Cerny Most

By Jennifer Page

If you want to see a “typical” Czech neighborhood that is a little outside of the city, Cerny Most will satisfy your curiosity.  I took the B (yellow) line to the last stop, Cerny Most, and set out to explore a little.  As soon as I got off of the metro, I saw a row of the prefab Communist-era apartment housing that is still prevalent in and around Prague.  Some were that awful sea foam green color that our old elementary schools used to be. I thought that I would walk around for five minutes, hate it, and go back to the beautiful downtown area that I feel more at home in.  Surprisingly, the neighborhood reminded me a lot of America’s suburbs.  There were new chain store and restaurants all around the major highway area, and even on the ground floor of the prefabs, there were new shops and locally owned cafes.  To get across the highway, you can take a giant, space-age looking tunnel that connects the metro station to the rest of the neighborhood. The people walking around were surprisingly all different; not at all like the Soviet style housing would imply.  There were a lot of young people and professionals walking around, but also older and lower income people, much like our cities at home.  Not many people spoke English when I had to ask for directions, but were helpful especially when I started speaking in the very minimal Czech I have picked up over the summer.  If your feeling really adventurous, take one of the many buses down the stairs and see where they take you. . .