We’re back in Europe: Travel from Cambodia to Prague took a few days. First, we flew from Siem Reap back to Saigon for an overnight. Next, we’re on a late-night flight (11 hours) from Saigon to a two-hour layover in Istanbul, followed by a two-hour flight from Istanbul to Prague. We landed in Prague about 8:00 am, took a taxi to our Air BnB and arranged to leave our luggage since we could not check in yet. So we explored the neighborhood to fill the time, and we were so pleasantly surprised.
We landed in a lovely residential area, a suburb of Prague called Karlin. Our Lonely Planet “Pocket Prague” calls Karlin “Prague’s coolest up-and-coming neighborhood . . . The hottest area most tourists never visit.” It’s a quiet neighborhood but with convenient stores, restaurants, and easy access to Tram lines that take us quickly to the center of action in Prague. Sara and I found a great coffee spot with delicious food, right near our place.
Later our fellow travelers Emily and Van arrived, and we all got settled in our Air BnB, a nice 2BR, 1½ bath apartment just around the corner from the tram stop. A few blocks down the street, we found the Tankovna Karlin Restaurant for our first meal together. Their own beer was good, and the food was a hit. Emily had a fish dish, and Van went for the Goulash. Sara and I shared a Czech specialty called Svíčková, (SVEECH–koh–vah). It’s a marinated beef covered in a creamy vegetable sauce/gravy and served with bread dumplings and a cranberry sauce. What a great way to begin our visit.
Visiting the Castle: On April 24, our first full day in Prague, we did the tourist thing. We had yet to figure out the public transportation, so we took a Bolt ride up to the Prague Castle. But he dropped us off at the wrong spot, near a “dead end” hotel, leaving us quite a climb, up many steps, to find the entrance to the Castle. Along the way we passed some interesting shops and cafes, including Prague’s oldest Medieval Tavern.
Prague Castle, founded in 9th century, is a large fortress atop the hill to the west of the river, overlooking the Charles Bridge and the city center of Prague. We spent the morning exploring this huge complex that includes three large courtyards and:
- Old Royal Palace: houses “The Story of Prague” and the high-Gothic Vladislav Hall where they swear in presidents of the Czech Republic.
- St. Vitus Cathedral, (begun in 1344) a classic Gothic style cathedral, with spires that tower over the rest of the fortress and can be seen from all around the city. The cathedral today is the third church consecrated to the same saint on the same site.
- Basilica of St. George, established in the 10th century by Vratislav, the father of St. Wenceslas. It’s smaller than the Gothic monster next door, but still quite an impressive Romanesque structure.
- Statue of St. George killing the Dragon: This theme is so popular that we’ve seen such statues all over Europe. Nevertheless, another cool statue.
The Medieval Tavern: Walking back down from Prague Castle, we were intrigued by the Medieval Tavern, booking itself as the oldest tavern in Prague. Since we’re all four veterans of Rennaissance Fairs in the states, we just had to check it out. This was terrific fun: the Bohemian Medieval Experience in every way. No electricity, so our interior room was lit only by candlelight. No forks allowed, so we must learn to eat with our fingers. Wait staff dressed in period costumes served food and beer with attitude. They were deliberately loud and rude, all for fun. https://www.krcmabrabant.cz/en/
After our Medieval lunch, we walked the Charles Bridge, which goes back to the 14th century, crossing the Vltava River to connect The Castle to the Old Town of Prague. With bridge towers at either end and statues of Czech saints along the way, this pedestrian bridge is often packed with tourists, as well as souvenir and gelato vendors, buskers, and artists eager to draw your caricature. Even when packed with tourists, it’s still beautiful.
A favorite statue here is that of St. John of Nepomuk. According to legend, an angry Wenceslas IV (no, not the good king) had St. John thrown from the bridge to his death in 1393 for refusing to fill him in on the confessions of his queen. If you rub the statue’s bronze plaque, they say, you will surely return one day to Prague. Of course, we all rubbed the bronze plaque.
Next, we walked the narrow, medieval streets to the Old Town Square, the central meeting place for tourists to Prague with its Old Town Clock Tower and the Astronomical Clock built in 1490. Crowds gather here on the hour to see its clever little mechanized show. The Square also features the Czechoslovak Hussite Church of St. Nicholas and a large statue and tribute to Jan Hus, a theologian who strived to reform the Roman Catholic Church and was burned at the stake in 1415 for his efforts. More on Jan Hus and St. Nicholas Church in the next post.
After this first full day of exploration, we figured out the public transportation system and took a tram back to our comfortable apartment in Karlin. With the Metro, Trams and Buses, public transportation here is great, making it so easy to get around. And it’s even easier for us because seniors (over 65) ride for free!
Love at first sight: After just one day in this town, we talked about it, and we’ve all four reached the same conclusion — we’re in love with Prague. It’s beautiful, rich in architecture and history, and the people are friendly, warm and welcoming. It has so much to offer, that I can’t squish our adventures into this one blog post, so I’ll list them in the next post.
