at the top.
Eating & Drinking
Czechs love their beer and that is why it is so cheap, the Government dare not tax it too much as the locals would be in uproar, along with Germany there are no better brewers than the Czech's forget the UK brewed Staropramen, virtually every Czech beer will pale this into insignificance and the Czech brewed Staropramen and Budvar are superb.
Czech's also brew different variety's of beer ranging from the light coloured type of lager that we associate with them to darker more hoppy brews that will appeal to those who prefer bitter over here.
Czech bars fall into several categories, they seem to refer to most of them as beer halls even if the bar itself is very small.
Neighbourhood Bars.
A short walk from the City centre will bring you into more residential areas, Zizkov is very Bohemian and is about a 7 minute walk from the Old own Square, here you will find many bars and clubs that tourists rarely venture to, the price of a pint starts around 20czk (70p)
Central Old Style Pubs.
There are still many non touristy bars in Prague City Centre and these are well worth a visit, average price of a pint is 30czk.
Central Tourist Bars
Aimed at tourists these are still pretty authentic although you wont see many locals in them, the price of a pint is 35czk although the nearer you are to Old Town Square it can rise to 40-45czk.
Expat/Theme Pubs
There are many bars catering for the expat community and most of them seem to have some sort of theme, at the lower end of the scale are Irish bars which are about 50czk a pint then it goes up to the glitzy bars that can be approaching 100 czk, I would question why you want to go to Prague and go in an Irish bar !!
The etiquette in Prague bars is simple, you sit down, order and the waiter brings you the beer and puts a piece of paper on the table, for every beer you have he puts a mark on the paper and then settle up at the end.
If you are nearing the end of your pint he will bring you another one, if you don't want another one then as you start to near the end you put a beer mat over the top of your glass and he will come over and sort out the bill.
The more touristy pubs will be a little more western European in the way they work this system.
Eating.
Again there are plenty of decent and cheap places to eat in Prague, expensive doesn't always mean best, in the centre you will pay around 100- 120czk for a main course which will be very filling, but again around the Old Town square the prices will get higher although not necessarily better quality.
Most of the dishes focu heavily on meat so if you are a vegetarian your choice may be limited.
The Ground.
The Generali Arena was rebuilt in 1994 and has a capacity of 19,784 and is rarely tested unless they are playing Slavia, Sparta haven't had an average home attendance of over 10,000 in about 20 years.
It is a modern compact ground and reminds me of Loftus Road with its two tiered stands.
It is situated just across the river from the Old Town in the Letna area, from the Old Town Square it is about 15-20 minutes walk so around the same distance St Mary's is from the Civic Centre in Southampton.
You can get there by Metro using the Green C Line and getting off at HradÄanská, from there it is a 5-10 minute walk, so probably not much of a saving taking into account finding a metro station etc.
Alternatively, there are various trams that stop right in front of the stadium at stop Sparta. These are line 1, 5, 12, 25, and 26. Line 5 and 26 can be taken from the old town, and line 12 from the west bank of the river and Nádražà Holešovice railway station.
The area around the stadium is either a large park or residential and although there are a few bars dotted around they are fairly small so most visiting football fans tend to congregate around the Old Town Square area and then walk across the bridge to the stadium.
The Fans
In general Czech people are very friendly, however as we saw when Sparta visited they do have an unruly element who have watched too many hooligan films and will be very voiciferous, so best to keep with the pack when going to and from the ground.
The Fanzone
As mentioned most visiting foreign fans tend to congregate in and around the Old town Square area where there are numerous bars, the square itself although a focal point is mainly restaurants on the square itself rather than bars.
Collecting Tickets
Saints seem to have hired a restaurant fairly near to the Old Town Square called U Supa, in truth its a tourist trap, a beer costs about twice the price of other bars nearby, hopefully it is bigger than it looks on trip advisor and can accommodate in excess of 1,500 fans who are not on the clubs official trip and will need to pick up tickets.
The time portal to do so is 9.30am to 5pm local time and you will need photographic ID either a passport of driving licence.
Prague is a great city, it is cheap and friendly, let's go and enjoy it.