Prague
On a balmy day in Phoenix in September 2019, my husband and I boarded our plane to travel to Europe for a drive through countries I had never been — Czechia, Germany and Austria. I was very excited! I had dreamed of visiting the home of my ancestors, Germany, for some time. Turns out, I later discovered through Ancestry.com that I am only 17% of Germanic descent… Oops. (Now I dream of visiting my true origin of which I am 57% — Norway, Sweden and Finland. Stay tuned for that trip!)
We landed at Prague Vaclav Havel Airport after a 16 hour flight, broken up with a three and a half hour layover at Heathrow in London. Glad to begin our adventure, we first had to find our rental car, which proved to be a bit of an adventure itself. Budget gave us a great deal on a manual Skoda (that my husband later found shakes “a bit” when it reaches 120 mph on the Autobahn). Still, it was a good solid car for 14 days at $260 total, booking through Auto Europe. It was housed in a tight garage making us struggle with a tight space and navigate around tight corners (did I mention it was tight?). But we did it without incident!
Driving through Prague is not for the faint of heart. Some married couples marvel at how many things they learn about their spouses through the years when they thought they knew most everything about them — ha! My jaw was on the floor as my husband zipped through the streets like Jason Bourne, with a stick shift to boot. At times we found ourselves on the rails behind or in front of a cable car, me frantic that we were doing it all wrong, but that’s normal. Seriously, don’t attempt to drive unless you feel very comfortable making last minute decisions when obstacles come your way or you are a seasoned driver in busy large metro areas.
Note: If you plan to rent a car, you’ll want to get your International Driving Permit within 6 months of travel. We went to AAA services for an IDP with our completed application, two passport photos and a driver’s license. Over 150 countries require it for foreign drivers and it’s valid for 12 months.
Old Town Square Hotel
Our hotel, Old Town Square Hotel, was on the plaza down the street from the famous Prague Astronomical Clock, which strikes at the top of every hour setting in motion the procession of the Twelve Apostles. I booked through hotels.com as the hotel at the time did not have a dedicated website. Because it’s off of a pedestrian-only square, parking is at its sister property, Emblem, a short walk from the hotel. You do have to haul your luggage over uneven cobbled streets but the Emblem hotel concierge took our bags and helped us navigate to our destination.
The hotel itself has sparse markings and is above a restaurant/bar. You’ll walk by the bar to a gate with a buzzer and once admitted, will be confronted with a few uneven flights of stairs (no elevator) to the lobby. The initial lackluster feel may be a little off-putting, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you see the room.
Our suite was crazy big with two rooms, a sitting area and a spacious and modern bathroom. It was reasonable (about $250/night) and in such a phenomenal location — we felt extremely lucky to have found this gem! The central location made walking around to the many tourist sites, and coming back for a quick afternoon power nap, easily attainable.
Quick tip: If you want to get a sense of how much CZK is to USD in your head while paying for things, drop the zero and halve the number. For instance, 200 CZK would be about $10 and 1,000 CZK would be around $50. It’s not perfect, but it will at least get you in the ballpark of what you have in your pocket.
The square was right there outside our window bustling with activity. Every morning we had breakfast in the room brought in by two attendants, the items chosen the night before from an extensive menu (included in the stay). We chose cheese and meats, scrambled eggs, fruit, OJ and milk (everyone gave me strange looks when I asked for cold milk – in Europe you drink your milk warm). Power up for a big day of walking! One night after dinner, we watched a little local TV — let me tell you, it’s a different experience to watch ‘Friends’ in Czech with no laugh track!
When visiting Prague, there are several “musts”. You must see the Astronomical Clock. You must see the bustle as you cross the Charles Bridge connecting over to Lesser Town with its many cafes, restaurants, shops and small parks. And you must try the schnitzel. There was a quaint area down the lane from our place as an extension of the Hotel U Prince that served traditional fare. We love getting to know our waiters and Martin was very excited to practice his English, hoping to move to New York City one day. We in turn asked him how to say things in Czech, which he was more than pleased to do.
Important tip: If they bring you bread and you did not order it, they will still charge you a fee, unlike many American restaurants where it is complimentary. Don’t feel bad sending it back if you do not want it.
Prague Castle
Once over the Charles Bridge, the streets are cobbled and steep — wear comfortable shoes. Up a long, long,… long hill is the Prague Castle that houses the St Vitus Cathedral. Hopefully you can catch the changing of the guard as they march through the entrance into the castle. There are a lot of sights, including two museums, a church, the castle, a gun tower and the inquisition exhibit.
Make sure to check out Golden Lane — tiny houses inhabited by the defenders of the castle. The writer Frank Kafka briefly lived here. If you’re in to medieval war, the torture chambers under the cannon tower are very interesting. A little chilling but fascinating. I especially enjoyed the weapon and knights’ suit of armor exhibit. So much raw innovation!
