9.2:
After our first night in our AirBnB on the outskirts of Prague (which, unbeknownst to us, was more like a hostel than a standard AirBnB and is run by a very kind community of vegans), we were ready to head towards the first coffeeshop we thought looked promising: Cafe Bohemia. Alas, the wi-fi wasn’t working and they weren’t serving breakfast so we grabbed some flat whites and almond croissants and set off to find a place to do some work. After happening upon our first cathedral and wandering back the way we came, we stopped into a charming, asian-inspired cafe called Mist.
Holy cow. What a delicious place. It was started as a tea garden for high quality, delicious organic teas, but the man who started it had previously worked for a Michelin star chef in Beijing and soon found himself back in the restaurant business. We ordered Salmon Miso Soup, a stunning avocado salad, and a delicious lamb and goat cheese burger. We started off with ginger tea and talked to the chef about his life story. Long story short: Beijing has too much pollution and it hurts his eyes and he has 3 cats. Outstanding meal and meeting.
We then made our way into the heart of the city towards the more touristy attractions and wound up at St. Charles Bridge — a very crowded pedestrian bridge clad with old sculptures and stunning views of the city. Prague is situated on either side of a large river and the city ascends a large hill that is topped by a gothic palace area complete with cathedrals, markets, basilicas, and, of course, the palace — otherwise known as Prague Castle.
We carried on alongside the river through markets and ridiculously cheap beer stands, and eventually wound up in front of the original Pilsner Brewery and Restaurant. Pilsner and Kozel have a monopoly on the Prague beer scene. A .5L beer is about 35 ckz which is equivalent to approximately $1.50. (Supposedly the daily average for your standard Czech man is between 7-10 beers a day… we couldn’t keep up.) At the restaurant we ordered some traditional Czech dishes: sausage and a cream and dill soup.
Afterwords, we saw a moving memorial to “those lost due to communism” and wandered many more of the central Prague streets, downed a traditional Czech dessert (some strange doughy roll thing—D’s fav), and then headed home to bed. Or so we thought.
In an unprecedented turn of events, Mas wanted to go back out to check out beer garden: Riegrovy Sady. So, out we went. We walked about a mile in the outskirts of Prague on this dark and misty night to find a beer garden that was highly recommended to us by the one and only, Sarah Ellis. Once we got to the park, a masked man with horns was standing not too far off —apparently posing for a picture. D nearly lost it. After carefully maneuvering around this strange occurrence, we found the mostly empty but still delightful beer garden. D chanced it on an apple cider and was pleasantly surprised. Mas stuck to the classic Pilsner. On the way back we grabbed some burrito loco because did you really go out if you didn’t end the evening with late-night Mexican food?
9.3:
The next morning we started the day by stopping by a cute restaurant called Spizirna. We had some delicious breakfast while doing some freelance work and boarded the tram to Prague Castle — a breathtaking cathedral and palace dating back to the 12th century.
We ascended through a beautiful garden, climbing straight up to some of the best views of the city. (It looked a lot like Florence from this high view.)
We walked alongside the South Garden of the palace until we wrapped our way into the central square where the cathedral looms high and gothic above the square. It was stunning. Both the interior and exterior were massive, gothic, and crammed with mosaics, frescos, altars, and relics. The mosaic on the front of the cathedral looked slightly familiar to Mas and we found out that it was actually inspired by the mosaics in a cathedral in Orvieto, Italy — a place that Mas had been a few years back.
D just about lost her mind in St. Vitus’ Cathedral. The mosaics, frescos, and stained glass ranged greatly in style: some dark, some neon, some with tiny log-shaped pieces of glass set vertically so that the image in the window looks like its cascading; some with kitschy, golden halos emanating from the somber heads of saints; some calm, some dramatic, and most with some conflation of biblical story and Royal narrative.. Construction on St. Vitus’ began in the 1300s and was interrupted and then resumed several times throughout the next few centuries. During the 20th century, there were several efforts to return dilapidated sections to their medieval glory. Thanks to these efforts, it felt like Christmas: magical, a bit cheesy, but everything shimmers a bit.
After St. Vitus’ we toured St. George’s basilica, the palace, and golden lane—a street with life-size models of various shops and homes of those who would have lived within the castle walls in medieval times.
Soon after, we descended to Old Town to check out the series of historic synagogues and the communism museum. After seeing how much visiting these attractions would cost, we decided to just stroll about the area taking in the free things — the exterior of these buildings, the town square with the Astrological Clock (this was under repair unfortunately), Franz Kafka monuments, etc.
