Warning: Bad puns will be shamelessly made throughout this post. Sorry in advance. You better Czech yourself.
Looking back on my Eurail trip, I’d definitely say that Prague was one of my favorite destinations in those five weeks. The city of 1.2 million was surprisingly quiet and approachable, even for a “country girl” like me. Everywhere I looked there was marvelous architecture, from romanesque to art nouveau, and also plenty of greenspace. The temporarily cooler climate was perfect for sightseeing, and there were plenty of sights to be seen.
Starting from the train ride into the city, we knew we were in for a good time. On the train, we sat with a young couple who had been living in Prague for four years. They practically wrote us an entire guidebook of Prague in my iPhone Notes, complete with essential must-sees, restaurant recommendations, and transportation tips. It turned out that Michaela and Ales lived in the same neigborhood where our hostel, the Czech Inn, was located. Once we arrived at the main station, they bought us 30-minute transportation passes and led us to the hostel. What a great welcome to Prague!
When it came to meeting people, Johanna and I had amazingly good luck in Prague. After we had settled into our room, we went to the hostel’s bar downstairs, called the Basement. After taking an empty table, we decided to get up, be social, and sit with two young women at another table. We had a blast exchanging stories about our travels, and after a conversation about our upcoming plans, I found out that one of them, Melissa, was a fellow Tree and had a sister who was an incoming sophomore at Stanford! It also turned out that Melissa and Deidre were our roommates. Crazy stuff!
The next day Johanna and I met up with my fellow Stanford FoShoFro, Jose Rosendo. We met up at Cafe Slagr for cake and coffee, then wandered around Prague 2 for a while. After dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant called Mlsnej Kocour (which surprisingly had very good vegetarian options), the three of us met up with Melissa and Deidre at the Basement. Unfortunately Johanna was feeling sick and couldn’t join us, but Melissa, Deidre, Jose and I went to Czech out Karlovy Lazne, a famed club with five floors of music and dancing. The four of us shut the place down with our killer dance moves! As the German saying goes, you always meet twice, and I can't wait to see them again sometime soon.
Starting from the train ride into the city, we knew we were in for a good time. On the train, we sat with a young couple who had been living in Prague for four years. They practically wrote us an entire guidebook of Prague in my iPhone Notes, complete with essential must-sees, restaurant recommendations, and transportation tips. It turned out that Michaela and Ales lived in the same neigborhood where our hostel, the Czech Inn, was located. Once we arrived at the main station, they bought us 30-minute transportation passes and led us to the hostel. What a great welcome to Prague!
When it came to meeting people, Johanna and I had amazingly good luck in Prague. After we had settled into our room, we went to the hostel’s bar downstairs, called the Basement. After taking an empty table, we decided to get up, be social, and sit with two young women at another table. We had a blast exchanging stories about our travels, and after a conversation about our upcoming plans, I found out that one of them, Melissa, was a fellow Tree and had a sister who was an incoming sophomore at Stanford! It also turned out that Melissa and Deidre were our roommates. Crazy stuff!
The next day Johanna and I met up with my fellow Stanford FoShoFro, Jose Rosendo. We met up at Cafe Slagr for cake and coffee, then wandered around Prague 2 for a while. After dinner at a traditional Czech restaurant called Mlsnej Kocour (which surprisingly had very good vegetarian options), the three of us met up with Melissa and Deidre at the Basement. Unfortunately Johanna was feeling sick and couldn’t join us, but Melissa, Deidre, Jose and I went to Czech out Karlovy Lazne, a famed club with five floors of music and dancing. The four of us shut the place down with our killer dance moves! As the German saying goes, you always meet twice, and I can't wait to see them again sometime soon.
In the morning I jogged around one of the parks that Michaela and Ales had recommended to me called Grebovka. They had told me that the park featured views and vineyards, but I hadn’t expected it to be this beautiful! Take a look at this and some other sights that I stumbled upon on my daily jogs:
Jogging is a perfect way to explore a city, but on the other hand it’s possible to cover a much wider area on a bike. I took a three-hour bike tour of the city center, the Vltava riverside, and the Jewish Quarter. The next day Johanna and I took a free walking tour of the same area with SANDEMANs New Europe. We both highly recommend a walking tour with SANDEMANs to anyone wanting to look deeper into a city on a budget and in a limited amount of time. SANDEMANs offers tours in 18 cities across Europe and the Middle East. After learning a bit more about the Czechered history and lingering challenges of Prague and the Czech Republic, I felt more connected to the city and was able to appreciate the landmarks I toured in a more meaningful way.
On a foodie’s note, Prague had much more vegetarian options to offer than I had ever expected. Before my trip, a family friend who had visited Prague some years back told me that when she was there, there were no vegetarian options at all. Today, it’s hard to walk a mile without finding a vegetarian or vegan restaurant. In fact, just around the corner from the Czech Inn we found Plevel, a vegan restaurant and cafe serving everything from snacks to dinner to sweets. Besides the great vegetarian food scene, there is a thriving coffee scene in Prague. Our favorite cafe was Cafe Monolok, although we enjoyed the freshly baked cakes at Cafe Slagr nearby the Czech Inn.
On a foodie’s note, Prague had much more vegetarian options to offer than I had ever expected. Before my trip, a family friend who had visited Prague some years back told me that when she was there, there were no vegetarian options at all. Today, it’s hard to walk a mile without finding a vegetarian or vegan restaurant. In fact, just around the corner from the Czech Inn we found Plevel, a vegan restaurant and cafe serving everything from snacks to dinner to sweets. Besides the great vegetarian food scene, there is a thriving coffee scene in Prague. Our favorite cafe was Cafe Monolok, although we enjoyed the freshly baked cakes at Cafe Slagr nearby the Czech Inn.