Saturday (02/06/2016)
We took advantage of the Carnival holiday in Brazil and took a few days off in Ireland to visit Prague and the interior of the Czech Republic with our Czech friends. We bought our flights well in advance (159.76 euros for the two of us) and at 1:40 pm on Carnival Saturday we left Dublin.
We arrived in Prague around 5pm and our friends picked us up at the airport and drove us to our hotel, the Inturprag. We chose this hotel away from the city center because it was very cheap (15 euros per night!!!) and close to a metro station. The room was very basic (and green! lol) and the bathroom had a toilet and shower separated into cubicles, which was very claustrophobic but at the same time very handy.
We left our bags at the hotel and went out into the area looking for a nice restaurant to have our first dinner. We went into the restaurant/pizzeria Cerreto and we had a great dinner, with delicious pizzas and excellent Czech beers. I recommend it!
Day 1 – Sunday (07/02/2016)
We had breakfast at the hotel and left around 9am to explore the city. We walked to the nearest station, Czech Republic, and we took the subway to the station Mustek, which was closest to the astronomical clock in Old Town Square.
NOTE: We bought the 3-day unlimited transport pass at a newsagent (310 crowns per person, or 11 euros). Just validate the ticket the first time you use it and keep it with you for the 3 days to avoid problems in case of inspection.
We arrived at Old Town Square and we came face to face with the famous Astronomical Clock (Orloj), which is in the building of Old Town Hall. This clock dates back to 1490 and it is said that the city councilors blinded the master clockmaker who built it because they were afraid he would reproduce the masterpiece elsewhere. Its current mechanism is the same one that was perfected in 1572. We arrived very close to 10 am and were able to see the little show with the clock puppets (there is a show every hour on the hour). It is very cute! They say that the best show is the one at noon, but we didn't get to see it to confirm this information...lol.
From there we went to the Charles Bridge, the city's best-known monument, founded in 1357 by Charles IV. The bridge is only open to pedestrians, but at the time it was built, up to 4 carriages could pass side by side. The statues are very interesting.
We went down a staircase in the middle of the bridge to get to the Kampa Island, one of the many islands in the river Vltava. What a nice place! We walked through the quiet streets with cute houses and arrived at Lennon Wall, which is a wall dedicated to the singer John Lennon. Anyone can go there and write a tribute.
We continue to the Church Our Lady Victorious, which besides being the first baroque building in the city, is famous for Infant Jesus of Prague. This image is kept in a glass case on a marble altar and is associated with a considerable number of miraculous healings. I think this is the first time I have seen an image of Jesus outside the cross…
We drove a little further in the region and entered my most anticipated church, the Saint Nicholas (it cost 140 crowns for the 2 of us – 6 euros approx). This church began to be built in 1703 and was only finished in 1761, having recently undergone a restoration process. It is considered a Baroque masterpiece and in my opinion, it is the building with the most beautiful interior in the city (tied with the National Library – I will talk more about it later).
We climbed some hills to get to the Prague Castle, the largest castle in the world. (NOTE: I get very excited when I visit a place that is “the biggest”, “the smallest”, “the oldest” in the world…lol). The view from the castle is spectacular…what a beautiful city, my God! We spent some time there admiring it and then went inside to visit the castle.
We passed through the first courtyard and we came across a huge line at the St. Vitus Cathedral, but then we discovered that people were waiting for the gates to open. We bought our tickets at the ticket office (500 crowns for us – approx. 19 euros, but there are several combination options) and went straight to the line at the Cathedral.
Construction of the Cathedral began in 1344 and was only completed in the 20th century. It houses the Crown Jewels and the tomb of “Good King Wesceslaus”, who was assassinated in 934 by his brother Boleslaus when he was going to attend morning mass. Pay attention to the stained glass windows, the silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk, the Chapel of St. Wenceslay and the wooden panel with the smallest details of the city in the 17th century (Frederick's Flight).
