It’s currently 1C at 8pm after my first full day in Prague. With the wind it’s colder than an ex-girlfriend. To combat the elements I have bunkered down in a local tavern and have begun fuelling myself with traditional European foodstuffs and Prague’s treasured beers.
I am staying in a part of Prague called Holesovicka (or Prague 7). It sits above the rest of the city but only 5 minutes away by train. The train station is 200m away so the whole booking process has been a happy accident. The best thing about “my” part of town is there are next to no tourists. I haven’t ventured into the tourist saturated area yet. I was quite content to check out every cafe/pub/bakery/othet places of interest in the backyard first. I will battle against the selfie sticks in Old Town tomorrow.
Breakfast was a stroll around my temporary abode, simultaneously cursing myself for not bringing my “warm” coat from Australia. A cafe, Bistro 8, was recommended by my Czech hostess and I wasn’t in a position to come up with a better one. The only things I could recognise feom the menu was “omelette” and “benedict”. Always judge a cafe by their omelette and for a change I mixed it up with a chai latte which I have carefully recreated below:
Recharged, I strolled up to Lenka Park. A massive park which houses a couple of museum, the obligatory bars and has some great vantage points to take in the views. For me to take a photo of something other than food you know I must rate it highly. It’s hard to get a photo between the multitudes of dogs (Europe is one big off-leash park), young couples and skateboarders. I stuck to the task only and I glad I persisted.
There is a bar perched atop the hill with a sprawling beer garden. Being early and winter they have boarded up until the mercury rises. In summer you would have the best view of any bar in the world. You might think the view was impressive but the highlight of the day was seeing a squirrel. Saw a few of them in the park, this one was out having some water, I assume he was a bit seedy from the night before? David Attenborough can rest easy with this blurry mess. If you squint hard you may be able to make sense of it?
Enough squirrel chatter, let’s talk lunch. Specifically chelebicky, a local food that probably loosely translates to “tasty open sandwich”. Once again there was one named “rost beef” so I grabbed that and pointed to it’s adjoining neighbours. Tasty and bo doubt I will revisit my new friend sometime before I leave.
Nearly filled the void but fortunately the bakers had a local dessert to keep the hunger at bay. It was called indianek. Under the skin of chocolate was a mousse and that was balanced upon a biscuit of some description.
It seems that the forefathers designed Prague to be explored on foot. That isn’t a slight on their public transportation, it is first class. Everything is in close proximity, but this has left me with a case (self-diagnosed) of cobblestone calf. It is a short term ache on the calf muscles due to excessive walking throughout Europe. Thankfully the only remedy is bar rest. Much the same as bed rest but in a bar enjoying the atmosphere. I think I will pull through?
Now we have come full circle, dinner. Described as a place that serves traditional Czech food, Holesovicka Kozlovna. While is sounds like an tennis player that is ranled on the cusp of the top 100 in the world, it is a large scale pub with a similar sized menu. As I sat down there was a beer placed on the table by the physic waiter. Guess I’m drinking. Soup to start, containing beef, noodles, carrot and parsley.
Main was a chicken schnitzel with barely mashed potatoes (the way I like them). Not the best meal of this adventure, but given the weather outside I would be happy to gnaw on an old boot provided I was protected from the elements (and the beer flowed freely). Most meals are around $10AUD and beers are between $2 to $3.
That’s it from me. Two litres of beer and I am checking out for the night. I need all my senses to make an assault on the remainder of Prague (and the odd annoying tourist tomorrow). On an unrelated note, Chuck Norris’ Walker Texas Ranger is a hoot when it is dubbed in Czech.
