Praha

From Switzerland, we headed east to the Czech Republic. We‘d heard amazing things for years about Prague, including the culture, the architecture, and the relative cheapness. We decided to give it a go. As the time has passed, the cold has started to set its hooks, and we are so thankful we were able to go to a Salvation Army in Switzerland to get some winter gear. Our journey included 13 hours by train, with 4 stations we needed to change at. Naturally, one of the connections was off and we missed our last 2 legs. When this happens, instead of a convoluted re-booking process that you may see in some countries (especially the US) they simply tell you to find another route and hop on whatever alternate route you found. We quickly found a tram that would take us to a nearby station where we could go onto Prague, even though it was not the same train operator. These long train rides (or bus, or plane) always seem to go by quickly, especially when you have a good list of books to read and a Kindle.

We made it to Prague around 11pm (barely an hour late, even with the missed connection). Google maps took us on an interesting route from our train station to the hostel, one that went through some sort of labyrinth of an indoor mall that had a club and a giant statue of a man riding an upside down horse. We were confused, and cursed our phones a little bit, but we would learn later of the significance of the route we took. When we made it to the Clock Tower Inn, we checked in and quickly grabbed a bite to eat (a Doner Kebab) in what we came to know as “rat park”. As we were eating, we kept hearing the leaves rustle (thinking it was just the wind), until Kyle jumped up and swore he saw a rat. Sure enough - as we watched we saw multiple in the park. Now - this sets a bad precedence to start Prague off as it is a BEAUTIFUL, and very clean city, we just found the one area with rats!

As it was almost midnight and we’d had a long day traveling, we called it a night and went to bed. The next day, we had some errands to run - things that we had put off until we were in an affordable country. We got groceries, made lunch (chicken pesto and a salad), exchanged currency, blogged (you know how far we get behind on these posts), and got haircuts. Afterwards, we ate a traditional Czech dinner at one of the oldest beer halls in Prague (Kyle ordered a pork knuckle, which was so big we ended up with a leftovers for the next 3 days - it was also the most expensive thing on the menu, though still only $13), and ended the night at a craft beer bar (which Kyle said he had the best beer he's ever tasted, but he's also said that about Busch light on a hot day). On Day 2 we woke up and cooked breakfast (our hostel had a full kitchen, as well as library lounge, and rooftop bar with foosball, all included in our $30/night booking fee), before hitting the town.

We walked to the river market, stopping by Vyšehrad on the way. Vyšehrad is a is a historic fort just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was built in Roman times and has since gone through a number of additions/transformations. Inside the fort are the large, gothic Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul and the Vyšehrad Cemetery, containing the remains of many famous Czechs, such as Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Karel Čapek, and Alphonse Mucha (we're not as cultured as we seem here, we just looked up all of those names). We wandered around and enjoyed the amazing views of the city from the fort walls before heading down to the bank of the Vltava River, where there were cool bars/restaruants with oscillating glass door fronts built into the city walls, and tons of local food, coffee, and trinkets at the market. We walked along the river until we reached Dancing House, a unique piece of modern architecture (designed by Frank Gehry, that's one Kyle knew without looking it up) in Prague amongst many of the old, pre-WWII buildings that still remain. Then we returned to the hostel to make some sandwiches for lunch and embark on our “Self-guided Rick Steve’s tour” on a phone app. Generally this consists of us looking quite silly sharing headphones and walking from point to point. These tours (FREE) have actually been something we’ve used since the beginning of the trip to get some history and additional information. While we do rely on googling information and things to do a LOT, we also listen to Rick and ALWAYS ask the locals we meet for suggestions.

The tour was great, per usual. It started at the National Museum and took us through St Wensesclaus Square, where the final stage of the Velvet Revolution ended. When exiting the Square, we were taken through the same "mall" route (actually called the Lucerna Arcade) that google maps had sent us through on our first night! It then took us past the “new town” into what’s considered old town. Previously divided by a wall, these different parts of the city are very unique and have many defining features, such as the Powder Tower (a defense tower that had previously stored a lot of gunpowder) and Charles Bridge - which leads over to the Prague Castle. Along the way we saw many Art Nouveau, Baroque, and Gothic buildings, as Prague has some of the best maintained architecture of any European city (they mostly avoided any damage during WWII). We finished the “tour” in Old Town Square, where we watched the astronomical clock strike the hour and the show that goes along with it (this was a much better clock puppet show than the one we got in Bern). We then meandered across Charles Bridge, watching the sun go down and the lights begin to appear.

