Andrea and I have been teaming up lately for exercise, social events, Swedish practice, garden plans and now travel! We just returned from a short trip to Prague, where we managed a sampling of the city highlights. I learned a lot about Czechia, the Czech Republic in the process.
The iconic Charles Bridge area of Prague served as home base for our short visit. We intended to explore within walking distance of our AirBnb so a good portion of our time included the bridge. We read up on the stories of some of the statues that line it, most famously the martyr St John of Nepomuk, and in spite of the somewhat gloomy weather and rather dark past, managed to see it in many lights.
We stayed on a picturesque street in Mala Strana-The Little Quarter, just off the bridge and to the right of the Lesser Bridge Tower at the foot of Castle Hill’s cluster of former noble homes and palaces.
To reach our rooms above Dogumi Cafe we had to traverse a twisty, ancient wooden staircase with abysmal lighting and a wobbly handrail. Once past this hazard, our accommodations were well-equipped, quieter than expected and quite comfortable. When we went to return our key on the last morning, the young folks who run the cafe were still there, partying from the night before and preparing to reopen!
Sending post cards from Prague wasn’t the easiest part of the trip but we managed and had a little adventure in the process.
Libraries rarely disappoint, and this one in Mala Strana features a dramatic sculpture made of books. Andrea wanted to play Jenga but I didn’t let her, lol
My extroverted pal makes friends and conversation everywhere we go. These young men had intriguing stories of war in Ukraine and their studies of conflict resolution. The Shakespeare book store was a great place to find eager English speakers, but Andrea even managed to converse with Petr, the taxi driver who did not speak English but really wanted to help us speak Czech! We learned hello, good morning, good day and thank you. He tried asking a few questions and told us we could walk to the zoo from the Botanic Gardens if we wanted, so we think, anyway.
We ate well and sampled lots of local specialities: cabbage soup, goulash, pork knuckle, sausage with fresh shredded horseradish, pilsner urquell, marinated, fried and string cheeses, and apricot and savory bread dumplings! When our plans for fancy Bohemian potatoes were dashed (Sold Out sign on the door) an authentic Mexican joint saved the day and we were very pleased to feast on tacos and fajitas since it’s so hard to get great Mexican food in Sweden.
We intended to see a performance featuring the 1702 organ that was played by Mozart, as documented, during his 1787 stay in Prague, but sadly, we were exhausted by the end of the day (there were lots of hills… and we had a few unexpected errands to run involving multiple treks up said hills!)
In the Golden Lane area of the fortification (outer wall around the castle), tiny soldiers barracks turned housing eventually became a curiosity for tourists. Franz Kafka wrote a collection of short stories in one of these itty bitty apartments (no. 22), which is now a petite book nook, selling Kafka books and merch.
We did leave Old Town for a half day jaunt to the Botanical Garden. It wasn’t fantastic but we did get some nice views from outside the city proper. Too bad we missed most of the spring bulbs, but the lilacs were peak perfection!
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