We visited Prague in a second part of our European trip (Also visited Munich and Innsbruck). We were there from Oct 5th - Oct 8th. It was myself, my wife, and 2 friends.
We hit a great weather spell. It was probably almost 70 degrees one day and in the high 60%26#39;s the other. We were actually pretty hot and I got a little color on my face walking around the city. There was a little rain one night but nothing bad. I was actually prepared more for cooler weather but it was surprisingly warm.
We stayed at the Residence Masna. I just wrote a review yesterday so it should be posting within the next day or so. They were in a great location, a couple blocks from the Old Town main square, and the apartments were very large. For the location, size, and money we could not complain.
We took the airport transfer that the hotel offered. Cost 500 CZK each way.
We took a private tour with Jay Pesta%26#39;s company (mentioned on here many times). Our guide was Andrea and she was very good. It was very nice to have our own guide since we saw groups that were very large. It lasted about 6 hrs and we saw all of the major highlights of the city. We were expecting a break, and I am sure we just needed to ask, but we never had one. However, it wasn%26#39;t a big deal and we saw everything and it cost us about $53 US per person plus a tip for the 4 of us. To us it was well worth it.
A couple restaurants we visited were:
Mlejnice - It is off a small alleyway near the center of Old Town. There are several good reviews on TA and we also really enjoyed it. It was reasonably priced, the food was presented nicely, and the service was decent. It was a pretty small place but we really enjoyed the atmosphere…although smoky and hot. We liked it so much we went there twice, mostly because we couldn’t find something comparable nearby. We had a vegetarian with us too and this place had several dishes she could eat. The beef goulash I had in a bread bowl was very good. I also had a pork dish with mushrooms, onions, and ginger that was also very tasty. The potato dishes were also very interesting and good. We had the beer cheese for the first time and that we also enjoyed that a lot.
Kolkovna – This was also in Old Town and just a couple blocks from our %26quot;apartment%26quot;. I just had a beer, since we got in pretty late that night, but my friends ate and it was very good. I had a bite of my friend’s gnocchi that was delicious! The prices here were pretty reasonable as well. We also stopped in on our last night for a beer before turning in.
Both these places had beer for about 34 CZK. Out of the beers I tried I really enjoyed the Kozel. It was very smooth and mild for a dark beer.
U Prince Roof - Went up there on our last night for a couple cocktails. Great view and it was a beautiful night.
There has been a lot of talk about people trying to cheat tourists. I have to say we watched ourselves pretty closely but we experienced or saw it too.
One instance happened in the main square when we saw some older gentleman buying 2 kielbasa. The worker said that will be 100 CZK. He looked confused and after some fumbling he gave him 200 CZK. The worker than went to get change and as he turned back and saw the customer wasn%26#39;t paying attention he put his hand down. He waited a second to see if the customer was going to wait for the change. As the customer kind of wondered off he just kept the change. Now this certainly was the customers fault, and he was clearly confused, but the worker didn%26#39;t make an attempt to get the guy his change.
In the same area my wife went and bought bottled water. I believe it was around 30 CZK if memory serves. She gave them a larger paper CZK that resulted in some coins and paper currency. The worker gave back the paper change but hesitated on the coins. Once she saw my wife waiting for the coins only then did she offer them up.
Our friends also had something similar happen. They were shorted about 500 CZK. I can%26#39;t recall the exact situation so I won%26#39;t comment further on it.
So the morale of the story is just watch what you are charged the change you get back. Luckily I learned to pay close attention to that from this forum so I think we did okay for the most part. The restaurants see to be fine but we saw it happen more with street vendors.
Most of the restaurant servers we found were not overly friendly as well. We never experienced terrible service however so it wasn’t an issue if they were a little surly. However, we had one place where we were basically asked to leave. Here is our experience...
We have a drinking culture traveling show back in the States called %26quot;Three Sheets%26quot;. On the show he went to the Golden Tiger and enjoyed some nice fresh beer. So in spirit of the show we decided to go. As soon as we walked in we immediately felt like outsiders. We tried to get a seat and were told they were closed but meanwhile beer is still being poured and many people had full beers in front of them. It wasn’t late at all so we decided to take the hint and leave. We found a couple other bars and enjoyed the rest of our night.
Despite the couple instances above we really enjoyed our time in the city and I am glad we had a chance to visit. I don’t want people to focus on the negative things mentioned since beauty of the city is certainly hard to beat and should be experienced. So I would certainly recommend people go to Prague, just be aware and watch what you are charged and the change you get back.
|||
A good informative report ,glad you enjoyed yourselves.
TORII
|||
Great TR srauhala. Do you have any commentary on the architecture in Prague? Thanks!
|||
The architecture in Prague was quite amazing. It was cool to lean how the city was raised several feet and there are still remnants of old windows, doors, etc in Old Town.
The cathedrals were amazing and it was nice to see so many that haven%26#39;t been pillaged over the years.
It is was quite amazing to see so many buildings that dated back prior to the 13th century
|||
Nice. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment