Part III: Czech This Out

Our third stop of the trip was Prague, which was a favorite city of mine when I backpacked through Western Europe in 2002. I'd heard it changed a lot since then and was excited to check it out. A friend of mine, Shannon, had been living there for the last 4-5 years as well so I was excited to see her and get a local's insight into the city.

Miss this girl!

She met us at the airport and from there we took the tram into the city, which didn't take too long and was much more affordable than a cab. From there we went straight to her apartment for some much needed laundry time (the Bucharest laundry experiment had left some interesting dried soap spots). She lives in a neighborhood south of the main part of the city, Vyshrad. It was a really cute and relaxed neighborhood and I knew we were in a good spot, as there were wine vines everywhere (almost felt like Northern California!).

Vyshrad view from Shannon's apartment

We walked to the top of Smichov, which allowed for spectacular 360 views of the city at sunset.

Prague west of the Vltava

There's also a famous graveyard up there, where many influential Czecks were buried.

Graveyard

More importantly there's a cafe up there where I found my favorite drink if the trip, svarak. Svarak is basically mulled wine, heavy on the cloves and cinnamon, perfect for the crisp autumn weather. After trekking back down, we went to a nearby restaurant, a local chain specializing in local fare. We started with what is my new favorite cheese, hermelin. This white cheese is split in two with a chili layer in the middle, then coated in olive oil and topped with raw onion. I tried a bite of the local soup kulajda, which is quite good if you're a fan of dill. For my meal I got the duck confit with pickled red cabbage. They don't do cabbage as good anywhere outside of Eastern Europe (also Asian kim cee is a different kind of amazing).

That night we trekked over to Mosaic House, a hostel where we'd made a 5 night reservation. We'd heard cool things about it, like they had their own music venue. Unfortunately it's been under new management for the past year or so. Even though we got there at 11pm on a Monday it was like walking into a rave/frat party, awesome only to those under the age of 21. We checked in and went to our room on the 2nd floor, only to find out the noise was not blocked at all. We were getting a little freaked out but luckily my friend knew the local hostel scene well. She recommended Miss Sophie's a couple blocks away. We called and they had space so we walked over. It was probably the nicest hostel I've ever walked into. The front desk workers were so helpful and got us all set up, even though it was past midnight at this point. In the mornings, Miss Sophie's has a French chef cooking breakfast for ~$5. There's a little buffet, French press coffee and a warm plate made to order (crepes, eggs, omelettes, pancakes). I would recommend Miss Sophie's (and their amazing breakfast) to any travelers headed to Prague!

Should have snapped a better picture of Miss Sophie's. Best hostel ever!

For our first full day we headed over to Old Town. Before that we headed to Wenceslas Square.

Wenceslas Square facing the museum

There was a farmer's market, where we got authentic kielbasa sausage, with great mustard and rye bread (a specialty of the Czecks). And they had svarak again so I was happy.

Svarak, rye bread, kielbasa with mustard, raspberry beer

After that we headed to meet up with the free Royal Walk tour, where we had a Romanian guide of all things (though she thought we were crazy for going on vacation there). The tour was great, they rely 100% on tips so lots of knowledge and enthusiasm. We saw the Astronomical clock tower, Old Tower Square, the Powder Tower, Wenceslas Square and the Jewish Quarters.

Astronomical Clock Tower

Old Town Square with local musicians

That night we went to a vegetarian restaurant near the hostel, Radost. The ambiance is super funky, so much so that  Rihanna filmed part of a music video in their lounge. It was also one of the best veggie burgers I've ever had. We also hit a local brewery (stay tuned for the Birr beer rundown at the end of the post) for some cribbage and mediocre apple strudel.

Inside of Radost- No Rhianna sighting

The next day was Wednesday, which we dubbed museum day. First up was the Communist Museum, which I was super excited for. They had great ads posted all over town. The collection was vast and touched not only on communism in Czeckoslavakia, but other neighboring areas throughout the last few eras.

Communist Museum!

After that we headed back to the Jewish Quarters. We got the medium level ticket, which still included 4 synagogues/museums and the Old Jewish Cemetery. The Cemetery is so interesting looking (they buried in layers causing old the old tombstones to cluster) that it's inspired artists over the decades. Each synagogue had a ton of information to digest and were in a good order for the most part (the one after the Cemetery should be before it so people know the background when they walk through that.

Old Jewish Cemetary

Getting through everything took 3-4 hours, so we grabbed lunch at a weird Czech restaurant after that had perverse cartoons covering the walls. I had a sausage which was a little too reminiscent of hot dog for my taste even though it was topped with tasty pickled onions and peppers. I did get a bowl of onion soup, which was much better as they diced up rye bread and let it soak in there.

Sausage, rye break and onion soup

In the afternoon we headed across the famed Charles Bridge, which has great views of the palace, river and city. It's full of artist stands, but I think you can find much better handmade jewelry for half the price at the local markets.

View of Prague Castle from the Charles Bridge

Near the end of the bridge on the other side is the Lennon Wall, which is covered in graffiti. It's a little chaotic these days, but you can still see some of the Lennon homages.

Lennon Wall with Lennon cover musician

After that we headed up the hill to the palace but unfortunately it had already been a full day and they stop selling tickets at 5pm. Walking around the outside of it still provided some gorgeous views of the architecture.

Prague Castle and cathedral views from courtyard

We circled it, then headed to the nearby monastery, also known for their brewery. They had an amazing hermelin cheese.

