Our subjective list of 10 things you have to do in Prague

Prague. Have you been there? For us Prague is a sentimental journey, because that’s where we first travelled together. We took a car, slept in it at the petrol station, partied and walked back home through the streets of Old Town singing “When I’m dancing, the Earth dances with me… when I whistle, the wind whistles with me, if I close my eyes, the leaves wither, when I go silent, the world goes silent tooooo”. Now, thanks to Maks, our trips are more family-like and quiet. Short – Friday till Sunday, with the first day filled with rain that made the sightseeing difficult and annoying, even though we had an umbrella with us. How about getting there? Try Lot’s airlines “Crazy Wednesdays” while looking for the tickets. We paid less than PLN 400 for an adult there and back! 🙂

Today we’re presenting our Prague: 10 things you must do when you get to the capital of the Czech Republic! 🙂

Ready, steady? GO!!

Due to our culinary “twist” (I love such twists!) we obviously start with culinary duties:

1)      EAT SMAZENY SYR, PREFERABLY WITH HRANOLKY AND TATAR SAUCE AND HAVE A CZECH BEER TO GO WITH IT!

It’s impossible. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to go to Czech Republic and not try smazeny syr. At least once. I already wrote about my love for this simple and high in calories meal here. Łukasz loves the cheese with Tatar sauce (“omacka”), I prefer it with chips (hranolky).

Other culinary musts in Prague include knedlicky (e.g. with goulash), Studentska chocolate bar, Lentilky, and Kofola if you like it – I’m not a fan, but I always bring a large bottle home from Czech Republic as I know one big fan of Kofola 🙂 This time we ate smazeny syr in one of the Lokal chain restaurants, which I also already wrote about. Be sure to memorise the name as there is lots of Lokal restaurants in Prague and they serve delicious food…

2)      BUY TRDELNIK FOR DESSERT WHILE WALKING AROUND THE OLD TOWN!

Have you heard about that? You can find it in Poland sometimes, usually during fairs, markets or in tourist locations. We saw trdelnik in Hungary first, in Eger during a fair at the local castle. You can smell it from far away. It’s sweet, vanilla, really tasty, like in a wonderful bakery. The pastry for trdelnik is spun around a stick, grilled and then sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon, nuts, desiccated coconut… It’s best served hot, just after being baked when you can tear it with your fingers… Yummy!

Before I visited Prague, I always thought it was a Hungarian specialty, but the number of places serving trdelnik in Prague’s Old Town seems to contradict this belief! Wikipedia also has no clear answer for that and states that it originates from Hungary, Slovakia or Czech Republic. But is it really so important where it comes from if it’s a cake and it smells thaaaat good?

3)      CHECK THE OLD TOWN MARKET SQUARE AND THEN GET LOST IN LITTLE STREETS OF THE OLD TOWN

Prague’s Old Town (Stare Mesto) is quite big and also beautiful – it’s no wonder it was put on UNESCO World Heritage list in 1992. You can walk around it for hours, getting lost in the little streets and alleys. It’s cool to get a little further from the popular attractions and look for more picturesque places.

Old Town’s Market Square (Staromestske Namesti) is a must see.

There, you’ll find such sights as 14^th century city hall – Staromestska radnica with its famous Orloj astronomical clock with moving figures depicting 12 apostles and images of Death, the Turk and Greed. Also: Vanitas, a popular sight and the most popular landmark of Prague – Tyn Church built in 1386-1511.

On the market square, there’s also a baroque St. Nicholas Church (18^th century) and an amazing statue of Jan Hus, a religious reformer, built in 1915 to commemorate 500^th anniversary of his execution. The statue is amazing – enormous, depicting not only a person but a whole scene: you can see Hussite soldiers forced to emigrate and a mother who symbolises the national reborn.

The market square itself is very spacious and constitutes the heart of the city. There, you can see colourful tenement houses. In the summer, during weekends, the market square is swarmed by tourists and therefore after a bit of walking around we decide to look for a quieter place.

4)      WALK OVER CHARLES BRIDGE!

Charles Bridge is yet another must in Prague. Crowded like the Old Town’s market square, but you simply can’t imagine a stay in Prague without at least one walk through Charles Bridge and some time for admiring the views on both banks of Vltava River. The bridge connects Stare Mesto with Mala Strana. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful medieval bridges in Europe, built on 16 arches, 500 m long. The bridge is decorated with numerous baroque statues which are however hard to spot in the crowd 🙂 It was built in 1357-1402 and until 1741 was the only bridge over Vltava. I guess that’s why it used to be called Prague Bridge or Stone Bridge. It was named Charles Bridge in 1870.

