Prague May 2018
May 29- Jun 1
as i had some friends visiting again i thought it might be fun to take a small road trip and to visit a new city for all of us. as we all have never been to prague but all heard so many great things about it, it was the perfect choice. and it is only a four hour drive.
Day 1 May 29
as we arrived in the late afternoon and didn't have a proper lunch we were quite hungry. as we had an issue getting into our airbnb, we decided to walk around the neighborhood and grab something to eat. as we were situated in the old town there was a lot going on, many restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, and people all around. we decided to have some nice italian food at la botega.
La Bottega Bistroteka
Dlouha 39/39, 110 00 Stare Mesto
https://bistroteka.lacollezione.cz/en
Day 2 May 30
as we were already staying in the old town we choose to just walk around and explore the surrounding area. we wandered through the main pedestrian areas, through the old town square and wenceslas square and passed by the several significant and interesting buildings such as the prague astronomical clock, the powder tower, the house of the black madonna, the narodni museum, and the dancing house. the different architecture styles of each and every building in the city is what i found most fascinating, i could just wander the streets looking and admiring each building.
Astronomical Clock (under rennovation)
Narodni Museum
Municipal House
The Dancing House
Old Town Square
Powder Tower
Prague Castle from the Distance
Church of Our Lady
The House of the Black Madonna and the Cubism Cafe
after all that walking we grew a bit of an appetite so we decided to cross the bridge and have lunch at cafe savoy. i had to order the beef tartare which is a famous prague dish with fresh garlic, which i didn't end up using too much. i was really good and fresh, i thought i was quite hungry but i still couldn't finsih the whole thing. we also ordred the Baked ham with brioche bread, Gruyère cheese and poached egg and the pork schnitzel with potato salad. a nice little old school cafe with great food.
Café Savoy
Vitezna 124/5, Mala Strana, 150 00 Praha-Smíchov
http://cafesavoy.ambi.cz/en/
we then slowly walked back to the airbnb to do a bit of shopping and some window shopping, they have many unique stores where you can buy the usual souvenirs but also where you can buy some very unique gifts. czech is also known for their crystal, so there are many stores selling glasses, tableware, decoration pieces and many more.
we had a little rest then off to another not so czech dinner, we decided to eat some mexican food as we were recommended this restaurant as being as good as any mexican restaurant in la. so we thought we would give it a try and having some margaritas doesn't sound like a bad plan.
it was delicious! for starters the fried avocado was really good, i don't know why i haven't had these before. they served it with some crema roja, habanero pickles, and pico de gallo, a good combination of crunch, spice, creaminess and freshness. i had ordered the carnitas burrito, which had crispy pork carnitas, mexican rice, beans, romaine lettuce, guacamole, topped with queso fresco, warm red and green enchilada sauce. it was really good but huge, i couldn't finish all of it so i had it the next day for breakfast. and we couldn't forget about the margaritas, I got the pineapple margarita which was amazing, a bit sweet but then you get the spice from the habanero sugar rim. i definitely had a few of those. coming here does make me miss having some good mexican nearby, in los angeles you have such a variety all over the city. i will need to try to look for some places near us in münchen.
Chips and Guacamole and Fried Avocado
Carnitas Burrito
Pineapple Margarita
Agave Restaurant
Masna 620/2, 110 00 Stare Mesto
http://agaverestaurant.cz/
Day 3 may 31
as we saw most of the old town the day before, we thought to cross the bridge and explore the west side of the city known as the castle district. we first walked through the wallenstein garden to the fake grotto, which was right next to a large cage that held owls. we were so surprised to see them as they were sitting quietly uptop and not much signage except for in czech. we then walked up the main stairs to the main courtyard, we then bought our tickets and audio guide and wandered around the castle grounds. first stop was to the st. vitus cathedral, then off to the old royal palace, then St. George's basilica, the rosenberg palace, and lastly the golden lane. we also walked around the castle gardens where they had several different birds and owls on show. what a beautiful and large castle district, there were so many interesting and unique sights to see, you can definitely spend a couple of hours wandering around. also the golden lane has several small stores where you can buy some unique gifts. the prague castle and its grounds is a definite must visit and you should definitely reserve a day or at least a couple of hours to see everything.
Wallenstein Garden
Beautiful Stain Glass
Inside Rosenberg Palace
The Grotto
St. Vitus Catherdal
St. George's Basillica
Tennis Court in the Garden
Inside St. George's Basillica
Owls!
St. Nicholas Bell Tower
Inside St. Vitus Catherdal
The Golden Lane
as we didn't have a proper lunch and wanted to see all the sites in the castle compound before they closed we were pretty hungry once we were done. we had tried going to this restaurant lokal near our airbnb the night before but it was closed for renovations, so we checked and saw there was one location near the castle. so we went and ordered a feast of all local chezch food such as beef goulash, potato and bread dumplings, meatloaf, Talian" sausage with grated horseradish and mustard, 6 weeks ripened fried cheese with tartare sauce, and Pork neck steak with fried onion and onion gravy. and of course we had to hydrate ourselves with plenty of beer. the food was really good especially the goulash and fried cheese and the beer was so refreshing on such a hot day. lokal has several locations each serving most of the same food but with a few different additions. if you want some good local czech food then lokal is the place to go.
Beef Goulash
Pork Neck
Lokal (U Bile kuzelky)
Misenska 12, 118 00 Prague 1
http://lokal-dlouha.ambi.cz/en/?utm_source=lokal.ambi.cz&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=crosspromo&utm_content=homepage-box
after quite a large meal we walked back towards the river and stopped for some gelato at amorino. then walked over the charles's bridge back to the old town.
after quite a large meal we walked around towards the river, stopped for some gelato at amorino. It's a chain but its really good and oh so pretty. we then walked over the charles's bridge back to the old town. as it was a saturday it was quite crowded on the streets.
Amorino
Malostranske nam. 38/24, 118 00 Mala Strana
https://www.amorino.com/en/
Day 4 June 1
as it was a friday we wanted to head back a bit earlier to avoid the early afternoon traffic. but before leaving we stopped by the local butcher to grab some sandwiches for the ride and some sausages to barbeque for later. i didn't take a picture of the sandwiches but they were really good, we had ordered the meatloaf and pork belly. and then we did grill some of the sausages that night, they were delicious. if you happen to be in old town then you should stop by this local butcher as they have many other delicious things to eat for lunch or dinner.