We then ventured to a restaurant called Next Door, a place that was highly recommended to us by the kind gentleman on the plane to Prague. It’s the second restaurant by the top chef in Prague, the man who owns Imperial Cafe. We figured that if we wanted to try a traditional Czech meal, this would be the place. The meal began with an outstanding Becherovka: a nationally beloved Czech drink that is a digestive aid made with 36 herbs. It’s basically just bitters to help cleanse the palette and digest the meal. We ordered a made-in-house dark beer, and some traditional plates: braised pork in cream sauce with dumplings (these dumplings were basically just sticky pieces of bread, perfect for soaking up the sauce) and wild boar with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. We closed out the meal with a cheese mouse with coffee ice cream and chocolates. A delicious experience and of course, it being Prague, the tab was only something like $70.
We were exhausted. It was only 5 p.m. and we had just feasted, Czech style. Either the digestives didn’t work or we are too used to eating vegetables. We sped home for a nap because we had promised our new found friends from our AirBnB to have a night on the town with them. We crashed fast and hard.
We woke up two hours later dreading going out. That classic “hit by a bus” feeling. But we rallied, or at least, we forced ourselves too. We headed down to the common area of Vila Flora and were offered some wine before our journey and then we boarded the tram with our new American friends from Wisconsin, Carly and Richard.
The first stop was Cross Club, a super unique bar on the outskirts of Prague. It had multiple dance floors with DJ stands encased in Steam Punk-esque ironworks. And it was sprawling: 4-5 stories with a huge outdoor garden that was similarly decorated with metal. It was trademark Eastern Europe: Grungey, unpretentious, and dirt cheap. We had a few drinks here and got to know our friends a bit better, danced a bit, and at midnight got back on the tram to head to our second destination — the infamous “Dog Bar“.
Now, Prague is a dog town. Seriously, so many dogs. They come into restaurants, wait outside convenience stores with no leashes, and are the subject of many statues and exhibits around town. The “Dog Bar” got the name due to two giant Irish Wolfhounds that typically roam the various nooks and crannies of the bar. Unfortunately, we were not graced with their presence but there were a few other dogs on the premises. The only thing I can think to compare this bar too is like a St. Louis City Museum for adults. There was a stoic man at the unmarked front door who makes you pay 100 Czk, puts it on a blank white card and then opens the gate: “one at a time”, he says through crude English. Then, once you get to the basement, there are numerous machines with which you can load more money onto the card and whatever you don’t spend you can collect at the end of the night.
We stayed here until about 3:30, dancing to strange pirate polka, climbing into the loft areas and descending dark, cramped staircases. Some of our other friends from our AirBnB also met us here. Moura (from New York/Ireland), Felix (from Germany), Jonsa (From Czech Republic). We also met a nice Englishman named Luke who was from Manchester and bonded with Mas over bands like The Stone Roses and The Smiths. He had an Australian friend with a very limp handshake… don’t remember his name though.
Anyway, there is no way this place could open in the U.S. It’s a fun-filled lawsuit waiting to happen and we loved it.
After stopping for a routine 4 a.m. kebab, our misfit lot headed back to the AirBnB for some much needed rest.
9.4:
We will be brief here. This morning we woke late, and on our way out the door were joined by Felix (the German at our AirBnB). He then came along to breakfast at Cafe Jen, a cute cafe with delicious eggs. Mas tried an iced cappuccino, it literally was just a cappuccino, with ice in it. D then found a free National Gallery in Prague. The National Gallery is split into 6 different locations all over Prague, and let me tell you — you get what you pay for.
This gallery was so bizarre. Context-less foreign propaganda, strange blueprints, eerily empty walls, and a smattering of paintings that bordered between 4th grade art class and pervy. Anyway, we are excited to see art again but maybe in Berlin or Paris or Rome or something a little more trustworthy.
We then stumbled back through the touristy part of Prague because it was a beautiful day and headed for a notorious restaurant — Cafe Savoy for some water and pastries.
After this meal we parted ways with Felix and we chanced some light rain for a pedal boat on the river. D wanted a pedal boat but… alas… we didn’t have enough cash and it was expensive to take out money so we lied about being skilled rowers and took to the water. It took some getting used to the motions and some tough skin as we braved each others’ insults, but eventually we kinda got the hang of it—enough to not go in circles and to dodge the large tourist vessels that were also on the water.
We then made our way to dinner for some Italian fare: gnocchi, a cheese plate, and some fresh spaghetti, a needed respite from the standard meat-centric palette. We went back home to do a bit of work and get things in order and unwind from an excellent few days in Prague.
D & Mas' Sights Site 