We left the Cathedral and went to Old Royal Palace, which was the residence of the princes of Bohemia (the region where Prague is located). There are 3 different architectural projects and I confess that I didn't think anything special.
We then entered the St. George's Basilica, which is the best preserved Romanesque church in the city. It was built in 915 by Prince Vratislau, but had to be rebuilt in 1142 after a fire that occurred there.
Finally, we went to the Golden Alley, It is so named because of the goldsmiths who lived there in the 17th century. The houses were built at the end of the 16th century to house the 24 members of Emperor Rudolf II's guard, and a century later the goldsmiths arrived. In the 19th century, the area became home to the city's poor and criminals, and it was only in the mid-20th century that the area was restored to its original appearance. I thought it was really cool to go into the colorful little houses and see how they lived...they are very small and cozy.
We left the Castle very tired and took the subway to our hotel station. We had lunch at the mall. Harfa, which was very close to the hotel and then we went to rest a little. We left the hotel around 8pm and went to the city center in search of a cool bar/restaurant. We went into Kotleta and we asked goulash and some beers. Great atmosphere!
We walked around the city a bit at night (very safe) and then went back to the hotel. What a beautiful city!!!
Day 2 – Monday (02/08/2016)
We had breakfast at the hotel and took the subway straight to the Jewish Quarter. We bought the ticket that gave access to the cemetery and several synagogues (600 crowns for the 2 of us – 22 euros approx) and started the tour right there. We first entered the Synagogue Pinkas, which has the names of Czech Jews killed in the Holocaust on its walls.
From there we went to Old Jewish Cemetery, which has about 12 thousand tombstones in a very small space, but it is believed that there are about 12 layers of graves there. The most visited tomb is that of Rabbi Low, which has many requests on paper and pebbles, a symbol of respect.
We entered the Klausen Synagogue to see the collection of the Jewish Museum and then we went to the Staranová Synagogue, which is the oldest in Europe (1270). As we had read that the interior did not have anything very remarkable for us, who are not Jewish, we did not buy the ticket that gave us the right to enter it. We walked around the outside and saw some photos of our guide.
We went to visit the Spanish Synagogue, which is located on the site where the city's first synagogue was built (there are no remains). Both the interior and exterior of the building try to imitate the Moorish style (I love it!), mainly alluding to the Alhambra (a palace in Andalusia). I was enchanted by the details and loved the exhibition dedicated to the history of the Jews of Bohemia.
We left the last synagogue at lunchtime and Zu decided to take us to one of her favorite restaurants in the city, which is not at all touristy :). We walked quite a bit until we got to the In the Old Town, since it is next to the train station, but it was worth it. They chose our dishes and everything was delicious. We liked it so much that we even went back on the last day of the trip.
We walked to the National Theater (beautiful!) and we crossed the bridge to enjoy the view of the city from another island on the Vltava River. Look at this beautiful view:
We took a tram (for free, since we bought the 3-day transport pass) to the Clementine, because the National Library is inside this complex. I am passionate about libraries and I saw a photo of this beautiful baroque library a long time ago. It is considered one of the most beautiful in the world and after seeing it in person, I can say that this is no exaggeration.
It's really too much! We bought the ticket that gave us access to the library and also to the tower with a guide explaining the details in English (440 crowns for the two of us – approximately 16 euros). It is not possible to walk around the library or take photos. The guide opened the library door and from there we could admire the interior, while she gave us countless details (I don't remember anything now and I couldn't find anything in the guide, but click here to see more details). I thought it was worth it, but I'm sure people who are addicted to photos will be disappointed... an old man in the group was very sad. Here's a photo I found on Google...
We left the library and started climbing the steps of the building, passing several clocks and objects created by Czech physicists. At the end of the tour, we visited the tower and could see the city all lit up at night. It was so beautiful, guys!
We left there very excited and bought one Trdelnik, a typical Czech sweet with cinnamon and sugar. I ordered mine with chocolate and found it delicious!
