After three nights in Vienna, we drove three hours to beautiful Prague.
Hotel 16
Our hotel in Prague – Hotel 16 – is worth a mention because, so far, it has been one of our favorite hotels. It's a small place with 14 rooms, so it felt a bit more like a B&B. The hotel offers a great breakfast and free snacks and drinks round the clock which was a nice touch. Our room was nice and fairly basic, and the hotel was located about a twenty-minute walk from the old city. However, the people who run the hotel were some of the friendliest and happiest we’ve met so far on our travels. We arrived mid-afternoon on a hot day and were immediately welcomed by the enthusiastic guy and girl working the desk, with some cold water and juice. After chatting with them a bit, they provided lots of recommendations and introduced us to the local Czech drink called Becherovka. We later met several other people who work there, all of whom were really great people who were always smiling, happy and went out of their way to give us great tips and recommendations about their city. When we left they even gave us a couple of mugs as keepsakes.
Hotel 16
Our hotel in Prague – Hotel 16 – is worth a mention because, so far, it has been one of our favorite hotels. It's a small place with 14 rooms, so it felt a bit more like a B&B. The hotel offers a great breakfast and free snacks and drinks round the clock which was a nice touch. Our room was nice and fairly basic, and the hotel was located about a twenty-minute walk from the old city. However, the people who run the hotel were some of the friendliest and happiest we’ve met so far on our travels. We arrived mid-afternoon on a hot day and were immediately welcomed by the enthusiastic guy and girl working the desk, with some cold water and juice. After chatting with them a bit, they provided lots of recommendations and introduced us to the local Czech drink called Becherovka. We later met several other people who work there, all of whom were really great people who were always smiling, happy and went out of their way to give us great tips and recommendations about their city. When we left they even gave us a couple of mugs as keepsakes.
Outside of Hotel 16. We loved this place!
The Czech Republic, one of the former Soviet Bloc countries (when it was part of Czechoslovakia), has only fairly recently (1989) introduced a free market economy and democratic political system after many decades under the influence of the Soviet Union. There are still reminders of the communist period throughout the city. In fact, Hotel 16 was seized from its owners by the government when communism was introduced. Following the communist regime, the family who had formerly owned the hotel was able to reclaim it, and still operates it today. There are interesting stories like this all over the country.
The Golden City
On our first afternoon in Prague, we spent a few hours walking through Wenceslas Square (main shopping area) and around the old city. We tried to grab a drink on the rooftop of the U Prince Hotel in the old city. The views were spectacular but it was just too hot to stay for a drink. Had we not have been in the midst of a heat wave, this place would have been an awesome way to spend an evening! We finally made our way to Letna Park at sunset, where there is a great beer garden. We grabbed some beers and 2 massive pork gyros from a stand and enjoyed the watching Prague turn to gold under the setting sun.
The Golden City
On our first afternoon in Prague, we spent a few hours walking through Wenceslas Square (main shopping area) and around the old city. We tried to grab a drink on the rooftop of the U Prince Hotel in the old city. The views were spectacular but it was just too hot to stay for a drink. Had we not have been in the midst of a heat wave, this place would have been an awesome way to spend an evening! We finally made our way to Letna Park at sunset, where there is a great beer garden. We grabbed some beers and 2 massive pork gyros from a stand and enjoyed the watching Prague turn to gold under the setting sun.
View of Prague from Letna Beer Garden
Letna Beer Garden
Jewish Museum
The next day was Friday, and so we decided to visit the Jewish quarter, called Josefov, since it would be closed on Saturday. Prague is unique among cities that came under Nazi control during WWII, as it was one area where the Nazis did not destroy all Jewish property, synagogues, and artifacts. While most of the former residents of the area sadly perished during the Holocaust, many of the important buildings and sites in the neighborhood remain intact, as they were pre-WWII. The Nazis wanted to preserve Josefov in order to use it for a planned Exotic Museum of An Extinct Race. This means the Nazis gathered Jewish artifacts from all over Europe to display in Josefov, since, in their vision for the future, Jewish people would cease to exist.
Many of the items stored in Josefov during the war form the basis for the Jewish museum, a collection of several sites throughout the neighborhood, each containing a variety of important relics used by the Jewish people who called this neighborhood home over the centuries. Today, the museum tells the story of the people who lived here, what their lives were like, and interestingly, their relationship with the government and the rights afforded to them – or lack thereof – during the various stages of Czech history.
