Prague Shorts #1 - Lunchtime in Prague

Lunch is a pretty serious business in the Czech Republic, as it is in many parts of Europe. Unlike the British habit of ramming a sandwich down your throat whilst sitting at your desk, lunch is an opportunity to meet up with colleagues, get a change of scenery and eat a proper meal, sitting down in a restaurant, often with a beer. That said, most Czech workers don’t have a lot of lunch break minutes - 45 seems to be about the norm in my experience. 

To balance the requirement for proper food in a short time, many restaurants in the city have a special business lunch menu. This changes daily and is either advertised on a blackboard or on a specially printed menu available on each table. The ‘denní menu’ is generally available for a limited time - 11:00 to 15:00 is quite common, but during this time, the regular menu is not available because the kitchen staff are focused on feeding the workers. In addition, this lunch menu will usually only be available in Czech.

Lunch menu at my local bar - Snemovna v Jakubsky

Most places are quite happy for you to order a drink without eating, and if they aren’t too busy, the staff may help translate the menu for you, but don’t count on it. Typically, there will be a choice of two or three daily choices, two or three things that are available all week and a choice of soups. The food is clearly oriented to Czech tastes, and classic Czech dishes form the bulk of what’s being offered - but there are often some surprises. I recently had battered cod and fries, which would have given a good chippy in the UK a run for its money! The batter was sublime! A few days later, I was treated to a Philippine Adobo - which I’d never heard of - but will be making at home in the near future.  

The great thing about this concept is that the food is amazing value. Before the pandemic and the subsequent rise in prices worldwide, I could have a main course, a half litre of Pilsner and a small dessert - which is included  - for less than Kč 200 (£6.89). These days the prices have risen a little, but I rarely spend more than Kč 220 (£7.60) and especially in the summer, I don’t need to cook in the evening as a snack is plenty. 

So, if you venture into a restaurant in the centre of town, or anywhere where there may be office workers, don’t be offended if the staff won’t let you have a full menu or if they are a bit busy. This is genuine fast food at its best. 

  

Wining and Dining in Prague - A Veritable Smörgåsbord (Part 1)

Before the purists start having a go, I'm using the term Smörgåsbord in a literary sense here - namely to describe a wide range of delicious hot and cold food that should be enough to whet any appetite.

Prior to moving to Prague, one of my oldest memories from a previous business trip to the city in 2000 was going to a restaurant with my colleagues and ordering a three meat roast. When the meal arrived, I nearly suffered from a protein overdose by merely looking at it (no photos sadly, long before we had cameras on phones!). The dish consisted of a wooden platter with three huge slabs of meat - beef, pork and mutton - beautifully cooked - but each one would have been enough for two or three people, never mind all three for one person. There wasn't a vegetable in sight! Even now, I still joke to people that the Czech concept of a vegetarian dish is a smaller plate of meat.

Times were changing even in 2000 as the Czech Republic was casting off its shackles of communist rule. Today the city hosts restaurants serving food from every corner of the globe whilst not losing sight of one of the main values of Czech cuisine - big portions and small prices. I've eaten in Afghan, Argentinian, Brazilian, Belgian, Chinese, Indian, and Thai restaurants, and I know of Lebanese, Greek, Turkish, and Spanish places that come highly recommended.

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but Prague has come a long way from the days of food shortages and a dearth of vegetables. Supermarkets and farmer's markets like the ones at Náplavka and Jiřího z Poděbrad have fruit and vegetable stalls with an abundance of familiar and exotic ingredients. I have travelled all around the world and consider myself well versed in epicurean matters, but I regularly find strange looking fruit and veg that I've never come across before. I suspect much of this is due to the influence of the Vietnamese who were invited to settle in the country during the communist era.

No shortage of fruit and veg these days - and the dog isn't on the menu 

But all this talk of foreign food is a red herring (so to speak) because I really wanted to write about some of my favourite local specialities, which I have grown to love and even try and reproduce when I'm back in the UK (to varying degrees of success).