We entered the bar The Probation and we ordered some Czech snacks and beers. What a perfect way to end a day of sightseeing!
Day 3 – Tuesday (02/09/2016)
We had breakfast and took the subway to a station relatively close to the Petrin Park, which houses an imitation of the Eiffel Tower. The idea was to go up to the park by funicular, but when we got there, it was closed. We had to go up on foot, but the view was worth it.
After almost an hour of walking, we arrived at Petrin Tower, which is 60 meters high and was built for an exhibition in 1891. We bought tickets that included the elevator, because we didn't want to climb the 299 steps (500 crowns for the 2 of us – approx. 19 euros), but they sell it cheaper without the elevator. What an incredible view of Prague!!!! I loved it, loved it, loved it and I HIGHLY recommend it!!!! Check it out:
We stayed there for a while enjoying the view and when it started to rain and get very windy, we thought it best to go down. We then went to Mirror Maze, whose name is self-explanatory and we had fun playing with the mirrors.
We also walked down and stopped for lunch at a restaurant that our friends thought was good, the Petrinem pod. (I think the fact that there were no tourists and the menu was in English attracted them 🙂 ) We ate very well, but I don't know if it's a good option for those who don't speak Czech...lol.
We left there and Zu made sure to take us to a place famous for its sweets, Ovocny Svetozor, Located inside a gallery near Venceslau Avenue. We waited in a long line to buy slices of typical pies, but it was worth it. Everything we tried was delicious! The place was packed the whole time, so it must be highly rated among locals.
We left there and went to see a concert in a chapel inside the Clementinum, St. Climent. We bought the tickets the day before at the venue itself with a guy who gave us an absurd discount after we did some trickery (it came out to 30 euros for the 2 of us and we discovered that many other people bought them for that price too).
We arrived at the chapel 20 minutes before the concert started and the line was huge. We waited in the cold until they opened the doors and miraculously, all those people fit in. We sat in the back and we couldn't see or hear the 4 musicians very well. I thought the acoustics were pretty bad and to make matters worse, the chapel was freezing. I didn't think it was worth it... Next time I want to try going to the National Theater or the Opera, but Zu said it's totally awesome. Just a tip!
We left Prague tonight and headed to the Moravia region! See everything in this post. 🙂
Then we returned to Prague…keep reading!
Day 4 – Saturday (13/02/2016)
We took a train from Zlín at 1pm and arrived in Prague at 3:30pm. The train was great, quiet and even had a waitress selling snacks in the carriage. Top service!
We got off at the train station and walked less than five minutes to our hotel, the Chopin Hotel Prague City (58 euros per night with breakfast). The hotel is very comfortable and the view from our room to the train station was very interesting.
We went to lunch at the same restaurant our friends took us to, the In the Old Town. Even though only one waiter spoke English, we were able to order the same dishes we had already tried and loved. Everything was great again!
We walked around the city without any rush or plans and at the end of the night, we decided to stop at a restaurant/bar called Hostinec U Supa, which has a very spacious and cozy atmosphere at the same time. We ended the day with some delicious beers and wines.
Day 5 – Sunday (14/02/2016)
We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, we did the checkout, we left our bags in a small room in the hotel and went out for a last walk around the city. We went back to Charles Bridge, in Old Town Square and we took the opportunity to stroll through the quieter streets. What a charming city! I loved the tranquility, the architecture, the politeness of the people, the monuments, everything… it really is one of our favorite cities so far.
Since we knew that the bus to the airport passed by the train station every half hour, we planned to arrive at the bus stop at 2:10 pm to catch the 2:30 pm bus. The line was already huge! We managed to get on the 2:30 pm bus, but we saw that many people after us were left out and had to wait another half hour for the next one. Plan carefully so you don't miss the bus!
To learn more about our 8-day trip through Czech Republic, click on the links below:
