Bone Voyage!

Oh man… Prague is awesome!

Proof:

1. Inexpensive- -your money goes really far here (see below)
2. Beer is often the cheapest drink on the menu, more so than water. In fact, they’re trying to pass a real law mandating at least one non-alcoholic drink cheaper than beer (which I’m a huge fan of!)
3. Beautiful, old city that’s been well preserved and largely unscathed, even during WWII and Communist rule
4. Dogs are allowed in all restaurants (!!!!!)
5. Great integration of cityscape, the river, and greenery/ parks
6. Extremely clean (electric vacuums are used on the streets daily)

We arrived 5 days ago and have finally been able to settle into a slower pace, really taking time to enjoy the city and develop habits. Our AirBnB is absolutely great and pristine, with a kitchen and functional living space to read, relax, etc. To our extreme excitement, it was 64 degrees when we arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and we walked the city for hours and had a drink on the riverfront (yeah, it was all pretty romantic).

After the sun went down, we decided to eat dinner at a spot we’d been coveting for ~407 hours since leaving California–Las Adelitas–a REAL Mexican food restaurant. We enjoyed chicken enchiladas mixtas and to paraphrase one Yelper’s review, “It may not be the best Mexican food in the world, but it is the best Mexican food in Europe”.  With tired feet and happy tummies, our first day was a raging success.

The rest of the week’s weather was back into the mid 50s but we found a great free walking tour and learned lots about the city’s history and saw the Astronomical Clock’s hourly “show”. Many people give it a bad rap for not being terribly exciting (a few figurines move, some apostles circle about, and a rooster crows), but when you consider the clock was built over 600 years ago and still functions with nothing more than a perfectly calculated set of springs- -it’s pretty damn impressive. A fun fact: because the clock is SO complex, they can’t/ are afraid to change the time and so it’s off by one hour half of the year- -seriously!

At the strong recommendation of our friends Mike and Naomi, we went on a “Foodie Tour” called Taste of Prague. You guys… it was SO great. Led by Prague locals Jan and Zuzi, we tasted our way through the city, trying fantastic Czech dishes from 6 restaurants, from casual through fine dining. A few of the eats below. More photos here (remember to scroll to the bottom for new snaps).

Saturday and Sunday consisted of a lot of rain but a lot of fun. I love me a good farmer’s market so we decided to Czech it out (it was only a matter of time before that pun surfaced, let’s be honest). There were mostly locals and not much English, but enough smiling and pointing at things to get by comfortably. After much deliberation, we got the ingredients to make a yummy fresh egg scramble with veggies and bread. The rest of the weekend consisted of more walking, this time through lush greenery on our way to Petrin Tower, Prague’s very own mini Eiffel Tower with killer views of the city. Not to worry, there was ample reading and relaxing time to go around. I’m currently reading Eat, Pray, Love (10 years late to the party, I know) and Originals by Adam Grant.

We walked to the top of the 209 foot tower via a spiral staircase and were rewarded with great views, despite the storm. Ted hates heights, so I’ll be honest and say our time spent at the very tippy top was limited, complete with impatient glances to get the hell down. 🙂

 

Today, I met up with an old high school friend who’s also traveling for several months. We stumbled upon a great lunch spot and just caught up on life. It was nice to see a familiar, friendly face besides Ted’s… 😉

On Wednesday we head out on a day trip to Glashütte, Germany- -a sort of Mecca for watch enthusiasts. I think it’ll be fun but only time will tell (sorry, sorry… last one I swear).

Bone Voyage,
Sara

Posted from: our AirBnB in Vinohrady, Prague 2, Czech Republic.