There are many other sites to see but we were limited on time, so we headed out for Germany… and after a whirlwind through that country and Austria over a week and a half, we found ourselves back in Prague for a few days before returning home.
Pod Vezi Hotel
This time we stayed on the other side of the Charles Bridge at a cozy hotel called Pod Vezi Hotel. Finding it will be an interesting puzzle and parking more so, but that’s Prague (and really Europe). We lucked out finding a spot in the crowded parking area in front of the hotel but I’m sure you would be able to find another place to park nearby with some patient investigation — practice your parallel parking folks!
Like our other hotel, this is family-owned with a small amount of rooms (28). It’s located right next to the Charles Bridge and within a stone’s throw of the Lesser Town Bridge Tower (pod vezi meaning “under the tower”). The staff, like our entire trip, was very accommodating making sure the champagne was still chilled and flowers fresh — ordered by my husband — when we arrived late (isn’t he a keeper?!). Wow, the roominess was unbelievable. Again, very reasonable for what you get ($200/night with parking and buffet breakfast included).
For convenience that night, we decided to stick close to home and made a reservation at the attached restaurant, Restaurant Pod Vezi, also run by the family. A welcome surprise on the menu — vegetables!! — drew us in. Throughout our trip, the lack of vegetation on the menu amongst the bratwurst, schnitzel and potatoes was unsettling. I never realized how much I missed salads! I had the roasted chicken stuffed with wild garlic, almond croquette and vegetables and my husband had the pork chop with pureed potatoes and glazed carrot.
As we were initially seated, and exhausted after the three and a half hour drive from Vienna, we noticed a table near us giving the waitress quite a hard time about something. We could see the quiet frustration on her face and felt for her. We decided our goal was to chat her up and make her relax. She told us many interesting facts about Prague that night. It all must have worked because with a mischievous grin, she presented us with an after dinner drink (shot), Medovia, a popular European drink of mead (she did one too — it was the end of her shift). What an unexpected view into the culture of Prague!
Kutna Hora
The next day we did something a little different — we drove out to Kutna Hora, the home of St Barbara’s Cathedral famous for its flying buttresses, the Corpus Christi Chapel, and the Ossuary in Sedlec, also known as the Bone Church. While we were looking for a few unorthodox sites in our research, we came by this unique opportunity out in the “boonies” — plus my husband has a fascination with architecture using buttresses.
St Barbara’s Cathedral is the most famous Gothic church in central Europe and a UNESCO world heritage site. The gilded altar depicts scenes from the Last Supper and on the walls lining the inner cavity are murals of rich local miners’ coat-of-arms and the life of the mining community.
Within a short drive was the Corpus Christi Chapel that was originally intended for worshipping and body storage in the lower levels. Kutna Hora is also known for the Bone Church that contains the bones of about 40,000 people who died of the plague in 1318 and during the Hussite wars in the 15th century. The bones are arranged into creative decorations like bells, coat-of-arms and a chandelier.
On the hour trek back to Prague, we followed our GPS which took us through some really small villages in the country via Route 2. Slightly uneasy that we were off the beaten trail heading the wrong way, we embraced the beautiful scenery and eventually found our way back to the hotel. “We don’t know where we’re going but we’re making good time!” may have been nervously uttered once or twice.
As we searched for a place to eat lunch, everything seemed to be closed (it was a Sunday when stores and eateries close in the smaller towns). In fact, the only place we could find open was McDonald’s. As we parked and walked in to the restaurant, I recalled a young mother I watched years earlier at Versailles dragging her small child by the arm who had whined “I want a hamburger” to which she replied “We did NOT come to France to eat at McDonald’s!”. We had committed to eat local food throughout the whole trip, so it was kind of nice to indulge in some fast food for a change… I hadn’t seen these ordering kiosks before which saved us from having to stumble through what we wanted to order at the counter.
CODA Restaurant
Speaking of food, I have to mention a restaurant that was a hidden gem and absolutely amazing — CODA at the Aria Hotel, one that ranks among the best in Prague and a short walk from our hotel. Music was a main theme hence the name of the restaurant, Coda, the separate part of a composition. The menus were adorned with the names of musicians of all genres and the plates with drawn headshots of famous composers. Dinner was accompanied by a professional pianist playing classical and jazz tunes.
My husband asked the waiter about the impressive art collection we noticed as we entered the hotel and restaurant. When we were finished with our meal, he personally escorted us through the first floor pointing out works of art by Dali, Chagall, Kodet, Frank von Stuck Mysibek and Picasso. The owner is obviously very cultured and has excellent taste all around.
The next morning we headed for the airport and marveled at all we had seen and experienced. It’s a matter of personal preference whether you like to engage with the wait staff or enjoy your own solitude with company, but I encourage you to do the former because you never know what unique experiences await you when getting to know others. I hope you visit and have fun in Prague!