Czech it out!
Trip dates: February 17, 2017 - February 20, 2017
After a brief respite in sunny Rome, we headed off to cooler weather again, this time by way of overnight train (our first in Europe)! We took the EuroNight train from Rome to Vienna, shelling out the expensive reservation cost needed for a first-class cabin to ourselves (the train was included in our Eurail Pass but we still had to pay ~100euros each for the reservation). It was a much nicer experience than our overnight in Vietnam, especially since there wasn't a talkative kid that we had to share with. Our cabin wasn't exactly spacious, but we had our own bathroom and shower (though we didn't use the shower) and Eric and I ended up getting a pretty decent night's sleep before catching our connection in Vienna to Prague.
We arrived in Prague in the afternoon and first order of business was: take a food tour! We enjoyed our food tours in Rome so much and felt like they gave us such a good look into the local culture, plus we had no idea what Czech cuisine was like, so figured this was a great introduction to the city!
We did our food tour through Taste of Prague and got to sample a variety of Czech cuisine, including some very traditional fare as well as some quick food and modern takes. Czech food was very similar to German fare, specifically Bavarian, with lots of sausages, schnitzels, and meats in gravy. The flavor profile was different though, with bigger bolder flavors, and often leaning towards the sweeter side. There was also a lot of drinking on this food tour, like half of the tour really, way more than in Rome and way more than I expected! I guess I did want to learn more about the local culture, and Czech culture revolves heavily around drinking.
The slow food movement is also very big in Prague, aka eating local, in season, organic, etc and that whole shebang. In general, the food scene is really just starting to take off here. We learned how, during the Communist era, restaurants all served the exact same menu with the exact same recipes for serving the masses (each recipe was for a serving size of 100). It was only within the past few years, maybe a decade, that chefs started branching out and trying to bring back local Czech cuisine (Italian was really popular during the in-between period). Since Czechia was Communist until fairly recently, we learned a lot about what life was like before and after from our guide and there's so much that you don't think about/realize, such as what it means when all restaurants and businesses are state-owned.
We had one full day in Prague to Czech it out (hah hah hah) so we tried to see all the major landmarks, starting with the Old Town Square. Boy were there a lot of people here, especially since this is a low season for tourists and we saw almost nobody out and about while on our food tour the night before!
We opted to not wait in the long line to go to the top of the clock tower and instead, just walked around the square and absorbed the beautiful architecture that was around us. While Eric was waiting in line to get a sausage from one of the stands in the square, there was a couple in front of him who ordered barbecue ham and somehow ended up paying like 100 euros for their lunch. Ayiyiyi! No ordering by the kilo for us, just one sausage please!
We slowly meandered our way from Old Town to the Charles Bridge, wandering through the side streets and taking lots of pictures of the buildings. We swung by the Clementinum because I wanted to check out the library, but it was closed :(
We eventually got to the Charles Bridge and it seemed like everyone else also happened to go there at that time too - it was so crowded! But really, not that surprising. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were some gorgeous views to be had along the river banks and on the bridge!
We wandered through the Lesser Town area, though it wasn't any less pretty! We checked out some more views along the Vltava River and made our way slowly to Letenské Sady park, where we could get some more views. We saw the Lennon Wall along the way, and it reminded us of the East Side Gallery in Berlin, but on a much smaller scale and less organized and more graffiti.
We had originally planned to visit Prague Castle but ended up skipping it during the daytime. Our guide from our food tour said that the castle itself didn't have too much to see, the grounds are open until 10pm in the evening, and it's much emptier and more romantic then - sold! We also had seen by the Clementinum that there was a string quartet concert which was at 5pm and so we decided to go back across the river to attend that and come back to the castle later in the evening.
The string quartet concert seemed like a tourist trap, and it probably was, but the musicians were still really talented and I enjoyed it. It was about an hour long and they played a few pieces, including several from Dvořák as well as the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The concert also gave us a chance to check out the Marble Hall of the Clementinum, which we wouldn't have been able to see otherwise. It's a small but pretty space, and it was really warm inside so Eric had a nice nap to recover from all the walking :)
After a concert (and nap for some people), we headed to Prague Castle and there were only a handful of other people there. It was pretty nice walking around without the crowds of earlier in the day and we didn't feel like we missed out on much. We also got to walk down Golden Lane which looked like you have to pay to enter during the day?! If that's true, that's so lame and I'm glad we got to walk down it for free, even if all the shops were closed.
Even though we had really short time in Prague, we felt like we were able to see the major parts of the city. Prague seems pretty small from a sightseeing perspective, but I think it can also be easy to spend a long time here. The city is really beautiful and has a great chill vibe; I'd love to come back and explore it some more, as well as the surrounding region which has tons of mountains and castles to see! It also helps that Czech food is pretty good and Prague seems to have a growing foodie culture.
As we left Prague to head to Budapest, we stopped briefly in the tiny city of Brno (per recommendation of our food tour guide). It was a nice and easy stop since Brno is often a stop on any trains heading south from Prague and the train station has luggage lockers for storing your bags.
We had a 2hour layover in Brno but it ended up mainly being just a lunch stop, with very little extra time to explore. Service in Czechia is on the slow side because culturally, you go out to eat and have a drink (or several) and just hang out, so the servers don't rush you out. This also means that the servers tend to take their time and you have to ask for the bill if you want to get a move on.
We ended up just seeing the main square in Brno before heading back to catch our connecting train. Brno is much smaller and less touristy than Prague, with lots of locals going about their business, but it also felt very reminiscent of Prague. The city had the same clean, pretty, crisp feel to it that we saw in Prague, so maybe that's just Czechia in general.
Btw, the St. James' church in Brno has a catacomb, which is the second largest behind Paris, but of course, they were closed the one day of the week that we were here (Mondays)! That's ok though, Czechia is already on my list to return to, so we'll just have to make sure to stop in Brno longer next time, and not on a Monday!
