The journey ends. Or – does it? Does anything in this city really come to an end? After all, “Prague doesn’t let go. This old crone has claws. One has to yield. We would have to set fire to it and only then would it be possible for us to get away.” No, not Jurek Chyb’s own words. That was Franz Kafka.

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KAVA KAVA KAVA. No, not the three things most needed in life, although for some people, perhaps… In fact, it’s the place to go in Prague if you are an Arabica gourmet. Or the air pressure is so low that you simply need caffeine. Or it’s raining outside. Or – come to think of it – for no particular reason except the sheer, fantastic taste of the brew served at this well-hidden cafe. Jurek Chyb, still trying to shake off his only partly deserved reputation of a beer drinker, invites you to “Kava Kava Kava”, but first explains how to get there. It’s past the sitting young lady in the middle of Platyz… Ehm, no idea what he’s talking about? Then the only thing that remains to be done is listen to the next episode of his personal audio-guide.

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Cemeteries – sad places for sad moods. One of the best known – and certainly most mysterious – graveyards in European cities is in Prague’s Josefov. Jurek Chyb tries to describe the Old Jewish Cemetery, giving a personal account of the place where slabs of crooked stone crawl under your feet in a maccabre dance that is hard to forget, and where the pungent smell of the shrivelled elder shrubs adds to the overall morbid atmosphere of Stary Zidovsky Hrbitov.

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Some seriously spooky, bloodcurdling stuff this time. With a little help from the unbeatable Prague narrator – Angelo Maria Ripellino – our guide takes us to one of the largest squares in the world that doesn’t look its size a bit. The Charles Square surely deserves its gloomy reputation of a place associated with what’s worst in human (and ghost) history. Only for the brave. Karlovo namesti in Prague’s New Town presented by Jurek Chyb.

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How can something that’s over seven hundred years old be “new”? Jurek Chyb will answer this and other questions you may have whilst listening to the next stage of his audio walk, this time taking you up an unassuming street in Prague’s Nove Mesto. Yet another place that is seldom listed as a must in guidebooks (which all look exactly the same these days). Stepanska will finally assure a smooth departure from Vaclavske namesti and deeper into the district of New Town. Enjoy the bells, by the way…

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Guilt-ridden after his highly critical comments on this Prague eyesore (in Episode 28), Jurek Chyb attempts a reassessment of Wenceslas Square. He tries to list the advantages, a little against himself and – let’s face it – the facts. He tries… Successfully? Judge for yourself.

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Wrong name, wrong place. Or, to quote a book passage: “an unseemly place that breeds unseemly people”. In his harshly critical feature about Prague’s supposedly most famous square – Vaclavske namesti – Jurek Chyb seeks help in one of his favourite Prague-inspired novels, “Sedmikosteli” (The Seven Churches). The author, Milos Urban, supports Jurek’s view by putting his opinion in the mouth of one of the book’s characters. Not for those who actually enjoy strolling down Wenceslas Square…

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Can an old lady be pneumatic? And what does the answer have to do with Prague’s Main Post Office Building? For those of you intrigued enough to spend a few minutes listening to the bizarre story of the longest-preserved operational system of tubes that transport letters, this episode of “My Prague” should be a treat. For those who don’t care, here’s a message – start caring or you’ll lose a story that will keep you (and the bunch of friends you tell it to) totally spooked. This is what Jurek Chyb guarantees. Or your money back.

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How interesting can a downtown street get? Well, some of the more famous streets in Prague (including the one that poses for a square – Vaclavske namesti) are certainly overrated. Others, including Jindrisska Street – are quite the opposite. Modest and unassuming, this practical shortcut from Nove Mesto to the Station somehow draws Jurek Chyb like a magnet. And not because it’s a shortcut. Jurek is especially fond of one unglamorous-sounding place in Jindrisska…

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Still stuck around the Republic Square, Jurek Chyb keeps trying to set off for a proper sightseeing walk and… he is halted again. This time his patriotic feelings and romantic soul make him travel in time, back to 1829. In front of a special commemorative plaque where the Black Horse Hotel once stood, Jurek hears the music of the greatest Polish composer who came to Prague and loved it.

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It finally happened. By popular demand, Jurek Chyb has grudgingly agreed to reveal one of his most-guarded Prague secrets. Listen to the result of years of field studies involving hectolitres of the best draught beer in the world. Yes, this is no mistake – the top three Pilsner Urquell pubs serving the Prazdroj on tap.

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Namesti Republiky has it all. A beautiful mediaeval city wall tower, an Art-Nouveau municipal house, a historic building-turned-theatre, but also – two shopping places from two different eras. The department store Kotva, with its Communist-time charm and a near-cult status on the one hand, and the ultra-modern Palladium mall that has recently changed the Republic Square so much on the other. But has the largest shopping centre in the Czech Republic changed the historic place for the better? Listen to Jurek Chyb (not much of a shopper himself) revealing why he likes the square and delving back to the good old eighties in a rather commercial sentimental journey.

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Winter + Prague = mulled wine. Even Jurek Chyb, the most devout beer drinker walking the planet, admits that a mug of svarene vino in snow-covered Old Town is no betrayal. Another taste that Prague cannot do without, then… Listen to Jurek’s winter-inspired ruminations about this aromatic drink that – at least according to the German origin of the word – will make you glow inside.

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If you think the Gothic style is pretty much the same everywhere, you must’ve forgotten Prague. Or – God forbid – have not visited the Golden City yet. There is something that makes the towers of Prague distinctive, almost fairy tale-like. Jurek Chyb, now standing near the Powder Tower in Celetna, attempts to pin down the architectural motif that is yet another thing that makes the Czech capital unique. What is it? Join our guide in his ruminations.

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Opposites attract. Especially in Prague. If there have ever lived two authors, and people, so opposite in their lifestyles and writings, that only the magic of Prague could reconcile – it must have been Jaroslav Hasek and Franz Kafka. Few people visitng the city on the Vltava realize the two men were almost exact contemporaries. But did the author of “The Good Soldier Svejk” ever meet the depressive Jew who wrote “The Trial”? And where does Celetna Street enter the story? In his next instalment of My Prague, Jurek Chyb gets reflexive…

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“To this day, every evening at five, Franz Kafka returns home to Celetna Street, wearing a bowler hat and black suit”. This is how Angelo Maria Ripellino begins the best book ever written about Prague. So, what’s so special about this little, curving street connecting the Powder Tower with the Old Town Square? Is it just the spirit of Kafka looming in Celetna that makes this historic place fascinating? For answers, listen to the next instalment of Jurek Chyb’s cycle about the Czech capital.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Any more questions? Didn’t think so. To see and appreciate the only theatre in the world still left standing where the greatest genius of music once performed, don’t go to Salzburg or Vienna. It’s here, in Prague’s Zelezna Street. The Estates Theatre, a Neoclassical jewel of architecture built in Baroque times, is the place where Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” premiered in 1787. Called “a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection” by Kierkegaard, this opera was famously completed just literally minutes before its premiere. But is this popular story true? Jurek Chyb will tell you.

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Walking on down Zelezna Street, don’t miss Karolinum, one of the most incospicuous architectural gems in Prague. Wedged into Ovocny Trh and hidden in a narrow lane, the original fragments of Charles University will impress any Gothic-lover with the exquisite example of a pillared bay window. Emperor Charles IV founded the alma mater in 1348, and it is the oldest university in this part of Europe. The ornamented edifice of Stavovske Divadlo (The Estates Theatre) has successfully managed to dwarf the modest remnants of Karolinum, but Prague’s best opera house is also important for the Czech People. Why? Listen to Jurek Chyb to find out.

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An unusual episode, that one. It isn’t very often that smells are discussed as an important element of the image of a city. Some people claim that Prague has lost its osmotic originality together with globalisation, but Jurek Chyb doesn’t agree. And he has some strong arguments to prove his point, the top one being the distinctive, dusty smell of the Prague Underground.

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In his personal cycle, Jurek Chyb is in Zelezna Street near the Old Town Square. And Zelezna – among other attractions there – features the best jazz club in Prague. Which inspires our guide to talk about the jazz and blues scene in the city. Where to go, which place has the best acoustics and the best beer? Which venue doesn’t feature a waiter service? Where do the concerts start at the latest hour and where did Bill Clinton play his saxophone? Complete with the suffocation-danger warning and a few more practical tips, this episode is for those who value top-notch improvise  tunes.

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