This is a continuation of our Prague trip writeup. If you haven’t read the first part, find it here:
Day 2:
We enjoyed a lazy wakeup and breakfast at the hotel, and then headed out for our first stop: the Prague Beer spa!
There are several beer spas in Prague that all seem to offer the same service: you marinate in a hot tub of hops and brewer’s yeast while drinking your fill of Czech beer (dark or light) that you pour yourself from the tap and snacking on beer bread. Then you dry off (do not rinse! You must let the hops and yeast sink into your skin) and hang out in the straw covered bed, or sit in the sauna. Once your time is almost finished, you rinse off and get dressed (and of course finish your beer).
We then wandered around the city a bit, stopping at some sights we didn’t have a chance to see the day before. We popped into the Art Nouveau cafe Kavarna Obecni to see the decor, and then headed to the Grand Cafe Orient for some honey cake, coffee, and Budvar. The cafe decor is really lovely and I can recommend the honey cake. Afterwards we made our way to the Mucha Museum gift shop. Unfortunately we did not have time to visit the museum, so we’ve saved it for our next trip. If you enjoy Mucha’s work, definitely come visit here. The gift shop is also a great stop for souvenirs. They have a lot of prints for sale, as well as shipping tubes so you can ensure your artwork arrives safely at its final destination. We also did a little shopping and picked up some Czech crystal and some jewellery. You can buy Czech crystal in just about any souvenir shop. If we had more time, we would have also taken a tour of one of the crystal factories farther outside of the city. As for jewellery, the Czech Republic is famous for its garnets. If you are in the market for some garnet jewellery, be sure to purchase from a reputable jeweller that will give you a certificate of authenticity.
For lunch we made a stop at Naše Maso, a really fantastic deli. We picked out pastrami and Czech ham. You can also buy Czech ham at stalls in Republic Square.
We then walked a loop along and across the river. We started by heading south to the Dancing House, which is an office building that looks a bit sassy.
We crossed the bridge to the western side of the city and went north to find a series of sculptures called Crawling Babies. They are by the Czech artist David Černy and they are massive bronze sculptures of terrifying faceless babies.
We headed north once more to the Lennon Wall. This wall has had graffiti on it since the 1960s. At times it has held grievances, love poems, song lyrics, and political protests. The artwork and messages are ever-changing and it is a really interesting place to visit.
Once we were done admiring the wall, we made our way back across the river on the Charles Bridge to the Hemingway Bar. As far as I can tell, Hemingway never actually frequented this bar. But that doesn’t really matter because the cocktails are fantastic. We tried four different ones between the two of us and they were all delicious. If you are coming here before dinner or during the busy season, try to make a reservation.
We wandered back to Republic square to check out St. Nicholas's church and watched the clock tower chime 7, and then made our way to our last meal of the trip: Restaurace Mincovna.
Our guide from the previous day pointed out this restaurant as one of the few in the square locals will frequent. It is known for its traditional Czech cuisine and its reasonably priced beer. We naturally ordered beer (one light and one dark). We were still a bit full from lunch however, so we ordered some soup and a roasted pig knee to split. The menu listed the dish as “knee of a baby pig”, but I think there is a mistranslation somewhere, or this is one giant baby. It was a fantastic, hearty meal.
We walked off our dinner a bit and then went to bed, as we had a very early flight.
Overall, Prague was a fantastic trip. If I could plan it all again, I think I would have split it over three days (or taken an early flight the first day) in order to split the walking trips over two days. The city delivered on romantic appeal and fantastic beer and food. It was also wonderful to learn more about the history of the city and the Czech Republic itself.
I'll leave you with a medley of shots from the city. If you enjoy taking pretty pictures, Prague is the city for you.
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