Czech Republic - 11/13 October
11 October
After a pretty gruelling trip we were pretty happy to get our feet on solid groud. 32 hours with the 3 flights and layovers.
After pretty little sleep on the plane we were pretty dazed and drained. Our agreement for the first night was to try and stay awake until 7pm. I managed to lock myself out of my phone by trying to use the European sim I had prepurchased so we couldnt even order an Uber. Turns out that cost us a $200 taxi ride. Not an ideal start, but on arriving at our hotel we were pretty stoked with how authentically bohemian the room was and what an amazing location it was! Step out the front door and you are pretty much at the foot of Charles Bridge.
The Old City has a gorgeous little village feel, tiny cobblestone streets, beautifully ornate baroque buildings and a gothic skyline. Every corner you turn just takes your breath away.
Every block has an Absinthe bar, weed shop, trdelník (chimney cake) shop , sweet shop and beer garden. The number of sweet shops is not dissimilar to Amsterdam.
After a bit of a wander around the few blocks by our hotel and a few bar stops to try some local beer, we found a tavern off the beaten track to have a very traditional meal, with no tourists in sight. Czech goulash, smoked sausage and dumplings.
12 October
Our day started early as our bodies struggled to get into the new timezone, so up and out for a wander at 6am to watch the sunrise on Charles Bridge. It was a lovely time of day to be out and about, nobody around, compared to midday where you are shoulder to shoulder with people. Just a handful of photographers trying to capture the sunrise and a bride and groom.
After a good sleep and buffet breakfast at the hotel we were off to wander. First stop, a supermarket, which is always interesting to see local food and prices, and the bargain bins were full of champagne and spirits. Eggs were about $4 for 10 eggs.
A local coffee stop to rest the legs resulted in a $11 flat white. It was pretty good coffee....but definitely not the sort of prices we were expecting.
We stumbled across a lot of the sights trying to get oriented (as we still didn't have data available for gps) and then headed up to the castle precinct on the other side of the river.
There was some sort of performance outside the palace with the army, police, and bodyguards everywhere. There was a balcony appearance and performance from the army band and rifleman. We can only assume it was some sort of dignitary as the day we arrived there was a police escort for what looked like a dignitary convoy.
The highlight of the castle was the Basilica. The lead light windows and architecture was breathtaking.
After the castle we took a detour to Kellyxir, which is an Alchemical pub on that same side of the river. They serve their cocktails in beakers with dry ice, so you end up with a drink that looks like a science experiment.
After a 23km day we decided to retire to the hotel for dinner. The tables for the restaurant are all across the narrow cobbled road outside, and the place was absolutely buzzing! At this point we had a good view back to the front of the hotel...which also apparently has one of the best Prague nightclubs in the basement. By the looks of the screen there are plenty of scantily clad girls dancing on the bar as well. If we weren't so jetlagged we may have gone to check it out, but we were still running on fumes.
13 October
Another early morning, with 5.30am being our new wakeup time. We decided to go for an early morning wander again and enjoy the city with no crowds, seeing as our hotel breakfast doesn't open till 7am. Nothing really opens till 10am so it doesn't get too busy until around 9.30am.
This mornings mission was to find the train station and figure out where everything is to make to following mornings 6:12am train departure as painless as possible. There were a few more sights on the list to tick off, but we had no schedule so managed to stumble across a street market where you could get a giant punnet of berries for $3.50, and managed to catch one of the performances for the Astronomical Clock. After seeing the town clocks in Germany, this one was a bit underwhelming.
We tried Knedliky at Knedlin which is essentially giant stuffed dumplings. We tried a meatball one and a duck and saukraut one. They were really yummy! Also seemed like only locals in there.
We had a sneaky look in the Basilica of St James and managed to happen upon an organ audition. The acoustics were stunning and it is the largest pipe organ in Europe with over 8200 pipes.
A lot of walking makes you thirsty so we ended up at the beer museum for elevensies and worked through a tasting paddle of local beers. The cider was just like slightly sparkly apple juice....very dangerous and easy to drink.
We had to try some fried cheese, which is a local dish...not quite what we expected....really just like our deep fried camembert with plum sauce.
We decided to go back to Konvikt, where we had dinner our first night to try a few more local dished before leaving Czech Republic. So pork knuckle and fruit dumplings for dinner it was. The pork knuckle was devine, fell off the bone, and the dumplings were filled with apricot and topped with cheese curd and dusted with icing sugar. They were super yummy and not too sweet.
