Let Me Give You Whatever You Want. (Our experience in Prague.)

(September 14 - 18, 2013)

We had been dreading our travel day from Berlin to Prague via train since we had to buy an extra bag at the airport before even leaving San Diego (and in zebra print of all horrors!). 

Yup, we have enough luggage for a family of 4.

Waiting for the inevitable moment when we have to
get about 200 lbs of luggage through a skinny train
door in about 2 minutes (and get it out of the way
of other passengers). 

It was a bit embarrassing to be such obvious American tourists with our excessive possessions. We found ourselves constantly justifying our luggage to strangers even. "We're traveling for a month!" We'd say. Or "We're moving here!" It was true but it still felt pathetic. (Luckily this was the last time.)

The train ride between Berlin and Prague was about 5 hours of green German and Czech countryside. We arrived in Prague in the evening, ate dinner near the hotel and wandered out from there. The first thing that happened was that someone outside the theatre about a hundred feet away handed us a brochure for a concert. It included: Antonín Dvořák (Czech Republic), Jean Sibelius (Finland), Antonio Vivaldi (Italy), W. A. Mozart (Austria), and Edvard Grieg (Norway). It was like a list of our European Adventure, particularly our honeymoon. It was happening tomorrow. Sold! We bought tickets and continued walking. (That was easy!)

Then we saw a sign for Blue, a glassworks shop I had flagged in our guide book that I wanted to see. (That was easy!)

We stumbled, somewhat by accident, on this:

Hello, Old Town Square, it's nice to meet you!

You see that steam? That's from food vendors including two women making fresh CREPES with Nutella!
I. am. done.

Okay, so we get it, Praha. You're easy. You hand us what we want without us even having to ask for it out loud. You want to wrap us in your charm and make us fall in love with you. We could resist, but why?

After more than 3 weeks of travel, we were more relaxed about our plans. We had three full days in the city and the first, a Sunday, we picked a few activities close to home. 

A view of Old Town Square from the bell tower at Old Town Hall, the building in the first pic of the square from our first night. We love a view from a high place!

a lookout on one of the corners, with the Church of Our Lady of Tyn in the background

That evening was our concert, an event we were sure would be a highlight of Prague. We more than a little surprised that the performers never numbered more than 10 or 12, but it was still a fun concert, especially because of the pieces that were performed. Follow the links below to hear some of the pieces. (Manicia - definitely check out the Grieg. Birgitte did play him for us on the bus - we just didn't realize how incredibly popular and recognizable the score of "Peer Gynt" is.)

Listen to other performances: Vivaldi, Mozart, Smetana, Sibelius, Dvořák, Grieg (particularly the beginning and he part that starts at 12:30)

Monday morning our first task was far from glamorous: we needed to do laundry. We had already paid the exorbitant rates charged by Royal Caribbean TWICE to get some clean clothes, so we were not interested in paying the hotel the equivalent of $5 for a clean shirt. Instead I found Čistírna oděvů, the best place with which we did business in Prague, in my opinion. We dropped off a huge sack of washing at about noon. For the cost of four shirts at the hotel, our clothes were washed, dried, ironed, folded, and neatly prepared to be carried back to the hotel. Same day service! Fresh laundry scent included! Delightful proprietor who totally did not speak English but helped us call a cab also included!

easily over $100 of hotel laundry for less than $20!

Then we crossed the Most Legii, a bridge which looks like "Most Legit!" on our map, and headed towards Prague castle.

a view of the Charles Bridge, or Most Karlův, with castle hill in the
background on a very cloudy, rainy, windy, grey day

Our lunch stop was also on our to do list for the city, since it had three interesting features: 

a) an entrance passage so narrow that it has it's own traffic light for pedestrians

b) it is said that the Czech president once brought Pink Floyd here for a drink

This stroganoff had sweet gherkins in it! And OMG we were so excited
to see broccoli on the menu! Miss fresh, green vegetables
more than we could possibly explain right now...

c) it is located directly on the Vltava River with a view of the Charles Bridge

looking back at the restaurant, Parlor Čertovka, the next day

The castle complex in Prague is the largest in the world, but the castle itself is more like a fortress than a palace, so there wasn't that much to look at. The cathedral on the campus, St. Vitas's, was more interesting for us. 

On the way down the steep hill we had to walk to get to the castle, we ducked out of the rain to try trdelník, a local pastry we had seen all over that resembles a pretzel-cinnamon roll hybrid, and some warm mulled wine.

Dinner was at Pasta Fresca between our hotel and Old Town Square. It was yummy! Don't be turned off by the 4-K price demarkation - Prague is CHEAP compared to so many of the places that we'd been. For the price of one entree in Norway, Joe and I had 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and a dessert. 

Our last day in Prague was mostly devoted to the attractions on and around Petřín Hill. On our way back from the castle on Monday we walked by a restaurant that smelled so good we instantly regretted anything else we'd bothered to eat all day. When we headed back the same direction for the Petrin Hill funicular, we got a table at Ristorante Carmelita without bothering to look at the menu or prices - the smell alone was enough to make the decision for us. 

shrimp and zucchini risotto "Before"

Risotta "After" - the second best risotto I've had in a restaurant ever. SO delicious!

Many of Petřín Hill's attractions have entrance fees, so we opted for a two-in-one pass that included the ones we wanted to see most: the observation tower and the mirror labrynth. 

awesome (and accurate!) sun dial outside Štefánik´s Observatory

Petřín Tower seems to have an elevator going up the center, but it is unavailable to tourists as far as we saw. The double helix construction of the staircases mean that you will never run into someone trying to go the other way, which is nice if not a bit unnerving. 

Eiffelovka observation tower, clearly modeled after the Eiffel Tower,
is one of the highest points in the city. We love views from high places,
so this was not optional during our visit to Prague.

The so-called Mirror Labrynth has suffered some flak for being small and not really disorienting enough to actually get lost (even for a moment). Still, we thought it was fun and didn't worry about the ticket worth.

Joes in the Mirror Labrynth

part of the game is trying to hide the photographer's reflection 

Our last stop before heading back down towards home was the Strahov Monastic Brewery, a popular beer bar and restaurant. Being that Joe is used to Stone's ever-changing menu of dozens of craft brews, it was a bit humorous to see that the menu here included just three varieties: dark, light, and amber. It seems that the traditional method of ordering had been "I'll have a beer" (because there was only one type available), and this novel brewery introduced people to CHOICE. Joe declared his I.P.A. "really good, especially for a European hoppy beer."

Honeymooners on the Charles Bridge

Prague was our last honeymoon stop and our final destination as tourists for a while. From here it would be just a short flight to London and a different adventure. Prague, a bit unexpectedly, captured us. It was beautiful, quaint but not too small, relatively inexpensive, easy to get around, and offered a relaxing environment for us to explore at our own pace. We loved it. We don't need to return any time soon, but I won't be surprised if we do go back eventually. For now, Farewell, dear Praha, and thank you for welcoming us so lovingly!