The next day was Friday, and so we decided to visit the Jewish quarter, called Josefov, since it would be closed on Saturday. Prague is unique among cities that came under Nazi control during WWII, as it was one area where the Nazis did not destroy all Jewish property, synagogues, and artifacts. While most of the former residents of the area sadly perished during the Holocaust, many of the important buildings and sites in the neighborhood remain intact, as they were pre-WWII. The Nazis wanted to preserve Josefov in order to use it for a planned Exotic Museum of An Extinct Race. This means the Nazis gathered Jewish artifacts from all over Europe to display in Josefov, since, in their vision for the future, Jewish people would cease to exist.
Many of the items stored in Josefov during the war form the basis for the Jewish museum, a collection of several sites throughout the neighborhood, each containing a variety of important relics used by the Jewish people who called this neighborhood home over the centuries. Today, the museum tells the story of the people who lived here, what their lives were like, and interestingly, their relationship with the government and the rights afforded to them – or lack thereof – during the various stages of Czech history.
Jewish Ceremonial Hall
Spanish Synagogue
One of the most powerful exhibitions was the Pinkas Synagogue. It is a beautiful, yet simple building, with no furnishings. Its walls are covered with the names of many of the Czech Jews that were murdered under the Nazi regime, and the only sound is man’s voice reading the names. Over two thirds of the Jewish people from Prague perished during the Holocaust, which is quite a lot of people considering Jews made up over 20% of Prague's population pre-WWII. The walls are covered top to bottom, which physically reminds us of the large scale of senseless deaths.
Chris looking up at one wall full of names of people from Prague who lost their lives in the Holocaust.
Looking through a window within the synagogue, you can see how the names cover every single wall.
Never forget. These names serve as a reminder of the atrocities that stem from hatred and will hopefully influence and educate future generations that hatred only leads to emptiness.
Pinkas Synagogue
Perhaps the most difficult part of the exhibit was on the top floor. Many children were shipped off to concentration camps, and in an effort to make it seem “normal” and help them to cope with the difficult conditions, their parents would do their best to develop activities for them like plays, musicals, concerts and drawing. It's somewhat reminiscent of the father-son relationship in my favorite movie, Life is Beautiful. One woman, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, was an educator and used art as way to provide therapy to the children in the camps. She had the children draw different things – how they felt about the camp, life before the camp, and what life would be like afterwards. The drawings speak for themselves. Many are very sad and depict images of fear or abuse. Others are simply scenes of every day life in a camp. Some are more hopeful, depicting visions of a happy future somewhere safe. The hardest part of the exhibit was seeing a label by each drawing with the child’s name and sometimes their picture, date of birth and date of death. If they survived the camp, the label would say “survived” instead of a date of death. Sadly, most had a date of death. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis died in Auschwitz concentration camp, but her suitcase full of hundreds of children’s drawings survived. If you are ever in Prague, visit the Pinkas Synagogue and see this exhibit.
A child's drawing about life at Terezin concentration camp.
Drawings from children about the war. Most of these children perished in the concentration camps.
The last thing we saw in the Jewish quarter was the Jewish Cemetery. Even before the Nazis, Jews were restricted to a specific area of the city. This included restrictions on where they could bury their dead. In Jewish custom, the dead must be buried right away, and cremation is not permitted. Since they were given such little land for a cemetery, they had to bury people on top of each other. Therefore, on this small plot of land, experts suspect over 100,000 people have been buried over hundreds of years. This is why the cemetery looks like this:
Prague's Jewish Cemetery
So many people, so little space.
They say 100,000 people are buried in this small plot of land.
Reflecting in the Park
As you can imagine, the Jewish Museum is a mostly sad and somber experience. After we were done, we decided to start our evening off with something low key. We went back to our hotel to freshen up, and then we headed up to Riegrovy Sady, another park and beer garden overlooking the city. This area was much more laid back than where we were the previous night, with lots of local residents sitting on a big grassy hill overlooking Prague and its beautiful sunset. We picked up some snacks on the way there, as well as some beers and bubbles, and had a nice picnic. This was a great suggestion from our hotel and we got to enjoy another view of the city from a different angle!
As you can imagine, the Jewish Museum is a mostly sad and somber experience. After we were done, we decided to start our evening off with something low key. We went back to our hotel to freshen up, and then we headed up to Riegrovy Sady, another park and beer garden overlooking the city. This area was much more laid back than where we were the previous night, with lots of local residents sitting on a big grassy hill overlooking Prague and its beautiful sunset. We picked up some snacks on the way there, as well as some beers and bubbles, and had a nice picnic. This was a great suggestion from our hotel and we got to enjoy another view of the city from a different angle!
