Three Days in Prague
Being honest, I hadn’t dedicated much mental space to preparing for Prague. Between the fact that Marcus had been here, and my distraction choreographing so many other moves, I got to “trust the process” on this one and play it by ear. We did our usual routine of decorating our Google Map with green flags of places we might like in the 24 hours prior to our flight, which we left before sunrise to catch. The flight was quick and easy and somehow (on only 5 hours sleep) we managed to stay up and head out after checking into our hostel.
The wild weather followed us from Amsterdam, including a short burst of snow flurries sticking to our jackets. We love to spend our days wandering around, or lazing in a park, but I’ve learned that when its cold outside the cheapest place to exist is in a bar. At 11am, that didn’t seem completely appropriate (give me a few more weeks and I’ll get over that) so we headed to a cafe. It was fun to see Marcus scanning the streets looking for anything to spark an old memory, and pointing out places he had been before.
Coffee and Riot provided us a cozy place to drink espresso, connect to wifi, and build up an appetite (their playlist was pretty great, too). The first thing Marcus was excited to introduce me to was Czech food (or, Bohemian food, as we would learn). Some of the staples are potato dumplings, schnitzel, cabbage, pork (neck, knee, and sausages), and plums (beef in plum sauce, plum cake, plum pie). U Pinkasù had them all. The sauces were delicious, meat was tender, and the dumpling portions were hearty. Marcus’ plate had two different kinds of cabbage on it, white and purple, and if you’d told me as a kid that I would be stoked on a half-plate of cabbage I would have gagged. Nope, I’m a grown up now and I love cabbage.
As a little after lunch treat, we headed to an Absinthe bar to learn about the green fairy and try it out. The first place we went, Absintherie, was good but we would later go to Green Devil’s Absinthe Bar which was a whole experience and I would definitely recommend over the former. There are two ways they serve absinthe; the Czech way which most are probably familiar with and involves lighting an absinthe-soaked sugar cube on fire to macerate the sugar, and the French way which requires diluting with very cold water turning the drink a milky green. We tried both ways in Prague and prefer the French way, it was much more enjoyable to drink. The three brands we tried were Beetle (Czech, very alcoholic in flavor), Bourgeois (French, more complex in flavor than the Beetle), and Butterfly (French with a light hint of citrus , very delicious).
As we had driven into town from the airport, we saw a sign outside the national library for a concert that day of a chamber orchestra performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Since it can’t all be booze and dumplings, we got tickets for later that night. The performance took place in the chapel, where they had a pipe organ that Mozart had played at some point. The orchestra was just a string quartet, organ player, and aria singer. My jaw was hanging for most of the show; these folks were so talented and the acoustics in the chapel were fantastic. We would see people passing our fliers for these performances outside of many churches during our trip, so it seems ’tis the season and possibly part of the Easter week festivities.
Prague was mostly unscathed in the world wars so many of its historic landmarks are still there to be enjoyed. We spent our first full day in Prague sightseeing, letting Marcus be our guide. Thankfully the sun was out and we were able to shed our jackets for the first time in weeks. First up was the Charles Bridge, a pedestrian bridge lined with statues, as well as caricature artists and tourists. This medieval stone bridge was built in the 14th century to connect the castle villages with Old Town.
We followed cobblestone streets up to the castle, which surrounds St Vitus Cathedral (that’s actually the gothic spires you see in the photos). Our tickets allowed us access to the Cathedral, St George’s Basilica, the Palace, and the Golden Lane. We entered the Cathedral at the perfect time to see a mural of colorful light shining against the stone walls from the stained glass windows. These windows were even more legit than the ones I had drooled over in Brussels. They weren’t painted glass, but individual colored pieces all collaged together into epic masterpieces.
Our favorite part of the castle complex was the Golden Lane which had replica homes, rooms and halls full of medieval weapons and coats of armor, and access to torture rooms and jail cells. They were not shy about showing off the ways folks were punished back in the day.
A few hours at the castle was sufficient to see everything, so by mid afternoon we were making our way back down the hill (so. many. stairs.) toward the John Lennon Wall. This was one of those pieces of local culture where someone made something and then it kind of took on a life of its own. The graffiti on the wall was a way for people to vent their frustrations with Communism and the Beatles represented some of that freedom they were denied (even listening to western pop, such as the Beatles, was banned). A massive stencil of John Lennon’s face occupies the center of the wall, though it is mostly covered below the eyes. Currently, there are poems and other tributes to the Ukrainian people whom Prague stand in solidarity with. We saw many Ukrainian flags around Prague, including a massive one at the Metronome, more than anywhere else we’ve been so far.
These 15k step days work up quite an appetite so we headed to U Zlatého Tygra for more Czech food. We were brought 2 mugs of pilsner before we even got the menu, so we must have looked thirsty. We loved the hospitality at this place and the schnitzel was great, too. Everywhere you go, there are mugs of Pilsner Urquell and its cheaper than water so why not. We did manage to find some craft beers at U Kunštátu where Marcus got a flight and I had a sour.
So we’ve had craft beers, good food, sightseeing; what are we missing? Of course, leave it to Marcus to find us some delicious cocktails. Night 2’s libations were provided by Hemingway Bar and Anonymous Shrink’s Office. While Hemingway has no real connection to Prague, his reputation as a boozehound makes him an inspiration for bars everywhere. This place, on the Danube, takes the cake for best cocktails in Prague. Reservations were required but simple to get. A quick dinner at cafeteria-style Kantyna, and we were off to the shrink. The bar was influenced by V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and Hermann Rorschach. The menu is a set of inkblot cards, and you pick the one that calls to you most.
Our final day gave us the best weather yet, so we planned to go to a park to take in the views, read a book, and maybe even doze off a little on a park bench. First stop was brunch at SmetanaQ Cafe and Bistro, and WOW. Best brunch of the trip so far - a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, a breakfast sausage sandwich, and followed with a waffle topped with mascarpone cheese, fruit compote and poppyseed sugar.
When we saw a beaver swimming in the Danube, I thought for sure that that would be the highlight of the walk. But as we walked through Vojanovy Sady park, we saw an ostentation of peacocks (yes, I googled that) under a beautiful flowering tree. We made it up to a viewpoint at Park Letná, relaxed, and then walked to the 75’ tall Metronome. This viewpoint used to have a statue of Stalin, and the new monument (built in 1991) was meant to symbolize a new era.
The remainder of the day was a scavenger hunt of monuments and sights. We saw the Powder Tower, the Astronomical Clock, the Church of Our Lady before Týn, and browsed through an Easter Market. There was a teen music school putting on a concert and it was so cool to see these kids do their thing. One last dinner at Restaurace Mlejnice (we recommend!) and watching the UEFA Quarter Finals at an Irish Bar (look, we’re so European!) and our time in Prague had some to a close.
Next up is a train to Vienna, where we will sit in cafes, go to an Opera, and hopefully hold on to this warm weather!