Hermelin- My new favorite cheese dish!

I also order a traditional Czech dish for dinner, svickova (beef in creamy gravy, topped with cranberries and a side of white bread dumplings).

Svickova at the monastery

We stayed there for quite a while, then decided to do as the locals do and take the city tram back. Unfortunately that's where the good day ended. We figured out how to buy tickets even though everything was in Czech and got on the 22. Adam stamped his ticket getting on but I didn't see anyone else doing it so I just went and sat down. Not even 30 seconds later I was accosted by 2 plain clothed tram officers. They loomed over me and in broken English told me they were giving me a ticket for 800 crowns (~$40). When I showed them the ticket and explained I'd just gotten on, the opened up a little rule book they carried while shoving a badge in my face. The booklet said to stamp your ticket when you get on but nowhere at the stop nor on the tram did it say that anywhere in anything else than Czech. Even though I had just sat, they made me give them 800 crowns in cash right there after yelling in my face. With the speed at which they approached me, it was like they were waiting for tourists who don't know the rules to get on. In all my years of travel I can say this was one of the most impolite, violating experiences I've ever had abroad. Prague wants to bring in visitors, but if city workers treat people like this they'll get a bad rap. It definitely bumped down my overall opinion of the city.

The next morning I met up with my friend and we went for a run through several small city parks, followed by another delicious and well-deserved Miss Sophie's brunch. After that it was finally time for some shopping. There are a couple main streets near Wenceslas Square with good boutiques and the usual apparel changes. I also grabbed a drink and read for a bit at Cafe Louvre, a neat historic spot where the likes of Kafka and Einstein hung out. After some walking by the river, I headed back to Wenceslas for some svarak and street food. I tried a really good pastry snack trdelnik, which is dough rolled around a spit and roasted over coals. When the outside crisps up, they sprinkle it with sugar, cinnamon and sliced almonds.

Trdelnik being roasted on a spit and sprinkled with sugar

For dinner we headed back to Cafe Louvre, which had borscht soup and a local salad sopsky salat (shopskee salad), which is a local crumbly cheese over diced cucumbers and peppers.

Friday was our last full day, so we took the train out to the countryside town of Karlstejn, which is about a 45 minute ride and home to a very nice looking castle.

Castle view from the town

We passed on the tour and did some off-trail hiking in the woods behind it (hiking around there is very scenic but I recommend finding some actual trails). There were lots of small restaurants in the  nearby town and I got to try the last Czech special, fried cheese. Nothing to write home about, just a large patty of deep fried cheese (better to stick with Midwest cheese curds). For dinner that night we got a nice home cooked meal (thanks Shannon and Ondra!). For dessert, we had honey cake which sounds like it would be super sweet but it instead a light, layered dessert that tastes strangely like graham cracker.

And now it's time for the Adam Birr beer rundown, who was very happy to leave the Turkish and Romanian beers behind and into a country with many more options:

Beer sampling- pinkies up!

 There was a welcomed return to beer culture with entry into Praha (as the Czech’s spell it), with many beers to choose from and all for the better. Two aspects of Praha beer were quickly noticed coming from Romania and Turkey. First and best, was the reintroduction of craft beer. Second, international commercial giants were still very much present, but easy enough to avoid.

If you’re looking for good craft beer and the best beer in Praha, head to the Strahov Monastic Brewery (Katsterni Pivorar Strahov). They offer year-round brews, as well as seasonal specialties. Their Special Dark Beer is not to miss and widely available. If you happen to sneak away from the city for a day, head to Karlstejn via the super convenient and cheap train west. Once there check out the castle (there’s not much else in the town aside from an endless street of generic souvenir shops and restaurants). More importantly, pick up the beer named after the castle, Hrad Karlstejn. It comes in four-packs, but also sold individually. Other than these two brews, the local craft beers are relatively uninspired and unexceptional.

Putting flavorful craft beer aside, there are plenty of Czech pilsners to choose from. The darling of the Czech Republic is the internationally recognizable Pilsner Urquell, which is brewed a little over an hour away from Praha in the city of Pilsen. It is oddly flat tasting compared to the bottled variety available in the States. It is also widely available around Praha, but definitely not the go to beer for the locals.

Arguably, the local favorite is the assortment of Staropramen beers, which are available in their own chain of restaurants throughout the city or at most local distributors. To get the whole story behind Staropramen you must check out the brewery’s visitor center in the Smíchov district of Praha, and take their Brewery Tour. The tour, while short and impersonal, is over the top if not outrageous. A hologram version of Josef Paspa, a famous head brewer working for Staropramen around year 1930, serves as the tour guide to visitors. Through various stages the visitors are immersed in a world of beer, with Josef’s performance oddly reminiscent of a cross between the great and powerful Wizard of Oz and the curious and playful Willy Wonka – with staging and production value sparing no expense. To finish the tour up you get a mug of a beer of your choice. I recommend going for Josef’s original recipe, Granát ("garnet"), a 4.8% red lager, but you can’t go wrong with any brew.

The remaining assortment of Czech pilsners include: what I deemed “The Other Bud” Budweiser Budvar (not as good as the American Bud), Bernard, Svijany, Radegast, Kozel, Gambrinus, Branik, and Krusovice. Each can be found most commonly in a svĕtlý (light) variety on tap and in bottle/can at your choice establishment or convenience store (depending on their brand loyalty). All were enjoyable in their own right, but need to be explored for personal preference.

Birr with his beer flight (included green nettle beer!)