As a visitor to Prague, your first experience of Czech food should be in a proper ‘hospoda’ or pub, rather than a fancy restaurant. After all, when in Rome… This way you’ll get to see a typical selection of classic Czech dishes while you’re enjoying a glass of beer. Not only that, but you’ll get a great meal at a bargain price - as long as you haven’t gone to one of the places in the heart of the main tourist areas (find somewhere a few hundred metres down a back street!). Most places will have menus in English and the translations can be quite amusing, but don’t take them literally. Whippet cream on your strudel does not originate in the genital tract of a racing dog! You may be put off by some of the names of dishes - pork cheek or knee may not sound too enticing to sensitive UK but do not miss out just because it’s not a cut of meat we’d often use at home.

Whippet cream anyone?

Look around you, and you’ll see quite a lot of people eating goulash (Hovezí guláš) a rich, heart beef stew with a distinctive red tint from the most essential ingredient, spicy paprika. It may be served as a soup, with bread dumplings, or in a hollowed out bread loaf. Goulash is usually thought of as a Hungarian dish, but is common across Central Europe, each country having its own slight variation. The main Czech differentiator is the use of marjoram and caraway seeds.

Homemade goulash back in the UK (with potato pancakes)

Bread dumplings (knedlíky) and potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky) are Czech staples and are great for mopping up the delicious sauces (and soaking up the beer). I’ve made both at home, and while the end results were more than satisfactory, there was an awful lot of mess in the kitchen by the time I’d finished. I suspect most of my Czech friends can make these with their eyes closed.

Potato dumplings are a traditional accompaniment for another Czech classic, Roast Duck (pečená kachna), usually also served with braised red cabbage or sauerkraut. The duck is slowly roasted and the end result is a crispy, spicy and herby skin hiding beautifully moist and succulent meat underneath. There are places in the city specialising in duck, and as you walk in you can see a huge spit roaster with dozens of birds being cooked at a time.

Delicious roast duck at a specialist duck pub

I mentioned earlier some of the pork cuts that are often used in Czech cooking - knee and knuckle being prime examples. Roast pork knuckle (Pečene vepřové koleno) cooked in dark Czech beer may not sound too appetising but it is a sensational dish. The meat is marinated overnight with garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika and caraway rubbed into the skin and then basted with dark beer, allspice and bay leaves before being roasted. These joints can be a little fatty for some people, but the taste is sublime, and the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth. The dish is often served on a huge wooden platter, and I never fail to be amused at the look on people’s faces when they see a waiter carrying this enormous serving to the table. It's usually accompanied with some pickled green chilli, mustard and horseradish and chunks of homemade bread. As an aside, horseradish is not reserved for use with roast beef like it is in the UK. You can expect to find it served with beef, pork and sausages, usually freshly grated with a little cream, and packing quite a punch!

Pork knee in dark beer - a modest serving this time

In a later post I'll carry on with some other classic Czech dishes, including some of the more esoteric pub snacks you may encounter.

Dobrou chut! (Bon appétit).

Parks and Recreation - Havlíčkovy sady

In keeping with all the other dichotomies that make Prague such a wonderful place to live and work, the amount of green space in the city means you don't have to go far to find a peaceful park or garden to relax in and get out of the madness of the hubbub. According to the city tourist board, green space accounts for over 20% of the city area. Many of these places are obvious, like the Letná plateau hanging over the city like a backdrop in a theatre or Vítkov hill. Others need to be sought out, like Vojanuvy sady and the Franciscan gardens.

Some of the best green places involve leaving the confines of the Old Town and heading a little further afield. I've written about Vysehrad previously, but in this post, I wanted to write about the first park in Prague that I visited, almost four years ago to the day.

The view from the Pavilion (with my friend Elena)

Having just moved to Prague, I wanted to find somewhere I could go running directly from my flat in Vinohrady, preferably somewhere that didn't involve too much pavement pounding. According to the map, there was a massive park just a couple of hundred yards from my flat, called Havlíčkovy sady (Havlicek Park). So, on my first newbie Sunday, I wandered off in the early chill of an October morning to investigate. There were a few dog walkers around, but the park was mostly empty apart from dozens of red squirrels hiding their stashes ready for the winter. This part of the park was wooded but with plenty of light breaking through the sparse canopy. The paths were wide and well maintained and it was a pleasant walk until suddenly the path appeared to go over a cliff!

From the grotto looking out on the park

Havlíčkovy sady (also known as Grébovka) spans the neighbourhoods of Vinohrady, Vršovice and Nusle. It covers nearly thirty acres (11 ha) of which just over four acres (1.7 h) are vineyards. These vineyards date back to the thirteenth century and give their name to the nearby area now known as Vinohrady. Over the next six hundred years, the vineyards changed hands many times and were owned by Benedictine monks, Jesuits, as well as private landowners. In 1870 the land was acquired by the industrialist Moritz Gröbe who built the Villa Gröbe.

