Prague
The Guinness
I think there are more Irish bars in Prague than any other
non-UK capital city I've visited so far. I didn't therefore envisage there being a problem
sourcing a Guinness there. So confident
was I that I didn't even bother taking an 'emergency can'.
I hadn't planned on visiting Rocky O'Reilly's bar even
though it was quite close to where we were staying. It sounded a bit like a large sports bar
but when we poked our heads inside it seemed ideal. It was cosy, nicely full and turned out to
have a lovely atmosphere and friendly staff.
And what's more, the Guinness was excellent.
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| Enjoying a tasty Gunness at Rocky O'Reilly's in Prague |
I explained to the waitress Lucie my challenge who quickly
understood things and kindly picked out my next destination of Riga,
Latvia. To celebrate we had another
Guinness poured by the cheery barman Eric.
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| Lucie picking out Riga and Eric recovering from pouring a Guinness. |
Team make up
Prague was high on Margaret's list to visit so the team sort
of chose itself for this visit.
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| Margaret wearing a cathedral hat. |
Sightseeing
I'd visited Prague once before some 11 years ago and had
quite forgotten how full of sightseeing opportunities it is. In eleven years lots of other people seem to have
got to hear about the beauty of this city.
It's now a very popular destination, crowded in certain parts but not
spoilt. Our stay was relatively brief
but there would be plenty here to fill a much longer stay we felt. Some of the roads were very busy at certain
times of day but it was possible to avoid these by walking the side
streets.
There are probably three sights virtually every tourist to Prague goes to, the Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge and the Castle. No to be left out we naturally did the same.
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| In the Old Town Square sits the large austere Jan Hus memorial sculpture. Jan was a guy who didn't like the control that the Vatican had over the church and and fought for reform. He was rewarded by being burned at the stake. He's become a symbol of Check reform ever since. |
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| The incredibly old Astronomical Clock, still working and performing its tricks on the hour. Somewhat tricky for telling the time though. |
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| One of the many statues that lines the Charles Bridge. Obviously nobody has told him it is rude to point. |
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| Prague Castle, sits on top of the hill across the river from the Old Town. It's not just a castle but a large collection of historic buildings, many religious or presidential in nature. If you find out where these two workers are you win a free meal in a restaurant of your choosing (sorry, that's me telling porkies again). |
Getting there and around
We flew with easyJet from Bristol then caught the Airport
Express Bus into the centre (30 mins / ~£3).
The central area is compact so we didn't use any other form of
transportation though I was tempted by the look of the trams.
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| Rather weirdly, the city seemed to be full of what I can only suppose are faux vintage cars. |
Food and Drink
Margaret did some sterling work researching some good
restaurants. U Sumavy was our choice on
the first night.
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| Some traditional Czech food served up at U Samavy bar and restaurant. The beer was good there too! |
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| The well stocked bar at U Samavy. So many beers to choose from! |
The second night we ate in Lemon and Leaf, a Thai
restaurant. And very tasty that was too.
The Accommodation
Something else my wife must take credit for finding, the Salvator Boutique Hotel . And top notch it was too - with a spacious, clean and quiet room.
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| The Salvator Boutique Hotel on Žitná. |
Quirky Moments
Seemingly very few on this straightforward whistle-stop sightseeing trip, though a few of the attractions were somewhat bizarre.
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| The 42 individual moving layers of Franz Kafka's head in this 39 tonne sculpture are designed to illustrate the multilayer nature of the human personality. |
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| The Dancing House or Fred and Ginger as it is sometimes known, designed by Vlado Milunić and on the banks of the river. |
Lasting memories
Of a beautiful but somewhat crowded city.
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| See, I told you it was ugly here. |
