Back at the end of February, which feels like a lifetime ago given the current circumstances, Chris and I caught an early morning flight to Prague. Prague was always someplace I wanted to go and I had significantly high expectations that were, I am thrilled to say, well and truly met. By going in winter, we were able to avoid the high tourist season, and there were moments where it felt like we had the place to ourselves. Obviously, it was chilly but it certainly wasn’t cold and we never found ourselves limited by the weather. Despite the 4 am wakeup our journey in was easy. Public transit was well explained and we easily caught a bus from the airport into the city center. We stayed at the Art Deco Imperial, a beautiful hotel in the center of the city, decked out in art deco details and home to one of the best breakfast buffets that was a true pleasure to wake up to every morning. Nothing motivates me to get up quite like a large table full of carbohydrates. After we arrived, we dropped our stuff and went straight to Bistro 8 for lunch where we had our first taste of the Czech hospitality, and their delicious bread. We poked around the design shop across the street before wandering along a nearby park enjoying the views overlooking the river, trying to figure out which bridge was which. The views of Prague from above are truly breathtaking and it’s easy to see why so many people are captivated by the city’s charm. We continued wandering, our favourite way to see any city, and happened upon the Jewish Quarter. I bought a Golem from the synagogue, read as much of the information posted along the buildings as I could find, and admired the buildings steeped in history. For dinner, we had made a reservation ahead of time at Mincovna, a Czech restaurant just off the Old Town Square. We had goulash and spätzle and more cups of fresh honey and lemon tea than I could count. It was well and truly delicious. Not being the biggest meat eater I was a bit worried about how I would find the notoriously meat heavy Czech cuisine, but I really needn’t’ have worried. This trip will definitely go down as one of our most delicious. The next morning, after stuffing ourselves with all the amazing bread on offer at the hotel, we left bright and early to check out Charles Bridge. We read that it can get very overcrowded with tourists so you can imagine our surprise to find we had the whole thing practically to ourselves. Being a moderately early riser on holiday has its perk! From there we walked up to Prague castle, weaving our way through brightly coloured row houses, enjoying the music from a particularly cheerful accordionist as we went. The view from the top of the hill was magnificent and would give even the most cynical of people a reason to pause. Prague castle was definitely the most crowded element of our trip but was well worth a visit. Seeing all the houses within the castle grounds, including one where Franz Kafka once lived and worked, was very interesting. For lunch, we went to a place right outside the castle that Chris had read about ahead of time. Called The Kitchen, it really is exactly that! They bring you right up into the kitchen and show you all the dishes of the day. You point to the one you want and you revel in your excellent decision as everything is amazing and delicious. Following our lunch, we continued the culinary trend, and walked down the hill to Café Savoy to satisfy my sweet tooth with Czech cream cakes and coffees. Chris had read about a paternoster lift in city hall and was devastated to read that it was closing in 3 minutes, just as we were settling into our desserts. A few minutes of furious research I managed to find a paternoster website, detailing all the available ones to visit in Europe. Crisis averted! Truthfully, we were surprised to find it as there aren’t many left. Because paternosters are terrifying. Terrifying. But more on that later. Off we went and a short walk later we found ourselves in front of a very oppressive looking office building, the air of abandonment complimented by the 100-year-old security guard sitting outside. We walked in like we knew what we were doing, and managed to find the lift just around the corner. We hopped on and road a few floors, Chris fascinated and me cursing this decision immediately. Always nice to discover a fear you never knew you had on holiday. Too full from lunch and fear, we opted to nip to a grocery store and pick up a bunch of food we couldn’t read the labels for and have a mini picnic back in our hotel for dinner. The next morning, we walked to the National Gallery of Prague. A large and foreboding example of brutalist architecture, chock full of some very surrealist and modern art. As we arrived just after opening we practically had the whole place to ourselves. And what an experience it was. The gallery did an excellent job of highlighting Czech artists and Czech history through art. It was vast and cavernous and we wandered as best as we could to see as much as possible. The security guards were intense and followed us around to nearly every piece we looked at, which really added to the whole atmosphere and slight 1984 vibes. We left feeling odd and quiet and it’s definitely an art gallery experience that will stick with us. We walked to Karlín, and went to the unabashedly hipster Eska, for an incredible lunch that left us wondering why more people don’t use caraway seeds or churn their own butter. By the time we finished, the rain from the morning had lifted and the sky was full of sun so we took the long way back, wandering the pastel streets. I picked up a trdelnik, a completely not at all Czech dessert that is sold on every street corner for tourists. It’s a yeasted cake cooked over a coal fire and covered in cinnamon and sugar. And it was incredible and I regret not having more. We stopped at Café Orient for our umpteenth cup coffee and some people watching. It was Saturday at this point and we were starting to see the other side of Prague that the locals are completely fed up with. Loud stag parties and obnoxious visitors seemed to crowd the main streets and Chris and I did our utmost to avoid them. We bought painted wooden eggs from a pop up market along the river, serenaded oddly enough by someone singing Christmas carols as they set up a red carpet at whatever gorgeous building was next door. We didn’t know what on earth was going on but we were completely besotted with Prague at this point and truly didn’t care. For our final dinner, we went back to Mincovna and had exactly the same dishes as the first night. We have never done this before but the food was too good not to eat it again. The next morning saw us one final breakfast before heading home on our midmorning flight. We left full of happy memories, newfound fears of communist era lifts, and a newfound appreciation and respect for Czech bread.
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