    

This was a monumental summer residence, designed in a neo-Renaissance style, and landscaped into an English style park. Other lavish and self-indulgent features were added for the entertainment of the family and their guests, including an artificial grotto, a casino with a shooting range,  a bowling alley, and chess tables. Gröbe also restored the original vineyards and added an impressive gazebo – which is now protected as a monument. Gröbe’s heirs resented having to maintain the estate and they sold the house and land to the Vinohrady municipality, which opened the park to the public at the beginning of the 20th century, under the name “Havlíčkovy sady”.

The park features over 120 different species of domestic and foreign trees, and 25 species of bird, including 12 which nest in the park. The grotto was constructed by creating artificial rocks from bricks, mortar and cement to resemble stalactites. An observation deck was created and underneath, a fountain and pond, adorned with a statue of Neptune. During the 1970's the area became a shelter for the homeless, drug addicts and underage drinkers and fencing with barbed wire was erected. In 2010 the grotto underwent major reconstruction.

The vineyard still operates on a small commercial basis, producing about 4000 litres of wine each year. The old casino, bowling alley and parts of the pavilion are used for special events, and the gazebo is now a small cafe where you can drink the wine and look out over the vineyards where it originated. And a rather splendid little wine it is!

A splendid little wine! Na zdraví

As for my running - I never did run in Havlíčkovy sady. Going down the steep slopes was one thing but going back up them again wasn't for me! In fact, it was another year before I ran in Prague for anything other than a tram!

Prague - Top Tips For Travellers

In June this year, my fiancée’s sister, Cheryl, and niece, Kathy, will be visiting Prague for the first time and we’re all going to meet up. I’ve rebooked my old apartment on Ostrovni for a month and everyone’s getting really excited about getting together. For me, there will be an element of sadness, as it’s likely to be my final visit for some time as my contract has now ended. I’ve been thinking about writing this post for quite a while but kept putting it off as there were so many other things I wanted to share. In anticipation of the family reunion, now seems to be as good a time as any to finally post my Top Tips For Travellers to Prague.

On Arrival At The Airport

On arrival at Prague airport, the only thing to think about is how to get into town. If you're smart, the best thing is to pre-order a taxi. I usually use Prague Airport Transfers who are extremely reliable and professional. They might not be quite the cheapest ride in town, but you can pre-pay by card and it saves arguing about prices when you get to your destination. The drivers will meet you in the arrivals area, and you can easily find your driver who will be holding up an orange board with your name on it (or whatever identity you choose to provide when you book online). Prague Airport Transfers charge about 600 CZK (about £22) for a personal car, but you can share a car if cost is an issue.

Arriving at Vaclav Havel Airport

If your budget doesn’t extend to a taxi, the cheapest method of travelling into Prague city centre is by bus and metro. Take the 119 from outside the arrivals building to Nádraží Veleslavín, and then transfer on to the ‘A’ Line metro which will take you to Malostranská, Staroměstská, Můstek or Muzeum. Total travelling time is about 30-40 minutes and a 90-minute ticket will cost 32 CZK. You can get tickets from machines around the airport or from the information booth in Terminal 2. Remember to validate your ticket on the bus at the little yellow box inside the door!

In all the above scenarios, I’m assuming you are arriving at Terminal 1 - but it’s not much different for Terminal 2. I’m also assuming normal traffic conditions (and no taxi strikes because of Uber! -  not an uncommon situation over the last year). The only thing you shouldn’t do is pick up a taxi on spec at the airport. Use one of the booths in the terminal building if you haven’t pre-booked. Prague taxis are notorious for overcharging unsuspecting tourists and visitors.

Eating and Drinking

There are hundreds of bars and restaurants in the city, catering for just about every whim and desire. Naturally, places differ widely in price and quality. Steer clear of the bars and restaurants in the major tourist spots like the Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square and around the Charles Bridge. They are much more expensive than in the streets nearby and although many of them are quite good in quality, they will often try to take advantage of unwary travellers. Walk down some of the back streets nearby, and you’ll find the same types of places with much more reasonable prices. Best to stay away from the big name bars like Hooters, Coyote Ugly and many of the "Irish" or “British" pubs which are total rip-offs.

