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Прага глазами шведки

2011-05-03 16:13:40 (читать в оригинале)

Моя бывшая соседка Ребекка не поленилась и сделала замечательный список своих любимых мест в Праге. Я себе перекопировала это все, но лучше заходите прямо к ней в блог, там с картинками и работающими ссылками! Рекомендую! Ах да, все по-английски.

The city that stole my heart! You might wonder where the expression “the golden city” comes from and maybe it was when looking out over Vltava while the sunset causes all buildings to shift in gold that the expression was born. It is like a fairytale. Truthfully Prague is a magic city in the sense of always leaving you stunned with new scenery you could not have imagined. I was often struck by the beauty and atmosphere over there.

When arriving to Prague I was not exactly impressed by it. I thought “What is so special about this place, there are so many beautiful cities like Vienna and Venice for example, what is so special about this?”.

But just as much as I was sceptical when arriving I was totally in love when leaving.

A year in Prague and it managed to cast its spell on me.

If you are going to Prague do feel free to ask for places in the area you are at or for places in a specific genre, this not as I am an expert but might know a little more than average Joe and have another perspective than the standard guidebooks.

I would here like to share some of my favourite spots of the golden city to give you the opportunity to see the Prague that I knew.

As the following information is more useful if you are going to Prague, or are already there, I’d recommend the rest to only read the parts that are interesting to you or basically just skip it as there is a lot of info below. Also a thank you to Niklas Persson for help with the list of restaurants and to Omar Nieto for some of the beautiful photos.

Restaurants
When it comes to restaurants, Prague is a fabulous place. This is mainly because it is so cheep to eat out and the diversity of great places with different atmosphere are still wonderful. In general good service is never to expect in any random restaurant in the city, but there are always the exceptions. Here are nice places on the criteria of great food, price and interior/environment:

Maitrea – vegetarian restaurant with wonderful food, beautiful and interesting interior. It is located just by the old town square. Funny enough the tourist still does not tend to find it nor the expensive prices that you usually find in the area. I have tried just about everything on their menu and I am a great fan. Still I know some people who have not been truly as amazed as I. Still, I’d go there any day! P.S could be a good idea to make reservations as I am not the only one liking this place. www.restaurace-maitrea.cz/en/

Villa Richter – A little bit more expensive but excellent service and the view and location is wonderful – just by the castle vineyards. http://www.villarichter.cz/en/restaurants

Taverna Olympos – Greek restaurant with nice food and great atmosphere. I liked going here with friends to have a big shared family style meal, often sitting in the garden. In my opinion this place is best for a bigger group and preferable in the summer. http://www.taverna-olympos.eu/en/

Clear Head (Lehka Hlava) – with risk of repeating myself I will have to mention clear head. Again a vegetarian place and big sister firm to Maitrea. Clear Head has wonderful food (best would perhaps be the goat cheese salad or the queen Anne desert) but also an interesting interior. If you are to go here I’d recommend booking a table in the star room. As for sitting outside this is not the best pick. An idea would be to go to the main theatre “Narodni Divadlo” and then walk over to the restaurant for dinner, it is a very nice walk (not far at all), if you go along the river, with a great view of the castle. Borsov 2/280,Prague1 – Old town http://www.lehkahlava.cz/


Matylda – great place and cheep but still really good food. You can eat until you faint at this place. Good for meat lovers. http://www.restaurant-matylda.cz/index_en.html

Еще рестораны и кафе у Реббеки в виде таблицы, мне не удалось перенести))

Cafes

unfortunately the best places I know are not on the map nor have a website, so I’ll guide you the best I can.

Cafe Louvre - A cultural and historical place perfect before going to the theatre. http://www.cafelouvre.cz/

Kavárna Obecní dům - One of my grand-mothers recommendations. Lovely place really, just by nám. Republiky! http://www.vysehrad2000.cz/index.asp?menu=1000

Mýsak – This place is a dream for the cake lover (among my friends we called it cake heaven). They have so much to choose from! If you want the biggest desert I’ve ever seen, then the Sundays are a recommendation (you can split one for three people easily). unfortunately I have neither address nor webpage. But when you walk on Vaclavske namesti toward the city centre, turn left on Vodickova (the street with all the trams) and continue there passed Lucerna. You will see an orange sign Mýsak on the right – that’s it!

The Photo cafe (don’t know the name) – continuing in the same direction as described for Mýsak above you will soon come to a McDonald – don’t worry this is not the place I wanted to write about – there you turn left on to a small little street, walking up the hill you will find a small photo cafe on the left hand side. This place does not have the best menu or best food but they do have a wonderful atmosphere and tons of photo books that you can just pick from the shelfs and read. They also have an art exhibition and excellent cheesecake. If this was not enough I can also inform you that you can buy wonderful photos and posters here!

Grand Cafe Orient – this is a really cosy cafe with a nice balcony for sitting outside watching all the tourists below and listening to lovely live piano music. http://www.grandcafeorient.cz/

Friends Coffee House – alright place where they have some happenings and quite a lot of expats. http://milujikavu.cz/

Ethiopia – Ethiopian cafe http://www.ethiopia.cz/

Cafe-Cafe – a nice place where they have good food and very stylish people working there. be aware of the time when you go there as it might be full. http://www.cafe-cafe.cz/index_en.html

The Globe – nice atmosphere and lots of expats. Some evenings they show movies on a big screen as well. http://www.globebookstore.cz/

Bars

I will try to keep it short and just mention some names and websites:

Cloud 9 skybar – This is a nice place to go just for the view. Generally not so many czech people. A cool atmosphere even though a little posh and expensive http://www.cloud9.cz/index_en.html

Harleys - http://www.harleys.cz/

Bombay Cocktail Bar – Cocktail bar filled with expats. usually over crowded so be on time if you want to sit down. Dlouhá 741/13. 110 00 Praha-Staré Město

Red room – Tons of expats. Easy to meet people and I recommend the 0pen-mike nights when the stage can be yours.
Chapeau Rouge – expat centre - http://www.chapeaurouge.cz/en/

Bar and Books – a little “posh” http://www.barandbooks.cz/manesova/

Clubs

Infinity - http://www.infinitybar.cz/?mutace=aj

Duplex - http://www.duplex.cz/duplex.php

Club Nebe

Double Trouble - http://www.doubletrouble.cz/

Retro – restaurant that turns the downstairs into a club in the evening http://www.restauraceretro.cz/

Lucerna – 80′s and 90′s only http://lucerna.musicbar.cz/

Zlaty Strom - http://musicclub.zlatystrom.com/

Roxy - http://new.roxy.cz/beta/?scene=home#

Techle Mechle - http://www.techtle-mechtle.cz

Karlovy Lazne – the largest music club complex in Central Europe.

Lavka - http://www.lavka.cz/

M1 Lounge - http://www.m1lounge.com/



Jazz

Agharta – Jazz club http://www.agharta.cz/

Reduta Jazz Club – http://www.redutajazzclub.cz/index/index/language/en

Bily Konicek Restaurant – jazz club http://www.jazz-prague.com/cz/

http://www.sdmusic.cz/uk/jazzclub.htm



Beer gardens & Parks


Riegrovy Sady – super nice place especially for watching sports as they have big screen TV in the beer garden. The park as such is wonderful and one of my favorites. This especially since you have an extraordinary view from there of the castle and pretty much the whole city! close to a lot of nice restaurants and pubs (on manesova) but if you feel like staying in the park there is a nice cafe/restaurant located a little further down the hill from the beer garden.

Vysehrad – again, wonderful view! Here you can also visit a beer garden and play table football or why not try playing for real with some friends in an open area overlooking the city. The park as such is also great especially considering the view. You can also do some sightseeing and visit the church etc. Nice place for a stroll

Petrin – wonderful for taking a long walk (as it is most likely one of the biggest parks), perhaps on the way to or from the castle. if you don’t like walking you can take the tram and while you are at the top, don’t forget to check out the rose garden – simply wonderful (Be aware of the homeless that tend to hang out there). The Park has a wonderful view and some quite nice cafes on the way up, for those wanting to rest their tired feet when climbing the hill. You can also find exciting cultural monuments such as The Carpathian Church of St. Michael Archangel or a mini Eiffel tower if you feel like adding some extra culture.

Karlovo namesti – here you have a little park right in the center. They do have some places where you can sit on the rooftop and have your drink/beer. For example O2-bar http://www2.o2bar.cz/index.php

Kampa Park – this is a nice hangout close to the Vltava. Here you can also find some really expensive and fancy restaurants and a contemporary art museum. I knew of a group of musicians who used to practice in the park so you never know what you will come across really.

Rose garden by václavske námesti – Like a hidden treasure the rose garden is just in the very centre by the main street and still you can walk day after day without noticing it. It is a wonderful and very peaceful place in all the stress that tends to be totally quiet. An aid in finding it is to go behind the church Kostel Panny Marie Sněžné and the garden is just right there next to it.

Letenske sadi – Has a beer garden with a view of the whole city more or less looking over the bridges. This park is really nice and quite big. Two of my favorite spots there are the big pendulum and skatepark just by it.


Wine

Sudicka – Cosy and quiet place with a nice atmosphere and a big collection of wine. http://www.sudicka.cz/en/index.html

There is a wine place for wine tasting just by Strahovsky stadium. Now it is unfortunately all in czech but the prices and the wines are good and the people working here know what they are talking about.

Beer

U Fleků - ufleku.cz‎

The Pub – Here you can serve yourself with the beer tap at the table www.thepub.cz


Culture

Theatre & concerts are a have to. Do not miss out on the amazing variety of art and culture.

Narodni Divadlo – There are several concert houses, ballet performances, theatres etc. And frankly it is not at all expensive!! http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=en

Krizikova Fontana - There are also the ballet by Krizikova fontana that is a mix of a fountain water show and a ballet performance. It is a little bit more touristy and expensive but the art-combination is wonderful so make sure to be on time to get good seats . http://www.krizikovafontana.cz/en

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra - http://www.ceskafilharmonie.cz/en/index.php

Museums are also placed everywhere in abundance and it is a great city to be in for expanding your general knowledge if you wish to do so. You can find museums just about everything from the sex museum to the medieval torture museum.

Of course don’t forget to visit the castle and the Charles bridge and all that, The Kafka statue etc.

The czech people have, in my opinion, tendencies to be quite careful and sceptical rather careful not to be tricked into believing something unrealistic. Sometimes I got the impression that people did not believe in their dreams anymore but claimed that dreams are dreams because they can not be reality. I also found the czech very down to earth. They work hard to build up their country. Sometimes when first meeting a czech person they can seem harsh or even look naturally angry with a wrinkle between the eyes, but as soon as you get to know them you will find that they are absolutely wonderful people.

These wonderful people tend to be accompanied by dogs everywhere they go. It is as if there are as many dogs as people living in Prague. Surprisingly they are all very well-behaved and I have never experiences any troubles on account of the dogs. The streets are not even that dirty as you could imagine.

To really embrace the culture you could also join in at one of the hundreds of climbing places. The czech people, as far as I have understood, are very outdoorsy and climbing and hiking is very popular. If you are afraid of heights then watching ice hockey is always an alternative as it is most likely one of the most popular sports.


Ideas

If you still don’t feel like this is enough as for what to do in Prague you can also:

take a tour in a balloon and see the city from above.
rent a pedal boat and go around Vltava (bring a picnic)
Go on the jazz boat and enjoy music and food with a view of Prague from the river. http://www.jazzboat.cz/en/
Visit the Lennon wall and the bridge with all the locks to lock you love for someone to it.
Visit the TV-tower and look at the sculpted babies climbing up on it – then compare with the baby at the Kampa Park
Visit the jewish quarters and the synagogue
Go for a street-art hunt around town with your camera
Get lost in the maze in the park below the castle in Malastrana area although it is quite hard to do.
Visit the royal gardens (they have birds there)
Go for a different swim and sauna at Corintia Towers http://www.corinthia.com/en/Prague/spa-and-wellbeing/
Visit mystic Budah or other massage place and get yourself a nice massage http://www.mystic-temple.cz/en/?PHPSESSID=4a8002a3bd23e3593fc7c7a4a31f0ec1
All you can eat Sushi at Palladium after shopping your wallet (almost) empty

Getting around

Getting around Prague is quite easy. Especially with a very simple metro system. here is a website to check out the hours if you wish to, still the metro comes normally quite regularly. http://www.dpp.cz/en/. Good thing to be aware of is that they have people controlling the tickets from time to time and if you don’t have one the fee is 700 (or 800 don’t remember exactly) czk. The guards are also quite strict and can suddenly pretend not to understand english and to insist on taking your passport or taking you to the embassy (they don’t really unless you give them your passport – don’t). Either way they can surely ruin your day so get yourself a ticket.

In addition to this comment regarding the guards, I also have to mention that the police can be a bit corrupted so pay attention.

Sometimes you just need a map to sort out all the small little streets or plan your visits or city tours. then www.mapy.cz might come in handy.

As for fun activities check out this website, it is brilliant and can get you all the additional information you might need, including happenings going on: www.expats.cz

Enjoy Prague!