Ahoy from Prague, Czech Republic

Ahoy! It’s our first blog post on our first city/stop in Eastern Europe. And no, I’m not speaking pirate, “ahoy” is hello. Though I’ve also heard it used as goodbye, kind of like “aloha.”

We are in day 4, technically day 5, though day #1/mostly #2 were spent making the journey from LA with a stop in Zurich and a quick jump to Prague.

First Beer of Europe!

Getting in was easy. We landed at 7p on Thursday, May 2nd. We took two buses and a metro to get to our hostel (we took a lot of trains, trams and buses… more of that later). We literally dropped our stuff off and headed to Old Town to this cool bar called Lokal. It was a large modern beer hall and it was pretty packed. After some beers, varieties of sausages, and beer cheese (which I can’t recommend), we found that an American was running the bar. I thought odd, as this is proud Czech beer culture and you have an American managing the bar? what? After approaching him, Mickey, we found out that he’s from NYC and works at Hospoda on the UES. Hospoda is a the downstairs BAR of the Czech embassy, because how can the Czech have an embassy without embracing its beer/pivo culture? – see side note #1

Because Hospoda in NYC is positioned in the embassy, drinking there you are actually drinking in the Czech Republic. Mickey has been placed in Prague to master the culture, the language and of course, the various techniques to get different favors and textures out of the same beer. And this guy knew his stuff. He had us sample a few, talked about the process, even took us to the back fridge where we saw the beer in big tank/kegs that were connected to huge fire hoses that run to the main tap in the bar. Mickey explained that the beer never touched air. Anyways, 2 points: 1) Aaron was in heaven talking about the science of beer production and 2) hey, New Yorkers, I would check this place out http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/dining/reviews/hospoda-nyc-restaurant-review.html?_r=0

We next went to another bar very close, called The Beer Museum. It had a lot of beer. Then went back to the hostel.

On the Charles Bridge

The next day we strolled the romantic and peaceful streets of Prague. First we went to the Jewish quarter and were there for quite a few hours. The synagogues were breath taking and all of the history fascinating. We bought audio guides which were really helpful. After, we picked up some czech pastries and carried on exploring the city.
All day we walked, sometimes stopping for a beer or wine in a cafe along the river or in the middle of a square. I also…wait for it …picked up a couple of Starbucks mugs, that together cost about the same as one night in our hostel.
Walking around on bridges and cobblestones with a castle above you and cathedrals below you was magical. Even though the weather was a bit damp, it was a beautiful day. I’ve absolutely loved both the serenity and the energy. We had again some traditional Czech cuisine for dinner. Aaron had the goulash and me, pork neck, some more beers, and then made our way to the bar where Aaron spent his 21st birthday.
It was a really cool bar. It was underground and the corridors were dungeon like. I had my first ever absinthe shot there. As we were at the bar we met some Americans, Californians actually, who were on a pub crawl. We ended up crashing the crawl and let’s just say the sun had risen by the time we got back to our hostel – it was a super fun night. (Shout out to John and Veronica :))

Waking up was not easy, but eventually made it out and went to the castle/palace. We strolled up and down the grounds, taking in the city views and eventually the sunset. We then went to a bar that was recommended in one of our guide books. It was a bit out of the way but the place was really cool and the traditional Czech food was delicious. Aaron had some bacon dumplings while I had pork knee. We called it a night after as we both wanted to get up early for our last day.

Today/the next day we woke up at 6am to beat the crowds and go to the Charles Bridge to create our jumping pictures. There were very few people out and the city was pretty empty. When jumping pictures were completed we went ALL the way back to our hostel to pack up and check out.
Okay, so here’s the deal, we were pretty far out. Transportation was easy to come by sure, buses/trams came right in front of our hostel but to go into the city it took about 20-30mins. Also, we had to get on a bus, to a metro and then sometimes even a tram. The good news is that the Czech public transportation system is bought on time so we could take limitless methods to get Where we were going without having to worry about transfers. In hindsight we should’ve booked within the city, but I believe options were over our budget. see side note #2
When we left the hostel for our 10:30 walking tour, we left our luggage at the hostel, knowing that unfortunately we are going to have to go all the way back. The walking tour was excellent. It was so interesting learning and recalling all of the variations and and changes this country/city has underwent.
We left the tour early so we could head to the train station to pick up our tickets for this evening out to Olomouc. After tickets were purchased, we went up to the famous beer garden, Letna, that overlooks the city in a beautiful garden setting. It was also a bark where kids biked and people walked their dogs. It is arguably the best view in the city. There we also met up with our SoCal friends. After enjoying a few beers, the scenery, and conversation, we headed back to the hostel, for the final time, to get our luggage and head to the train station to catch the 6:16p to Olomouc. We have arrived and are spending the night in to catch up on sleep and to get up early for tomorrow. Oh and blog

Side notes:
Side note #1: True story, the Czech Republic consumes more beer per capita than any other country in the world. Surprisingly beating out Ireland, Belgium, and Germany.
Side note #2: Jami is acting as strict accountant. No expense is not being documented, categorized and evaluated. I’m using an awesome app called Trail Wallet that lets me enter the amount and see it translated in US dollars. It also allows me to see where our money is going. I’d prefer to have cheap days and then splurgy days, so I’m also evaluating our % spend in a monthly budget while calculating the per day amount. Aaron, on the other hand, is acting as champion navigator. With at least two maps in his hands at any given moment and the thick Eastern Europe guide book, Jami is just following his lead and is impressed.

Quick thoughts on Prague/Czech culture:
Pantyhose – Czech girls wear them no matter what…under shorts, dresses, skirts, even jeans and pants. Why? I’m so confused. Aaron doesn’t get my fascination.
Escalators – they run real fast, they are on turbo speed.
Smoking – even living in New York I’ve never seen such a society of smokers. Some smoke right before they get on the bus, then immediately after they get off. Ick.