Prague

Apologies for the brief hiatus, guys. I was on holidays in the beautiful city of Prague, as can be seen from my well thought out title. Please have a quick read of what I got up to on my travels. First trip of 2020 was a success and I’m back to write more shite. I missed ye all, my lovely word-readers.

Prague was somewhere that I did not know much about. I had seen it in the most recent Marvel movie; Spiderman: Far From Home is one of my favourite instalments in the franchise. I had briefly looked at it as a possible holiday destination before but had never cared about travelling there on my own or with anyone. As luck would have it, Lastminute.com had an unbelievable deal for two people for three nights for extremely cheap. Both flights and accommodation were included so myself and K decided we would have our first holiday together in the Czech capital.
After talking to people who had been there and spent a similar amount of time in the city, we felt that we had enough time to get some culture in, drink some cocktails and fill ourselves with lovely food.

Food

There was no shortage of restaurants, cafés and eateries in Prague. Little coffee shops were on every streets. The local dessert, a chimney roll, was supplied in multiple shops on the major streets once you cross Charles Bridge. You could get the sugared roll filled with chocolate sauce as well as ice-cream, but K and I preferred it with plain old diabetes inducing warm chocolate liquid.
There were several pizza places and kebab shops near our hotel but these looked unclean and unappetising. The restaurants in the city centre were much more appealing, albeit a lot more expensive. Bear in mind, though, that that expensiveness is still relatively cheap compared to Ireland, America or wherever you come from.
We ate local the first night in a bar called U Kurelu. The beer was unreal and my burger was fantastic. The disco fries were insane and K’s burrito was also good. The service was exceptional, which also goes for everywhere we ate in the city. After two mains, a starter and five or six beers we only paid the equivalent of about €40 – including tip!

Our second night we treated ourselves to an Italian spot, Pepenero, in an upmarket part of town. Once again the meal was relatively cheap and the food was superb. The service was great and we felt like it was a young person’s city. In fact, it was a city for all ages, but especially for those in love and full of life.
After trekking all over the city once again we went for something easier on our final day. There is a shopping mall with five floors and over 200 shops just outside the old town square near Broadway. The top floor is a food hall with so many different cuisines that it was hard to choose. We eventually settled on a sushi place where it was all you can eat and the food comes on a little carousel while you sit and pluck out what you want. While I may not have eaten much Czech food, I did try a lot of new things. Maybe Japan will be on the cards?

Drink

Prague is also full of pubs, cocktail bars and clubs. The clubs looked a little seedy for us but we made great use of the pubs and bars. We are both fond of the odd cocktail so Prague was our heaven. Our first stop was Bukowski’s bar. It seemed really cool inside and the drinks were good and coming fast. We would have been content to go there for the three days but it only got better from there.

I found a place on Google Maps called Hemingway’s Bar. It was a specialty cocktail bar that put thought, care and precision into their drinks. Each drink had a distinct taste, explanation and unique glass.

I can’t remember our server’s name but she was lovely and really cared about whether we enjoyed our drinks. We went to a few other bars where the beer was good but nowhere will compare to Hemingway’s. Although it was the most expensive of the lot!

History

Prague relies on tourism to fuel their economy. They have a beautiful city rife with history, oppression and suffering. We didn’t see much of the recent side of history, unfortunately. I think whenever we go back that we will take more of a look at the recent history of the Czech capital. However, the medieval history of the cobbled city was beautiful. We took a tour around Prague Castle and all of the many magnificent buildings inside the grounds. We strolled along the Golden Lane and saw the house where Franz Kafka wrote some of his works.

We strolled around the Old Town square and walked the city streets. We crossed the Charles Bridge and explored that side of the city. We also saw the John Lennon wall. Both the Charles Bridge and John Lennon wall were awash with tourists and crowded. I hate to say it but it took the gleam off it for me and I wasn’t too bothered with either landmark.
We took a tour around the Klementinum library, seeing a codex worth €40,000,000 and an astrological tower used for telling the time for the whole of Prague. It was very interesting. The city gave off these ancient vibes from the cobbled streets. Some parts of the city seemed like they were pulled straight from the Soviet era while others were hip and modern. It was conflicting. I don’t know much about the place but it seemed to me that there was a great divide between the wealthy and the poor.

Overall

I would definitely recommend Prague for a short city break. It is a bit of an oxymoron in that it is a quiet enough city that is full of tourists. It is possible to get lost there in the cobbles and the side streets and suddenly emerge onto the bustling Charles Bridge or find a busy bar. Perhaps my eyes were glued to my girlfriend the whole time and my mind was closed to any outside sound or distraction. The whole world could be buzzing around me and I would only hear her. Prague was great, but it was made better by being there with K.