Once dark, we headed to the Jewish Quarter, found our first trdelnik (also known as a chimney cake, we had been seeing - and smelling - these all over the city and could not wait to try them, even if we couldn't pronounce the name), cooked some leftover pork knuckle and pasta, and then visited the beer museum. The beer museum, while underwhelming, allowed us to try 4 local beers, learn about the history of Pilsner Urquell and Budweiser (there is a Czech Budweiser that has a intertwined and conflicting past with the American one), and showed us the process used in much of Czechia. Afterwards, we tried out a local bar recommendation, U Sudu, which appeared small as we walked in. What we knew thanks to our local tip, was that there’s a labyrinth of tunnels underneath with 4-5 more bars, dance music, game rooms, and more.

The following day, we walked up Petrin Hill to get a good overlook of the city from the opposite side. There is a tower (referred to as a mini Eiffel Tower) that you can climb to the top of for fantastic panoramas - but due to the cost we opted not to go up and instead enjoy some hot dogs (previously purchased at a grocery store) with a view. That afternoon Jaroslav picked us up to show us ”The Real Prague”. Jaroslav is actually a friend of Kyle‘s Uncle Kevin, who had visited in the past and set us up to meet. We took 2-3 hours to see some amazing areas, learn a lot more about the history of Prague, hear his stories about growing up under communist rule and playing in craters from the bombs during WWII, visiting the TV tower, and seeing the largest horse statue in Europe (we didn’t fact check this - we are trusting Jaroslav ;) ).

Eventually, after a wonderful tour, Jarlslov dropped us back at the hostel. We were so thankful to have his insight and for him taking the time to really show us around. On the drive home, we spotted a Christmas market so, after a quick hostel dinner, we headed over 🎄. A few glühweins and trdelniks later (yes that’s still a real word and no, we still can’t pronounce it), we headed to U Vejvodu, another beer hall we had heard about. Many of the beer halls here are very open, with simple large wooden tables and chairs in close proximity which created a more social atmosphere. We enjoyed this one a lot, and even tried pickled cheese.

On our last day, we got up early to visit Charles bridge at sunrise, and to seethe Prague castle (allegedly the largest castle in Europe). The dreary morning was somewhat dissapointing, but it led to amazing photos and cleared out very quickly. After visiting both sites, we decided to visit the Lenon Wall as we were already across the river and had a few extra minutes. By the afternoon, it was time for us to catch our train onward.

Additional notes about Prague:

- We both agree that Prague is one of our favorite cities! It is clean, has amazing things to see and do, and has a great mix of cheap and expensive options for dining

- Prague, and the Czech Reublic as a whole, has a long history under communist and occupied rule. As a small country/culture between major powerhouses (think Germany and Russia), they have often been on the losing and forgotten end of major European conflicts and policy. Just a few years after they were freed from Nazi occupation following WWII, a communist coup took over and lasted over four decades (until 1989). The Czech people are extremely passionate about their struggles and ultimate freedom. Anyone who we talked to was willing and ready to discuss it (unlike some other countries that seem to want to cover it up or act like it did not exist).

- The food and beer culture was a fun and exciting change up from the places we had visited up until now. A lot more hearty stews, dumplings, etc were in the mix, and we quickly transitioned from the wine/cocktail emphasis to one with bold, dark beers and pilsners (Dublin helped ease the transition, of course).

- The language barrier was tough again, plus the cultural differences in things like a To-Go bag at a restaurant, which we have confirmed that Europeans don't do. To take Kyle's pork knuckle home, we asked for a bag, and after some discussion the waiter offered "aluminum." We couldn't understand what he said with his accent, but he thought we didn't know what aluminum was, so he said "it's kind of like a silver paper." We got a good laugh out of that one for a few days.

Levi's Shirt count update: 219