After a pretty gruelling trip we were pretty happy to get our feet on solid groud. 32 hours with the 3 flights and layovers.
After pretty little sleep on the plane we were pretty dazed and drained. Our agreement for the first night was to try and stay awake until 7pm. I managed to lock myself out of my phone by trying to use the European sim I had prepurchased so we couldnt even order an Uber. Turns out that cost us a $200 taxi ride. Not an ideal start, but on arriving at our hotel we were pretty stoked with how authentically bohemian the room was and what an amazing location it was! Step out the front door and you are pretty much at the foot of Charles Bridge.
The Old City has a gorgeous little village feel, tiny cobblestone streets, beautifully ornate baroque buildings and a gothic skyline. Every corner you turn just takes your breath away.
Every block has an Absinthe bar, weed shop, trdelník (chimney cake) shop , sweet shop and beer garden. The number of sweet shops is not dissimilar to Amsterdam.
After a bit of a wander around the few blocks by our hotel and a few bar stops to try some local beer, we found a tavern off the beaten track to have a very traditional meal, with no tourists in sight. Czech goulash, smoked sausage and dumplings.
12 October
Our day started early as our bodies struggled to get into the new timezone, so up and out for a wander at 6am to watch the sunrise on Charles Bridge. It was a lovely time of day to be out and about, nobody around, compared to midday where you are shoulder to shoulder with people. Just a handful of photographers trying to capture the sunrise and a bride and groom.
After a good sleep and buffet breakfast at the hotel we were off to wander. First stop, a supermarket, which is always interesting to see local food and prices, and the bargain bins were full of champagne and spirits. Eggs were about $4 for 10 eggs.
A local coffee stop to rest the legs resulted in a $11 flat white. It was pretty good coffee....but definitely not the sort of prices we were expecting.
We stumbled across a lot of the sights trying to get oriented (as we still didn't have data available for gps) and then headed up to the castle precinct on the other side of the river.
There was some sort of performance outside the palace with the army, police, and bodyguards everywhere. There was a balcony appearance and performance from the army band and rifleman. We can only assume it was some sort of dignitary as the day we arrived there was a police escort for what looked like a dignitary convoy.
The highlight of the castle was the Basilica. The lead light windows and architecture was breathtaking.
After the castle we took a detour to Kellyxir, which is an Alchemical pub on that same side of the river. They serve their cocktails in beakers with dry ice, so you end up with a drink that looks like a science experiment.
After a 23km day we decided to retire to the hotel for dinner. The tables for the restaurant are all across the narrow cobbled road outside, and the place was absolutely buzzing! At this point we had a good view back to the front of the hotel...which also apparently has one of the best Prague nightclubs in the basement. By the looks of the screen there are plenty of scantily clad girls dancing on the bar as well. If we weren't so jetlagged we may have gone to check it out, but we were still running on fumes.
13 October
Another early morning, with 5.30am being our new wakeup time. We decided to go for an early morning wander again and enjoy the city with no crowds, seeing as our hotel breakfast doesn't open till 7am. Nothing really opens till 10am so it doesn't get too busy until around 9.30am.
This mornings mission was to find the train station and figure out where everything is to make to following mornings 6:12am train departure as painless as possible. There were a few more sights on the list to tick off, but we had no schedule so managed to stumble across a street market where you could get a giant punnet of berries for $3.50, and managed to catch one of the performances for the Astronomical Clock. After seeing the town clocks in Germany, this one was a bit underwhelming.
We tried Knedliky at Knedlin which is essentially giant stuffed dumplings. We tried a meatball one and a duck and saukraut one. They were really yummy! Also seemed like only locals in there.
We had a sneaky look in the Basilica of St James and managed to happen upon an organ audition. The acoustics were stunning and it is the largest pipe organ in Europe with over 8200 pipes.
A lot of walking makes you thirsty so we ended up at the beer museum for elevensies and worked through a tasting paddle of local beers. The cider was just like slightly sparkly apple juice....very dangerous and easy to drink.
We had to try some fried cheese, which is a local dish...not quite what we expected....really just like our deep fried camembert with plum sauce.
We decided to go back to Konvikt, where we had dinner our first night to try a few more local dished before leaving Czech Republic. So pork knuckle and fruit dumplings for dinner it was. The pork knuckle was devine, fell off the bone, and the dumplings were filled with apricot and topped with cheese curd and dusted with icing sugar. They were super yummy and not too sweet.
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