Short Break to Prague

For the Jubilee long weekend, I ended up in Prague for a last minute weekend break. I thought it was going to be terrible with my view of stag parties heading everywhere and anticipating what Amsterdam’s red light district would be like, but with more beer and groups. Fortunately it was a surprise that even though plenty of English stag crowds were around, the rest of the city was just beautiful and a sight to behold.

Prague reminded me a lot about my time in Budapest since it’s along a river, and seems to have just as many bridges crossing it as well. The most famous, the Charles Bridge is full of tourists, street artists and musicians out to entertain and raise some money. That bridge also leads all the way to the castle, apparently one of the biggest in Europe and with amazing views of the city. This is one of the streets on the hilly ascent up.

There’s plenty of interesting things around town including art like this.

The city also has an amazing set of buildings all done in different styles and shapes. One of the very well known ones is the Dancing House, a Frank Gehry that looks just as intriguing during the day as it does during the evening when it is lit up.

I managed to stumble across the rather “huge” Occupy movement in Prague.

The old historic square attracts a lot of tourists and that’s for a very good reason. The Astronomical Clock doesn’t sit too far and there are plenty of interesting cafes and restaurants to sit back and relax in.

There’s also this imposing tower you can climb. It’s not quite as tall as the Cathedral Dome in Cologne, but it’s still fun climbing small spiral staircases. Go early to avoid the traffic in the stairwell.

You’ll then be rewarded with a stunning rooftop view. Or at least a view of all the tour groups standing around with their English guide.

I also visited the amazing Senate Gardens. The garden is set up in such a way that even with the number of visitors, it never feels like there are a lot of people there. Amazingly well kept.

I saw a number of Gloria Jeans coffee houses around town. I guess it’s catering to the crowds of Australians coming over and the fact that Prague generally serves pretty poor coffee. Beer is the thing here. And it’s often cheaper than water when you dine out.

Prague is a bit infamous for its food. Stodge, more stodge and generally a lot of meat. I’m always worried by signs like this:

The old square has a number of stalls serving fire roasted ham and these chimney cakes that I remember from Hungary (called Kürtőskalács there)

In the Czech Republic, they are referred to as Trdelník. When in Prague…

The weather wasn’t the warmest it could have been and I was glad to bring a sweater. Fortunately the heavy rain waited until at least the day that I left before falling. A nice experience and definitely a city worth visiting again.