The metro system in Prague is almost too easy. Three lines-- red, yellow, green-- and two directions for each one. It's laid out in a triangle formation, with each line snaking away from Prague 1 (the center of the city), over the Vltava River and out into the city's various neighborhoods. Transferring within the metro stations is easily done, as following the colored signs could be accomplished by a 5-year-old. Once above ground, you can walk to your destination or hop a tram and speed up the journey. The trams are a bit trickier, but I'm sure that'll get easier soon enough... plus, it's all a matter of knowing the schedule and timing your plans right. Time underground is well-managed, with clocks counting down the minutes until the next train rolls through. And the trains... oh the trains! Metro cars are treated with great respect-- no food or mess allowed, bright lighting, and everything electric (you even have to press a button on the door to get off or on at your stop). And then there are the platforms. Again, immaculate. Besides spotless floors, the walls along the tunnel are decorated with these neat concave circle things, using different color families (I'm quite partial to the blues).
Another neat transportation-type thing is this elevator I rode in the Lucerna building in Wenceslas Square. A little backstory: Wenceslas Square is a big shopping and social center in Prague 1, and the Lucerna building is a buidling that houses everything from offices to cafes to shops and a famous theater-- Cinema Lucerna is the oldest cinema that's still in use in all of Europe! Lucerna was built and owned by Vaclav Havel's grandfather (Vaclav is the former president of the country), and drew a higher class clientele back in the day. These days it's evened out, and you can find one of the cafes crowded with local students chatting it up over an expansive menu of coffee, tea, and even Latin American hot chocolate (it's literally like drinking a cup of a melted chocolate bar). Anyway, on the way up to the offices of the Music on Film Film on Music documentary festival (my internship, check it out www.moffom.org), I was faced with these old-school elevators, of which only a few remain in the city--take a gander below. In a nutshell, there are two shafts next to each other and a continual stream of cars circulates, one side goes up, the other down. Two key points here: the cars DO NOT stop and there are no doors. You actually have to hop on and off without hesitation, and hope it works out. It was one of the most exciting and awe-inspiring sights/experiences yet, and I'm not sure I'll ever be so satisfied with an elevator again.
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