Unless there is someone in the front of house who is there to take you to a table, most places just expect you to find a table yourself. Find a good spot and sit down and wait for someone to come to you. Don’t wave your hands around and gesticulate to try and get a server’s attention. They will ignore you. Neither should you go up to the bar and try and order - they’ll just tell you to go and sit down. Be patient. The staff are busy but they know exactly who’s come in and when, and they’ll get to you in due course.

Vykorky Dum 99 - sadly now closed down

In most places, it is quite acceptable to just order a drink, even at lunchtime or dinner time. But if you do that, you’re going to miss out on some of the snacks that are often available to help soak up the beer. When you’ve finished, you should receive an itemised bill which won’t usually include a service charge. Remember that wages in Prague are low compared to most of Europe, and for staff in the hospitality business they are very low for very long hours. Unless you’ve received really bad service (very rare in my experience) try and leave a decent tip - at least 10% but I usually leave more like 15-20%. If you’re going back somewhere, it’ll act as an ice-breaker and they will remember you!

Getting Around

Make sure you have some sensible shoes with you. Prague is best seen by foot, even though the transport system is incredibly cheap and very efficient. Shoes or boots with a good sole and grip are vital. Prague pavements are beautiful, but the marble finish becomes really slippery in the wet. Converse trainers do not fare well in these conditions I can assure you. Trekking trainers are about the best for support, grip and for dealing with cobblestoned roads which are abundant around town.

As I’ve said before in these posts, go out and don’t be afraid to get lost. Prague is relatively small and it’s relatively easy to get back to where you need or want to be. Don’t be one of those people who walk around with their heads buried in a map or on their phones. You’ll miss out on all the little things that I’ve been writing about for the last four years! Look up, down and all around - constantly.

Strictly speaking, jaywalking is illegal in Prague, and Czech drivers do not necessarily obey the letter of the law when it comes to pedestrians - so jaywalking is not recommended, unless you really know where you are, and can understand exactly where traffic could be coming from. Also, remember that trams have the right of way and probably can’t stop even if they want to except at designated stopping places. A tram will really hurt you if you pick a fight with one - and you will never win (unless you’re a bigger tram!).

Beware of Trams and Pedestrian Crossings!

Wherever there are big crowds, there will also be opportunists. In the four years that I've lived in the city, I've never had any problems - but use a bit of common sense. Don't put a wallet in your back pocket, keep your bags and pockets fastened up and hang on to your cameras. I'm not convinced that pickpocketing is any worse in Prague than it is in any other major city, but be careful! Small backstreets may be a bit spooky at night, but there aren't any dangerous parts of town, and Prague is one of the safest places I've ever lived.

If you want to take a guidebook with you, my favourite is the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guide. I would also suggest getting a map app that you can use off-line on your phone (for emergency use only!).

Shopping and Currency

Don't panic if you've forgotten to pack something. These days, it's not too difficult to find a replacement somewhere in town, and I've found that, generally, prices are a bit lower than in the UK, especially if you hunt around a bit.

Even in larger department stores, assistants will generally say "dobrý den" (good day) to you as you walk in. They aren't attempting a hard sell, it's just polite and it won't hurt you to respond with your own attempt! Try and learn a few little phrases before you arrive - Thank You (děkuji - deek-wi) and Please (prosím - pr-o-seem) go a long way...and by the way...the Czech for beer is "Pivo"!

Havelska Street Market

Regarding currency, don't exchange money on the street or at any of the Exchange Booths that scatter the city. Most ATMs will accept foreign cards, but if you have problems go to a bank. 99% of the Exchange Booths are rip-offs. The unit of currency in the Czech Republic is the Czech koruna - not Euros. Many places will accept Euros but they will give you a crappy rate of exchange.

One thing to remember about prices - they are often marked in crowns and fractions of crowns. So a bottle of pop in a little store may be marked as 14.7 CZK but when you pay it'll actually be rounded up (or down when appropriate) to 15 CZK. Over time the rounding differences cancel each other out. Unlike the US, the price you see marked includes sales (VAT) tax.

Leaving Prague

Getting back to the airport is simply a matter of reversing the method of arriving. Prague Airport Transfers will allow you to book a return trip at the same time as the outward trip and pre-pay for both.

