My final trip of 2019 went to Prague. This city has been on my bucket list for quite some time and in November I was finally crossing it off my list as Therese joined me for a shopping and sightseeing trip.
We arrived in the afternoon on a Thursday, an hour later than planned as fog in Prague meant we had to wait in Oslo an hour past our original departure time. We got checked into our appartment, which was pretty good and big, and then headed out for a walk right away. We started walking towards the river and the bridges, we continued across the river and up to a lookout spot where we could see the whole city. It really is a beautiful city.
I had hoped to see the sunset on this first afternoon but it was still a little too cloudy to really see much of the sun. We had a great walk though. And then it was time to get ready for dinner and a bar crawl. As per usual we took a little longer than we should have getting ready so we really didn't have a lot of time for dinner. We managed to find a decent restaurant at the old town square pretty fast though, we were both happy with our meals and we were done with a few minutes to spare. We quickly realised there were not going to be a lot of people on the bar crawl as they normally start with an hour of free drinks before heading to the next bar, but we were only 6 people and were told we'd get two hours. And another group would join us for the last of those two. I have to say I've been on better crawls, the drinking presure was a little too much as we felt we had to join in a game of beer pong. They tried to get us to take strong shots in addition to the beer, we had a few weaker ones but there was no way I was doing 60% absinthe. In all fairness most of the drinking pressure was coming from the other crawlers, not the guide, but he didn't really help the matter either. Therese and I were also the only two girls on the crawl, among 9 guys, and we felt we got a little too much attention at times. Because of the drinking pressure during the 2 hours "power hour" and the fact that I really wanted some cocktails after all that beer (I'm really not a beer person), I ended up getting drunk way too early. So the night really didn't go the way we wanted it to.
We slept a little longer than I had initially thought we should on the friday, but as we had sort of decided to spend most of the day sightseeing it wasn't a big deal. We took our time eating a little breakfast and let the reception know our flat was a little cold, so they adjusted the heat a bit, then we headed out a little after 11 am. We just started walking towards the river and walked along it for a bit. After a couple of hours of strolling around and taking a few photos we started getting thirsty and a little hungry, so we found a nice little cafe on one of the narrow touristic streets and had lunch. After lunch we found a couple of geocaches and walked across the famous Charles bridge. I have to admit I really don't understand why Karl is translated to Charles though, the bridge's actual name is the Karluv most. Either way it is a beautiful bridge, however way too crowded.
We took photos of the view and continued on to the canal. We walked past a little park like area by the river with more swans than I've ever seen in my life. And then went across the river again to find a spot to watch the sun set, or rather watch it get darker. After dark, which is pretty early this time of year, we headed towards a mall to start our shopping. After all the walking my feet were starting to hurt though and I couldn't take too much of it, so we headed back to the flat to relax a bit. After talking about maybe ordering take out we eventually landed on dinner out, the closest resaturant was just a few minutes away after all and after a little time off our feet they were hurting less.
Saturday morning started with the alarm going off round 8 am. We got ready, taking a little longer than planned, as always. And then headed to a mall outside the city centre. We spent more than 2 hours in Forever 21 and only went to two more shops before we needed to get some food. We found an Italian restaurant on the food court level and I think the waitress thought I was a little insane when I ordered 2 sides with my meal, but I really wanted to try the gnocchi in addition to my actual food. The sauce they put on the gnocchi wasn't really my thing, but I tried it and Therese had some of it. With full tummies and rested feet we were ready for a few more hours of shopping and I found some pretty cool things. We had agreed we'd try to be back at the flat for 6 pm, and managed that just fine. We took our time getting dolled up and ready for a night out in the city. We had seen a cute 50's style dinner on our walks and decided to try out the restaurant and the bar. The burgers were so good, and I got the best cosmopolitan I've ever gotten at a restaurant or bar (quite close to the one I make myself). The bar downstairs opened as we were eating and big groups of party goers, quite a lot of guys, started pouring through the door and passed us. I was facing the door and had a pretty good view of everyone coming in. When we were ready to go downstairs though I was a little surprised to find just how many people were down there, there were a lot more than I thought I'd seen. The place was a little dark, but pretty cool, and I don't think I ever heard newer music than the 70's, so they try to stick to their theme.
We found some seats and I was actually asked to dance after a few minutes, but believe it or not; I didn't really feel like it. 5 minutes later a cute guy started talking to me though and I had a pretty good time. We had decided to try another bar as well however so we said so, and went across the street to an 80's bar. We quickly realised this was not our kind of place and wanted to leave after just one drink. The guy I had talked to previously had mentioned a place so rather than going back to the dinner we wanted to test out this place. We couldn't really handle the basement nightclub part of it, it was hot and the air was so heavy. The cocktail bar part was pretty decent though, and they had some pretty good cocktails. Shortly after Therese and I found a table the boys we'd talked to walked in. So we had a nice evening drinking and talking with the guys.
We didn't set the alarm for the Sunday, our last full day in Prague. We took our time in the morning and then started walking towards the main shopping street for a last day of shopping. There were a lot of people in the city centre and there were stages set up a few places. November 17th is somewhat of a celebration day in the Czech republic and this year was a 30th anniversary celebration. We popped into a mini mall though and went looking for shoes. We had lunch at the food court, which had a great selection. I had indian and Therese chose vegan food, it seems they're pretty good at having vegan restaurants and vegan options in this city. When we headed outside the street had filled up a lot more, there was a concert going on from the stage and it was a little difficult to get past. We started going away from the main crowd though and headed towards the mall we'd gone to a few days before. We went "home" when our feet (maybe mostly mine though) were hurting too much. After a couple of hours of relaxation and a nap we got ready for dinner and headed back towards the old town. I wanted steak and we ended up at Hard Rock cafe, that way I could get my souvenir glass after dinner too. I have to say this was the most cheerful restaurant staff I've ever encountered, they all seemed to really have a good time at work, which is really nice. We had a lovely meal, I got my glass and then we went looking for other souvenirs and a little trip out on the Charles bridge in the dark. Therese found her postcards, I found my Prague shot glass and got some photos of the bridge. Then we decided to try out a bar for some drinks, it was our last night in the city after all. We got a recommendation and went to try an underground cocktail bar. I'd say the look of the place was promising it looked a little empty however, until we were guided to our table. They'd basically placed all the costumers in one small room, meaning it felt a little cramped. There was a pianist, which can be nice, except it was so loud it felt like the piano was right up to our ears. The decorations on our drinks were not what we expected, tasteless really, and photos were apparently not allowed. We really didn't like the place, although my drink was fine. Leaving the cocktail bar Therese wanted Kozel, a Czech beer, it turnes out most bars doesn't have koozel. After walking for a while we ended up going into a restaurant so Therese could have one last Kozel. After the last drink we headed back to the flat to start packing as we were leaveing the next morning.
In conclusion; I love Prague. I might have to go back in the spring or even closer to christmas in the future, I hear the christmas markets are great. I would probably try one of the other bar crawls next time though, as the Prague pub crawl didn't quite live up to our expectations. But the sightseeing and shopping in Prague is pretty great and the city has some cool bars.
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