Kitsch causes two tears to flow in quick succession. The first tear says: How nice to see children running on the grass! The second tear says: How nice to be moved, together with all mankind, by children running on the grass! The second tear is what makes kitsch kitsch. – Milan Kundera.

I visited Prague for a few days in 2023.

Czech Cities

• Prague – 7/10 (2023)

Perhaps it was bad timing, but the overwhelming impression I got was of tourist overload – especially Chinese tour groups. Prague was a pleasant enough Central European big city with convenient transport, hearty food, cheap beer, majestic museums, and old German architecture – but it didn’t particularly stick out in my mind, at least with respect to the possibly over-inflated expectations I had of it as the most functional Slavic polity.

That said, I think I would fare reasonably well in a state that is notably social liberal, atheist, and unusually libertarian on personal freedoms by European standards.