Sunset at Riegrovy Sady
Riegrovy Sady
Another sunset over Prague
After sunset, we headed back into town to check out Friday night in Prague. We started out at the Chapeau Rouge, something of a Prague institution going back to the early post-communism days. A friend of ours is an artist who used to live in Prague, so we had actually first seen this bar in his paintings. (See his work at Johnhetzel.com) Chapeau Rouge remains a favorite of both locals and visitors, and is fun because of its laid-back atmosphere and the interesting people who frequent it. Downstairs there is also a dance club. Admittedly, we did not last long here, as the steamy summer evening outside was intensified inside the confines of this cozy bar!
Outside the Chapeau Rouge
Scottish Stag Party
We next moved on to an outdoor café where we met up with a large group of Scottish guys on a stag party. While they were already well ahead of us in the drinking department, we had a lot of fun hanging out with them and spent the next several hours having fun, laughing and singing (these guys loved Neil Diamond). Like any good Scotsman, they were really into Scotch. When I told them I didn't drink Scotch, they were a little upset, but not surprised. They bought us each a glass of their favorite Scotch (I forget the brand) and proceeded to give me a lesson on how to properly drink it. I took a sip, followed their ritual and told them it was better than my past experiences trying the liquor. I then secretly handed off my glass to Chris:)
We next moved on to an outdoor café where we met up with a large group of Scottish guys on a stag party. While they were already well ahead of us in the drinking department, we had a lot of fun hanging out with them and spent the next several hours having fun, laughing and singing (these guys loved Neil Diamond). Like any good Scotsman, they were really into Scotch. When I told them I didn't drink Scotch, they were a little upset, but not surprised. They bought us each a glass of their favorite Scotch (I forget the brand) and proceeded to give me a lesson on how to properly drink it. I took a sip, followed their ritual and told them it was better than my past experiences trying the liquor. I then secretly handed off my glass to Chris:)
With some of the Scottish stag party. Although the picture suggests otherwise, the guy on the far left was relatively sober compared to his mates.
Some kind of Scottish drinking game involving push-ups. All of a sudden one of them yelled something that I couldn't understand and they fell to the ground and started doing push-ups.
Fairytale Prague
The next day, we checked out more of the old city, heading over to the castle district, where Prague Castle is located. Within this castle are several interesting sites, including Prague’s largest cathedral, St. Vitus, several royal palaces and residences including a large indoor hall where jousting tournaments were held, and a small ‘city within a city’ called the Golden Lane which shows what life would have been like here centuries ago.
The next day, we checked out more of the old city, heading over to the castle district, where Prague Castle is located. Within this castle are several interesting sites, including Prague’s largest cathedral, St. Vitus, several royal palaces and residences including a large indoor hall where jousting tournaments were held, and a small ‘city within a city’ called the Golden Lane which shows what life would have been like here centuries ago.
Inside St. Vitus Cathedral
St. Vitus Cathedral
St. Vitus Cathedral is notable for its many intricate stained glass windows
Apparently in the old days, they used to hold jousts in this huge hall.
One of the very old houses on the Golden Lane
One of the shops - most of them had tiny doors
We headed back into town over the Charles Bridge, Prague's oldest and most famous bridge.
View of the Charles Bridge
Taking a quick break in the shade on the bridge
About to cross back into the old city
That night, we realized we had not really sampled any typical Czech food yet, and headed out to a local restaurant near our hotel, which also brewed its own beer. Of course we tried the beer sampler, including a variety of wheat beers and pilsners, as well as banana, cherry, coffee and nettle flavored brews. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the banana beer! We each got a typical Czech dish to eat. Chris ordered vepřová pečeně which was essentially pork and sauerkraut slathered with thick gravy, and I ordered svíčková na smetaně, which was essentially beef and potatoes slathered with a different type of thick gravy. Despite their simplicity, both were very tasty!
Typical Czech fare - this was beef with gravy and dumplings
We enjoyed a final stroll around this beautiful city, and the next day headed off to Berlin. We really enjoyed our time in Prague. It’s a very laid back city, with lots of young people and everyone seemed very happy. Another great thing about Prague – and a huge recommendation if you ever visit – is the very convenient and very cheap public tram system that can get you just about anywhere you want to go throughout the city. We used this frequently and it saved us a lot of walking, and more importantly, climbing!
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