City Post: Prague

Prague was a departure from everything we've seen in Europe so far. We've spent all of our time up until now in countries which speak (a variant of) romantic languages and have somewhat similar cultures, history, food, and architecture (yes, we know they're different, we said "somewhat"). Prague was wholly different.

Our introduction to Prague was 14 hours on trains and in train stations. When we arrived, within a minute of leaving the station at 11 at night, we saw a girl so drunk she was being carried over someone's shoulder and a guy riding an electric scooter with one arm in a sling. Then we turned down a dark alley with only a glowing orange "HOSTEL" sign at the end. The common room was hopping, and we were exhausted from a day of travel. Welcome to hostel life at 30!

We kicked off our first day with laundry (that will be important later). Then we did an audio tour of the historic city center. We were shocked to learn that Prague was mostly untouched by World War II, so a lot of the Soviet-style architecture we expected to see wasn't there. We got to see the old city walls, monuments to famous Christian leaders, the astronomical clock, more than a few cathedrals, and crossed Charles Bridge. Touristy? Maybe. Worth the free experience for a rapid intro to the city? Absolutely.

The second day we went to the Prague Castle. It is quite an impressive site. Many Habsburg rulers resided at this castle during their reign. The cathedral is massive, and there are a lot areas of the castle you can visit. We learned, however, it is not as simple as buying a ticket. You have to wait in line for a ticket (or not, if you just look around for a ticket office that isn't the main one), then you have to wait in line to enter each area of the castle, including the cathedral. These lines were extremely long, so we didn't bother. (Considering the castle opens at 7 and the sites open at 9, we both are willing to bet that tour groups get there early, so we definitely recommend either getting there early or going in the late afternoon when it is hotter to avoid the crowds; the grounds are also beautiful at night). We did get to see the changing of the guards, though, and that was a site to see! In and of themselves, changing of the guards everywhere tend to follow a similar pattern: the new guards march in, there is a ceremonial (albeit real) inspection, a formal handover of responsibilities, and then the old guard marches off. Even so, it was fun to watch!

Our third and final day, Jo got her Prague tattoo (she's getting her eagle feathers filled in in every country!), and Jack explored some cathedrals and gardens. Prague is full of public gardens which create an amazing outdoor oasis away from the city life just outside of them. The cathedrals are a mix of baroque, gothic, and art nouveau, so if you like visiting cathedrals, you have plenty to see here!

Now, the food. DIOS MIO! It was SO GOOD. We were astonished that food that comes out brown and white could taste so good. We ventured out to Restaurace Na Hradku in Prague 6 (a neighbourhood), where we had amazing chicken and pork ribs (Jack says the pork ribs were hands-down the best meal of the trip so far!). Our last night, we went to Karlova 30. It is only a four minute walk from the historic city center, but even that short walk is off the tourist culinary trap. The lone barman/waiter was an expert in managing the restaurant. We watched him carry seven bowls of soup in one hand and two in the other! The food was beyond impressive as well. We were astonished at the number of people that would just walk past in their quest for food. This restaurant was perfectly situated along the walk from the historic city center to Charles Bridge, but we guess that's probably why people just walked by: they were going from point A to point B. Even at the train station, the food was phenomenal. At a train station! We both wonder how Czech people eat such delicious food in such substantial portions and remain skinny. We even met Czech people who wondered the same. If you're ever in the Czech Republic, DO NOT stray away from the local food. The traditional food is 100% worth the new culinary experience. We definitely recommend trying svickova.

Cost was another thing we were shocked to see. Accommodation in Prague was decently expensive. Not prohibitive, but definitely on the higher end that we've paid for hostels. The cost for food, alcohol, groceries, and attractions (for the most part), though, was almost on par with Mexico (Tulum and Los Barriles, not Cancun). You can eat good, local food (not at tourist restaurants) for pretty cheap in US dollars. If you get your alcohol at the grocery store, you're going to pay very little for a decent bottle of wine (about $2, which meant Jo was in paradise) and local beers. Even better, if you get your breakfast pastries at a supermarket, you're going to pay about a quarter of a US dollar for one pastry, so you can definitely eat plenty! (Jack is a big breakfast person, so this was an extremely important discovery for us!).

So...about laundry...let's set the stage. We each had fresh bags of laundry we were going to fold when we packed to leave Prague. We were also in a 24-bed room with 8 3-bed bunkbeds. Jo was on the bottom, and Jack was on the top, both of us in the bunk nearest the showers. The lockers in the room were small-ish, so we kept our bags out and locked. Jack packed his bag on the last night, and Jo planned to pack hers after showering the next morning. Jack left his clothes for the next day out on the floor next to his bag. Jo kept her laundry bag under her bed and out of everyone's way. Now, that's a big setup, but it's important. Two girls in our room went out. One didn't want to drink at all, and apparently the other (a German) drank enough for the two of them, because she was puking in the shower most of the night. When she tried to wash it all down, it may or may not have clogged the shower...which meant the water couldn't drain...which meant that the shower soon flooded, followed by the bathroom, followed by...parts of the main room, specifically next to our beds. Now, while she was puking, we were both saying to each other, "you know, we've all been there before." This was before we knew that the room would soon flood with puke water. Well, we awoke the next morning to find that Jack's bag was dry, but his clothes for the next day were soaked in puke water. Disgusting, but not too bad all told. Jo, on the other hand, well, it turns out there was a low spot in the room under our bunk. You know, right where her bag of fresh laundry was. It was SOAKED through. All of her clothes had to be re-washed. It was DISGUSTING. The first words she said to Jack that morning were "Are you f-ing serious?!" Luckily the hostel let us stay late to do laundry.

Where We Stayed: Orange Hostel

Top Lesson Learned: Keep your fresh laundry off the floor if your bunk is right next to the shower...

Jo's Favourite: The food! But that's a cop-out, so...actually, no the food

Jack's Favourite: The food! Ok, Jo says that's a cop-out, so the changing of the guards

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