Prague- The City of Meat & Beer
While Michael’s parents were in town over New Years we decided to take a few days of leave (for Michael) and do some traveling! Since our Prague trip was canceled over Thanksgiving for Michael to go to SOS, we were still dying to go, and it just so happened so were James and Dianna- so off we went!
We ended up driving in pouring snow almost the entire way- Michael was an absolute champ and drove the entire 6 hours! When we arrived we checked right into our hotel, Hotel U Sutero and they promptly valeted our car in Timbuktu because when Michael realized he left his passport in the car and asked for directions to retrieve it himself, the concierge promptly told us walking there would simply not be possible, and his colleague would retrieve it for us when he parked another car. (this made us a bit nervous, but he got it back the next morning so all is well!) We got settled, enjoyed a beer (the first of many) and some snacks, and then bundled up and were off to explore! We headed straight for the river and St. Charles bridge and were in AWE of how beautiful each building was. Then stepping onto the sidewalks that line the river were like being in a movie. It was cold and windy but the sun was poking through and we snapped so many amazing pictures of the bridge, the surrounding buildings and their incredibly detailed architecture and of course the hundreds of birds that live on the river. The area gets a little touristy and crowded near the entrance to the St. Charles bridge but other than that it was the most pleasant walk (other than freezing our cans off. I was about 20 degrees F). We wandered across the bridge and stumbled into the remains of a Christmas market where I introduced Dianna to CHIMNEY CAKES! I even got mine with ice cream in the middle. I don’t care how cold I was, I HAD to try it! A Chimney Cake (or Trdelník in Czech) is traditionally a Romanian treat, but I have seen them in Germany, and they were ALL OVER Prague. Needless to say Dianna LOVED the dessert and was pretty much scoping them out the rest of the trip, grabbing one whenever we could.
After our delicious Chimney Cakes we started making our way back towards the hotel to regroup and warm up before dinner. We asked our hotel concierge for a dinner recommendation. James is traditional and prefers this method to say, Trip Advisor. I usually agree, but on this particular night, it did not play in our favor. It ended up being this huge smoke filled (no Czech laws against smoking in bars and restaurants) place with rude wait service, sub-par food and they charged us for each large pretzel we ate that were hanging in the middle of the table (looking very much free) and even for the peanuts we DIDN’T eat. I ordered ribs and literally got a platter of ribs. No side salad. No veggie. Not even a potato for Pete’s sake. Not our favorite dining experience. Afterwards the boys wanted to stay out but Dianna and I were ready to head into the (warm) hotel room and read a little. The buys got the best of us and sneakily suggested we pop into this café right next to our hotel for a coffee and some dessert. We were helpless against such a proposition and ended up spending the next hour or so relaxing in the warm café enjoying a coffee and cake and recapping our day. Then we all headed in for an early night in our cozy hotel, enjoying snow flurries on our walk back.
The next morning we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at our hotel before heading to Wenceslas Square- the main square in New Town, to meet our tour guide for the 6 hour walking/boat tour we signed up for. Nina was there to greet us and we embarked on an amazing tour through New Town, a River Cruise, Old Town, Lunch (more meat, bread, and beer) and finally on a tram up to the Prague Castle which is more of a city inside a city than what you would imagine of a castle. We saw the Jewish quarter, which boasts the most expensive street in Prague and rivals 5th Avenue in NYC and the Champs-Elysees in Paris. We admired the Astronomical Clock in Old Town and various ornate churches.
As cold as it was, we were doing pretty good until we got to the castle. Something about the elevation, or maybe it was the sun setting or wind picking up, but we went from cold to FREEZING in about 30 seconds flat. The tour wrapped up quickly as we took in the view overlooking all of Prague as the sun set. We decided to work off some of that meat and beer and walk the 25 minutes back to our hotel and boy am I glad we did because we got some stunning shots over the river looking at St. Charles bridge at sunset. This was probably my favorite moment of the trip. It was so peaceful staring out over the water, watching the last rays of sun melt into the night sky. Birds gently flying about, people bustling to dinner in the cold. It was truly beautiful.
After regrouping at the hotel and thawing out a bit, be headed to a restaurant James sniffed out near the hotel (which I verified had AMAZING Trip Advisor reviews) for some traditional Czech fair. Michael got the pork knuckle and I got the duck with dumplings. Unfortunately, Czech dumplings are nothing like Asian food dumplings or Croatian Perogies, they are literally hunks of old bread that have been molded into a “loaf”, boiled, and sliced. They aren’t bad, but definitely not what we were expecting. Luckily (per usual) the meat and beer were on point. After dinner the men dropped the ladies at the hotel so we could snuggle in and read our books (Dianna- Nicolas Sparks’ The Choice. Marissa- Outlander) and the boys were off to check out the Jazz scene in Prague! We kept seeing Jazz Clubs everywhere so of course they were anxious to check them out.
Friday, we had the morning and afternoon to ourselves to explore more in depth what we caught sight of in our walking tour. We all decided we wanted to check out the Castle a bit more, so we embarked on the 25-minute walk up to the castle instead of taking public transportation this time. (Gotta walk off all that meat and beer beer beer) but of course along we way were on a HUNT for a Chimney Cake for Dianna. She was hooked. Luckily, we found this lovely hole in the wall place selling them with every topping you could imagine right at the base of the paths leading up the Castle hill. Of course we indulged and we enjoyed every last bite. Those things are amazing- warm, crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside and completely coated in cinnamon sugar. This gave us the boost we needed to finish the journey. Once at the top we were able to wander through the Cathedral (it had closed by the time we got there on our tour) and finding that it was in fact significantly colder up here once more, Dianna and I decided we wanted to check out the Lobkowicz Palace and Museum. Michael and James decided to wander through Old Town some more and we were to meet up for lunch. Dianna and I REALLY enjoyed the museum, all about this wealthy and prominent Czech family who had all their property and belongings stolen from them by the Nazi’s in WWII, only to get everything returned post-war and then taken again by the communists. Only in the last 20 years or so have they been allowed to reclaim all that is theirs, setting up museums to preserve and display their belongings and family heritage. The self guided tour was really well done and allowed you to get a good picture for who the family is/was and of the Czech culture over the years. They even had original composition sheet music from Mozart! While we were soaking up culture James and Michael enjoyed… another beer. But, Prague says they have the best beer in the world, so why not try as much as you can while you are here right? We ended up meeting back up for a DELICIOUS Italian lunch of wine, pizza and pasta! Dianna was “over Czech cuisine” by then, and I couldn’t entirely disagree. The sight of peas and mushrooms in my pasta was a vegetable celebration compared to our other meals!
After lunch and a bit of relaxing back at the hotel, we were off for the evening on a Beer and Tapas Tour! Our tour guide Lukas took us to 4 very different bars in all areas of Prague (we took both the underground and the tram) experiencing a variety of Czech beers (including the original Pilsner-made in Pilson, Czech Republic) and drinking snacks (like Fried Bread, Fried Cheese, Oil soaked Brei and pickled sausage). It was just the 4 of us plus a couple from Scotland which made the tour intimate and really enjoyable. Lucas was extremely knowledgeable about Prague and its beer varieties and history. This tour was for sure a highlight of our trip!
Saturday morning we said goodbye to Prague and drove in 9 degree F weather halfway home to Nuremberg for the night! We opted for a cozy Air Bnb just off the beaten path that proved a great choice. We wandered into town, checking out the sites as we looked for a place for lunch. The restaurant the Air Bnb guide suggested (and sounded amazing) was unfortunately closed for renovations, so we were off to fend for ourselves. We settled for a beautiful classic German restaurant, eager for some schnitzel. I ended up surprising myself and went for the pork shoulder, I guess I wasn’t completely over Prague and its meat scene yet. It was a perfect choice, absolutely delicious. After lunch we wandered some more and I found some macaroons!!! But Paris must have ruined me, because they honestly were not that good. Guess I will leave the French dessert delicacies to the French. I suppose we were a bit worn out from 2 straight weeks of festivities and traveling, because we actually spent the evening relaxing in the Air Bnb, reading and watching sports. For dinner we went around the corner to a Vietnamese restaurant for some Pho, spring rolls and chicken fried rice (guess which one was Michael’s and which one was mine ;) haha). After a great night rest we were up and at em early to make the remaining 3 hour drive home, again, in the SNOW.
It was an absolutely wonderful trip and I am so glad we were able to do it with Michael’s parents! Prague was honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and I cannot sing its praises enough. If you ever have the chance to go, I would highly recommend it!
*Side note- moving here everyone we met was like “oh no it snows maybe once a year and melts super fast. The winters here have been very mild the last few years!” which had my spirits high! But it has been snowing off and on for about a month now with no sign of stopping… so I believe NOONE! It’s okay though, each day I wake up and thank Jesus for this opportunity to live here and ask him to work on my beach loving, sun soaking, could never see snow again and be happy, southern heart.
