Boon's Bookcase

Blog Tour

for

A Year and A Day

By

Isabelle Broom

I'm delighted to be a part of this blog tour. I can't wait to read this book and it is right up there on my Christmas TBR pile! Isabelle has written a piece for Boon's Bookcase about why she loves Prague. I must admit, I have wanted to visit Prague for a couple of years now. I'm sure by the time I have read this book, I will want to go even more!

Why I love Prague – Isabelle Broom

I was 19 the first time I set foot in Prague. It was 1999, and I arrived on a coach that I’d hopped on in Amsterdam. After seven or eight relentless hours on the road, all I was craving was a soft pillow, but when my fellow backpackers and I arrived at our hostel on the outskirts of the city, we discovered that half a Canadian Ice Hockey team was staying there, too. Try saying no to those lads when they invite you out for beer and goulash – I didn’t have a hope in hell of getting an early night!

We all bundled down to the Prague Metro together and caught one of the super-fast (seriously – you have to hold on or you fall over) trains into the centre of the Old Town. I will never forget how it felt to emerge from the station and see the vast Gothic Powder Gate looming above me in the fading light. I imagine I looked not unlike a cartoon character dragging its jaw along the cobbles, and I remember all of us pointing things out to each other and immediately picking up that unique Prague buzz. It’s such a friendly city, and the warm chatter, strains of music and general feeling of frivolity seeped into me in a matter of minutes.

Prague is packed with such incredible architecture, ranging from so many centuries, that it takes several hours just to take everything in around the main square, let alone explore the rest of the city. It’s also easy to navigate, so after a few days you feel like a proper local, and everything becomes familiar – a huge plus and comfort when you’ve been on the road for weeks. The key thing for me, though, is that magical quality that I talk about in the novel. There is a sense in Prague that there are whispers circulating on the air, that history is being made, that moments of love are being shared, and there’s no better place to experience all of it than on the historic Charles Bridge. It’s honestly one of my most favourite places on the planet, that bridge. I just hope I’ve done it – and the wonderful, vibrant city of Prague – justice in my book.