Prague, Czech Republic : HT Couple hits Praha!

Netherlands has a little over 5 days of public holidays and whitmonday is one of them. 

HT wife: "hey, whitmonday is a holiday in NL"

HT hubbie: "yeah, so?"

HT wife: "Time for a short holiday!"

HT hubbie: "Ok..."

TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK...

HT wife: "booked"

Yes...we try to travel hard while we can still walk long distances and when age is not yet a concern.  And this time, we decided to go East in Europe and we didn't think twice but to explore the beautiful Prague. 

Prague has maintained its charm despite of wars and floods.  And if you love Paris, think of Prague as a cleaner Paris (volgens mij - according to me).  And Prague is a place that wherever you stumble and whatever time of the day, you can see something interesting and beautiful. 

Tyn Church at night

Municipal House

Prague Castle

St. Martin Rotunda in Vysehrad

even Vysehrad cemetery made sure they're truly Prague

Being a walkable city, comfy shoes is a must and few stops here and there are necessary.  And Prague made sure that in every few steps, you have a place to hang around.

We arrived pretty late in the beautiful city, and the first thing we did after dropping our bags was...

to gulp glasses of beer (I had the Kozel, which is dark but light in taste which was favorable for me).  I don't really like beers, but hey, i'm in Prague...I will drink beer :).  For touristy area, you can get -0.5l Pilsnr for about 60-80czk~3.80 euro.  If you're adventurous enough and wanted to save a few kroners, check those small streets which serves the same beer and size for 35-40czk ~1.68 euro.  Drop by during happy hours...it does exist in Prague!

And you can never go hungry...

you can get ham in old town square and watch how it's being smoked

or this foot long inside the Prague Castle when your tummy starts growling...for food while walking around the area - it's better to have your tummy full before you started exploring the place if you mind being ripped off.  This foot long costs 120 czk~ 5.80 euro

HT couple, as tourists, ate like tourist so we made sure that we visit this raved cafe...

old cafe louvre building

with their famous hot chocolate

one thing i noticed in Prague, almost all menu, have measurements of what you order...the no. of grams, the no. of liters...i guess, right expectations are quite important here.

aside from beers, start your day right with MEAATTT...and that's what i did though i skipped the beer...(a good variation of Moravian ham, salami, chorizo and ham with pickles) 100+czk~5-7 euro

the bread is served to everyone with cover charge of 12 CZK whether you order it or not.  And expect additional few czk if you want milk with your coffee.

Czech cuisine is not very famous to locals.  But when you're a tourist, you should try it at least once.  But the gauge is more of, which place serves good or unique beers or cheap beers then you eat it with a Czech plate instead of the other way around. :)

and this is what made Pivovarsky Dum famous in Prague (beer sampler- consisting of 8 - 0.1L and uniquely served in this restaurant/brewery in one...do follow the arrow to savor each beers correctly) - 130czk~6 euro.  My favorite was the banana beer and HT hubbie settled with their wheat beer.

color wise, i love this green beer (made of nettle)!

Czech cuisine is similar to Germany or Austria.  HT hubbie indulged in this beef goulash with all types of dumplings(meat but starchy, bread and potatoes) 200czk~10 euro deluxe .  Nothing special other than the dish was pretty salty.  Gulp down a big glass of beer to wash out the salt from your body.

and i hate those advertisements or banners...it made me ordered pork knuckle (200czk~10euro/kg) that is almost half a piglet.  Good thing there's no side dishes other than horseradish and mustard sauce.  The meat was bit dry but i guess that's usual for roasted pig and it's bland without anything with it.  So if you don't fancy the pickled veggies and mustard sauce, i wouldn't recommend this plate.  (trivia: I finished it...whew!)

What's funny is that this restaurant stood just across the boutique hotel we stayed in so drinking too much and crawling home was possible.

We also tried the locals favorite hang out places..

Kozicka meaning little goat is an unpredictable place.  Peaking inside, you would only see wine cellars and bottles unless you really know the place, you wouldn't bother going in.  The actual dining area is at the basement and it's not just a wine and cheese place but serves real food!  Thanks again to Dahlia Inn's owner for his suggestion.

HT hubbie sticked to his principle that he's in Czech, he would eat only Czech food.  Kozicka, only has 3 different type of Czech cuisine and only the beef goulash sounded enticing.  And HT hubbie got it right this time, the beef was so tender that it melts in your mouth and the sauce was so tasty and well-balanced.  To top it off, this interesting potato pancakes were lovely and not oily.

and without much czechy choice, i settled to this rump steak (200g) but kozel style.  Topped with baked blue cheese with almond and chili sauce, i was scared that the chili sauce might overshadow the steak itself but it didn't!  I was surprised how it blended well with the saltiness of blue cheese and the aroma of almonds.  It was a perfect steak and a must-have!  (side dishes are ordered separately).  I got the goat potatoes, in onion and garlic cream.

even though they forgot to ask me how do i want it to be cooked, they still know what medium rare is.

Check out the blue cheese and almonds with oozing chili sauce? :) Unique, isn't it? :)  It was so delicious that I can't sleep that night despite of complementing it with a bottle of Moravian wine (Czech wine).

And after 2 days of eating meat and more meat...on our last lunch in Prague, we decided to go green.

tucked in a small street Borsova in old town, which is not visible to tourists' eyes.  (Thanks again Dahlia Inn owner!)

once you enter the place, it has a different ambiance from outside.  We got this small table on one side as most tables were reserved.  We were pretty early there so we were able to have photo sessions but after an hour, the locals started coming in.  (Lunch is very important in Prague)

Soup of the day - spinach soup with champignons, quinoa (a type of grain) and cream.   

Pinto salad was HT hubbie's choice - healthy but tasty salad with sour cream, eggplant and tomato puree with nachos.  It was refreshing andlight...it was nice to have something different yet tasteful after being TOO carnivorous.

 I took the oriental fry as i've been craving for something Asian.  We were supposed to try Malai Buddha near the Strahov Monastery but it's closed on Mondays...bummer.  But this plate was pretty good and tasty despite the lack of meat.  It was a bit spicy and was a good partner of rice.

They have daily menu - soup and main course for only 108czk (5 euro).  And the drinks were all refreshing (55 czk - 2.50 euro).  I got a fresh glass of aloe vera.  It's still a restaurant in czech, so beers are available!

We left Prague with full tummy.  We went to more places but I let you guys discover it yourself.  One thing is for sure, you can never go hungry nor thirsty there...even if it's beyond midnight!

And the place we stayed was worth mentioning.  It was situated just a few blocks from the main square - Wenceslas Square and run by the owner himself.  He's very hands on and treated us, and the other guests with trust.  He gave suggestions that are not easy to find via internet and let you check out places where locals usually hang out.  The rooms are what you see in their website (unlike other hotels where the pictures all over internet was so pretty and clean but staying there says otherwise).  If ever, i'll be back in Prague, I would definitely stay in Dahlia Inn again.  And for 50-60 euro, with decent beds, clean rooms and a good guide...this was really cheap and worth it.

http://www.dahliainn.com/

Just like Rome and Madrid, Prague will be a place where i can visit over and over again...and will never get tired of appreciating its beauty.

ADDENDUM:

I forgot to post this traiditional Czech bread which i also love.  You can choose between almonds or cinnamon. 

i chose the one with almonds

the fun part is watching how it's being made