Beer is for Breakfast (Czech Republic – Country #12)

I spend a quick 3 nights in Prague, Dave was supposed to come but he was busy in Salt Lake having lasers fired at his eyeball. Fun. I’ll just summarize the cool shit. I will say that two full days was simply not enough for that city.

Thursday

Yeah I am in Prague! First of all, I love Europe because the public transit rocks. Don’t get me started on the US - where we can figure out how to bomb a single blade of grass from space, but I cannot get from SFO to San Jose without a major clusterfuck (sorry for the f-word mom) involving 3 hours and 3 methods of public transit. Anyway, I hopped right on the 119 bus-which cost about $2 and was waiting right there at the curb for me-then took the subway to my hotel. The whole things was simple, cheap, fast, and painless. I arrived at my hotel (Hotel Amour) at about 7:00pm and had a quick dinner – half of a lovely looking roast duck.

Friday

On Friday morning, it was gorgeous and WARM (I love warm). It was almost too hot for a cappuccino but what else is there, oh yeah beer. Seriously, it was not even 10:00am and everyone was drinking beer everywhere. I only do that in Mexico, and I try to make myself wait until AT LEAST 11:30am.

Anyway, I had not done a speck of research on Prague, aside from locating the Hotel Amour on my Streetwise Prague map (love those maps). I decided to *possibly* take a 4-hour tour with Discover Prague, well actually I decided to scope out the spot where the tour was supposed to begin at the appointed start time. If there were a bunch of douches waiting there, I was going to bag the tour and just spend the $15 on guidebook instead.

But it was just me and the guide. Uhm strange, but honestly I was looking forward to ANY company after so much “alone time” while traveling of late. I am so glad I did the tour. I had the most lovely afternoon and learned so much. Petra, my tour guide, grew up in Prague and knew everything about the history of the city, the architecture, cool places to visit, etc. We had a lunch together and chatted about everything: life, history, dudes, food, kids. It was fantastic. After our tour, which ended late because we were so chatty at lunch and she didn’t want to cheat me out of anything we were supposed to do during the tour, she gave me an agenda of cool stuff to see on Sunday when I was on my own. What a doll!

The amazing Petra and I.

 

Time to clean the castle.

Sunset in Prague.

Saturday

OK - I hate crowds. For me, off-season travel is the only way to go. Saturday was crowded. Prague turned into Disneyland, with tourists by the busload coming in the town center. Kill me now.

You can't quite see how bad it was in that photo, but I assure you - it was hot, sweaty, and annoying with no one paying attention to where they were going; with lots of American and German tourists in their travel/safari gear (WTF people wear normal clothes, you're in Prague not the Outback and the Italians think you look ridiculous). Anyway, I immediately turned around, walked away from the Charles Bridge and the town center, and went to Petřínský Park. I climbed to the top of the hill, and then climbed further went to the top of the Petrin Observation Tower to enjoy the views, following Petra's advice. 

Then, being that I was very thirsty after my climb, I went to Strahov Monastery, which was founded flippin1142 (coolness), for a beer. And a lovely, cold amber lager it was. The rest of the day, I avoided crowds and got lost wandering the city. It was just way too nice to be indoors.

The climb to the top of the park, everything was blooming and it smelled divine.

This woman was praying, and I cannot think of a better spot to do so.

There is still so much I want to see and do in Prague: all the Jewish museums and temples, the Communist museum, the National Museum, the buildings I missed on castle hill, a boat tour, bike riding along the Vltava River……. I will have to go back this fall with Daverooni.

And Finally - Flying Monkey Not-so-Official Prague Tips

1) Do a tour with the divine Petra though Discover Prague. It is a great way to get yourself orientated, and she knows so much about the history and significance of those gorgeous buildings in front of you. Plus she is a lovely person.

2) Go during the low-season. If you HAVE to visit during the high-season, try to avoid the major attractions on Saturday and Sunday. You saw the picture…… It is no fun waiting in line with 400 sweaty people to see the inside of a church. Then once inside, you never really see the inside of said church because those 400 camera-happy people are then in there with you.

3) Enjoy the green spaces. Prague’s topography makes for amazing views from the parks that surround the city.

4) Count your change. OK - I don’t want to dis the good people of Prague, but almost every time I made a purchase there was someone ahead of me arguing over the change they received. Be careful too where the price listed is by weight. I paid WAY TOO MUCH for one beer and some hot potato salad (a divine mix of potato, bacon, cabbage, and dumplings) in the main square. There was a huge line in back of me so I just paid, then sulked. Nothing like feeling ripped-off to ruin your evening.

5) Book your hotel at Booking.com. This goes for almost every city for me now-a-days. You can sort the hotels by neighborhood when searching. That way you can find a hotel in a neighborhood close to the center without paying the “exactly in the center” prices.