We were first introduced to Most Legií while riding the number 22 tram from Náměstí Míru to Královský letohrádek, where we’d walk a bit and take the X1 bus down to Sparta. Most Legií was our connection between the two sides of Prague, when the crowds at Charles Bridge seemed disastrously thick. Dubbed “our bridge” by my classmates, Most Legií holds a special place in my heart.
In a way, Most Legií fit the ethos of our program. Charles Bridge, and its connection of Old Town Square to Malá Strana, represented the atypical study-abroad-in-Prague programs. Those programs barely scratched the surface, were over-packed with ignorant American students “looking for a good time in a cheap country,” who would go back to the United States with the only tale to tell being that they rubbed a statue of a saint on Charles Bridge for good luck.
But Most Legií, Most Legií allowed you to see the big picture. It connected classical New Town to the artsy, edgy and progressive Smichov. You could take in the beauty and wonderment of Charles Bridge, tourist-free and from a distance, from one of Most Legií’s alcove balconies. On fair nights we’d walk across it, from Národní Divadlo to Újezd, to slip inside the basement of PoPo Cafe Petl and drink Betons and munch on crisps and watch the Czechs dance to Chumbawumba. Tom, Nate and I once bought some pot and smoked it on Střelecký ostrov, the little island connected to the bridge by a luxurious stone staircase.
Our bridge. Most Legií was our bridge.