5)      VISIT LITTLE STREETS OF MALA STRANA AND THE SIGHTS IN HRADCANY

After you pass the Charles Bridge you can rest a little 🙂 Charming little streets of Mala Strana are much quieter than those in the Old Town. Walk around a bit, see the main square and churches in the area. In the meantime have a glass of wine in one of the tiny cellars. There are lots of them around. If you prefer beer, have a look at one of the oldest breweries situated close to St. Thomas monastery. The monks know what they’re doing!

We recommend going further into the streets of Hradcany and visiting the amazing Prague Castle. According to Guinness Book of Records, it’s the castle with the biggest total area in the world!

Unfortunately, this time we didn’t manage to pay a visit…

After spending a whole day on the left bank of Vltava we suggest some relaxation in the parks and gardens of the Petrin Hill.

6)      FIND AS MANY PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH FRANZ KAFKA AS YOU CAN!

Walking around Prague, you get the impression that there’s something about Franz Kafka everywhere. Starting with Kafka’s Museum in Mala Strana district, through statues, streets and cafés… It’s not a coincidence – Kafka was born in Prague in 1883 and lived in the city all his life…

7)      DIVE INTO THE MAGICAL WORLD OF ALCHMISTS IN SPECULUM ALCHEMIAE

We usually skip museums if we travel with Maks. Impatience + 2-year-old’s energy + museum does not seem like a good combination 🙂 We’re always afraid that he’ll break or damage something, that he’ll run around or jump or will simply cry and annoy other visitors…

This time we decided to give it a try as Łukasz found Speculum Achemiae – Alchemy Museum on Trip Advisor. The museum is located on 1 Hastalska street, quite close to the Old Town’s Market Square. I was a bit sceptical about it but it turned out to be a great idea!

Museum is located in an inconspicuous place, in one of the oldest buildings in Prague. You enter a small room that looks like a bit like a shop and a bit like a gallery. You can see some vessels and vials there, all filled with different liquids. Then, you enter a study hidden behind the door and the guide talks about the alchemists from the old times, the old Prague… What’s next? The guide presses one of the elements standing on the bookshelf, the shelves open up and we go underground. Sounds mysterious? That’s how it looked like!

Underground you can see top secret alchemist’s laboratories from the 16^th century! The atmosphere is great and the place is really magical. Like in a sorcerer’s chamber. The only drawback was the fact that we couldn’t focus on what the guide was saying enough as we had to take care of our energetic 2-year-old… 🙂

8)      TAKE CARE OF LOVE!

There are more and more bridges or footbridges for lovers now! Some are close, e.g. in Vilnius by the Vilnia River, Father Bernatek Footbridge in Cracow or others in Wrocław and in the Wilanów district in Warsaw.

Despite the trend, we really liked little bridge on Mala Strana in Prague, on the river Certovka, close to the old mill. It was a bit on the side, far from the crowds. And with lots of padlocks on it! Obviously it was Maks who got excited the most and tried to open them…

9)       LOOK FOR some UNUSUAL SCULPTURES!

We remember one of the sculptures we encountered from our first visit.

You’ll find it in front of Kafka’s Museum (2b Cihelni Str.). The sculpture depicts two peeing men with their penises moving depending on the pressure of the water stream. It attracts men, especially the little ones. For them it also has an educational value 🙂

The sculpture is called The Peeing (what a surprise! :)) and was made by Dawid Cerny. It was made in 2004. Supposedly to celebrate the accession to the EU, as joining the EU is as pleasurable as peeing. That’s why the little pond where all the pee goes is shaped like Czech Republic. The sculpture is supposed to be multimedia – you can text a message and the guys will “pee” it. I don’t know about that, I haven’t tried, but that’s what they say…

The second unusual sculpture we noticed depicts giant “infants” crawling in Kampa. Kampa is a little island or a peninsula separated from Mala Strana by the Certovka River. That’s where you’ll find the “infants”. It’s also by David Cerny. He likes to get controversial.. The barcodes instead of faces are a protest against globalisation… What do you think? I didn’t like the infants too much. But I surely remembered them.

1o)      GIVE KRTEK A HUG!

The last quest is quite easy! 🙂 Krtek (The Mole) is everywhere in Prague – in every shop with souvenirs, on the airport. Even the little ones costs as much as PLN 30 and a plush toy of normal size PLN 100. Therefore it is better to give them a hug 🙂

THAT’S WHAT MAKS SAYS! 🙂 His face says it all! 🙂