The Czech people drink, on average, 140 L of beer per capita each year, and as far as countries are concerned, are far and away #1 in this endeavor. When we first heard that beer was cheaper than water, we thought it a joke, but quickly realized that at around 30-50 CZK ($1.55-$2.50) it was in fact a reality. Beer, coffee, and water are all about the same price, so we’re feeling a little dehydrated here…because why would you chose water given those options?
Pictured: Tipsy tourists
The original Budweiser Budvar, brewed for hundreds of years. No relation to Anheuser-Busch, and the subject of a long-running lawsuit.
Our hostel, the Czech Inn (pause while you get the pun…), was fabulous. We met several like-minded travelers there, including a couple from Missouri who were doing essentially the same trip as us, but in reverse! It was fun finding a group of new friends while in a completely different country.
Prague is an amazing city for wandering, and many of our days and nights were spent getting lost amidst the cobblsestone streets. We caught a few spectacular sunsets along the river, with the Prague Castle silhouetted against the horizon.
Sunset from a beer garden down by the river
Prague Castle and Charles Bridge all lit up.
View from the top of the hill.
Wandering the cobblestone streets.
We encountered beer gardens on hills high above the city and right down by the river; cafes on side streets, bars in bunkers and open-aired markets everywhere. The Czech sense of humor was on display, as well as monuments to great composers.
A huge beer garden atop a hill overlooking the city.
Some Typical Czech Humor
Justin posing with one of his favorite Czech composers, Antonín Dvořák
There are castles and cathedrals everywhere, which serve as good landmarks for figuring out where you are. It’s an extremely walkable city- we saw pretty much the entire city and never once took public transporation (although we did take ubers to and from the airport). We got our miles in though; we walked about 10-12 miles every day! You have to burn off that goulash and beer somehow.
Another shot of Prague Castle at sunset
Czech food is very much meat and potatoes based, but in a different way than Ireland. Pork takes a front seat in many of the dishes, and foods like Klobash (sausage) and pork knuckle are plentiful. As far as beef is concerned, two traditional foods, Svitkova (Dana’s favorite), and gulas (Justin’s favorite) are delicious. There were a few street fairs set up across the city to celebrate St. Wencestlas Day, a national holiday. They served hot spiced wine and delicous trdlnik, which is a spiral of dough wrapped around a wooden dowl and cooked over a charcoal fire, then coated in cinnamon sugar and sometimes filled with nutella. It is as amazing as it sounds.
Goulash served in bread bowls. This food sticks to your ribs.
Delicious hot chocolate, it tastes like drinking a melted chocolate bar.
If you’re craving great panoramic views of the city, there are many to be had in Prague. Zizkov Tower is a TV tower from the communist era, which was built on an old Jewish cemetary. The building itself is weird enough, with three legs supporting three pods suspended high up in the air (the tallest is 90 meters up). To add to the strangeness, several enormous sculptures of faceless babies are crawling up the sides of the tower. An artist apparently placed them there as some kind of protest against building the tower on the Jewish cemetary. The views of the city from the top of the tower are really lovely.
A view from the bottom
Some of the creepy babies are in a nearby park where you can see them up close
We’ve had an amazing time in Prague, and we were honestly a little sad to leave. We’ve promised ourselves we’ll be back to the Czech Republic!
A meeting between two curious parties.