Finally, for travellers bound for non-Shengen destinations (UK and US especially), the security arrangements may be different from what you're used to. The final security check is performed at the gate before you board the plane. You can take liquids into the airport, and you can buy them inside the airport even after you've been through the border (passport) control. However, these will be confiscated when you go through the gate security - where they will do the hand baggage checks and X-rays. If you buy drinks for the journey at the airport, make sure they go into sealed bags. The best thing to do is to make sure you keep some change and buy your drinks from the vending machine inside the gate. A bottle of soft drink will cost about 35-45 CZK.


These are some of the most useful things I can think of right now. If I come up with any more I'll add to the post later on. Most important though...have a great time!!

Christmas In Prague and The Last Lamplighter

Christmas is a pretty special time of year wherever you are, but there’s something especially magical about Prague during Advent. I’ve been lucky enough to have been in town in early December for the past four years, and I still feel like a schoolboy in a sweet shop.

Lighting the Christmas Tree - this year in the Old Town Square

The Christmas markets are amongst the most famous in the world and there are a number of them dotted around the city. My two favourites are the ones in Staroměstské náměstí and Náměstí Míru (which was recently voted the most popular amongst Prague expat residents). The atmosphere is very special, and despite the crowds, there is such an assault on your senses that you can't help feeling that this is a magical time in a magical place!

Staroměstské náměstí from the Clock Tower (2014)

Each of the markets is filled with food and drink stands, with Prague Ham, klobása (sausages), tredlník (rolled dough, grilled and topped with sugar and cinnamon), and freshly fried potato chips (crisps) being the favourites. These are usually washed down with hot medovina (honey mead wine), or other warm mulled wines. There are plenty of stalls selling trinkets, gingerbread and other cakes, but some of the Christmas decorations on sale are beautiful and are good value (as long as you take care getting them home!).

                 

 

There are a couple of other things that you might not find described in any of the standard tourist guides.

First of all, there are the buckets of carp dotted around town. Carp is traditionally eaten at Christmas in the Czech Republic, and the fish are sold on the pavements, where they are kept in huge blue bins and you select the specific fish that you want, take it home (swimming around in a plastic bag) and leave it in the bathtub until you’re ready to cook it (carp are bottom feeders, and can taste a bit muddy unless there is time to flush the dirt through their systems). The more squeamish - or folk that prefer not to share their baths with live fish - can get the fishmonger to perform the necessary decapitation. Carp may be a strange choice for a Christmas dish, but fish has religious significance because it is eaten instead of meat on days of fasting and Christmas Eve is a day of fasting. The fish is served with a traditional Czech potato salad containing potatoes, onions, peas, carrots, gherkins, eggs and mayonnaise.

Carp on sale in the street

Traditionally, the lights on the Charles Bridge used gas to power them. The city converted all their old gas lights with electric ones starting in 1985 but in 2002 the decision was made to change back to gas in many parts of historical Prague, and the lamps on the Charles Bridge reverted to gas in 2010. All of Prague’s gas lights are lit electronically these days, but during advent, each day between 16:00 and 17:00, one of the last lamplighters still performs the duty in person, making his way across the bridge, lighting each of the forty-six lamps using a long pole. The Lamplighter is instantly recognisable in his red and black tunic and peaked cap.

             

 


Enjoy your Christmas and have a great New Year.

Veselé Vánoce a šťastný nový rok!

Prague Moments #6 - Břevnov Monastery May Day Beer Festival

The May Day bank holiday in Prague marks the date for the first Beer Festival in the city - První Pivní Máj (literally First Beer May). It is currently held at the Břevnov Monastery in Prague 6 and last year I arranged to meet there with my Polish friends, Slawomir and Renata.

It was a lovely spring day and rather than take the tram, I decided to walk from my flat on Smetanovo nábřeží, across the Charles Bridge, up to the castle and onto Pohořelec, before heading down Bělohorská and finally arriving at the monastery grounds for the opening at around 10:30. It was a two and three-quarter mile walk but not uneventful. On the steep climb up Nerudova towards the castle, there was quite a commotion caused by a young and very pretty lady quite happily striding along the street without a care in the world and without a stitch of clothing (sorry, no photos, you'll have to take my word for it!). Most of the noise seemed to be from the tut-tuts of the older, disapproving shopkeepers and the wives and girlfriends of the male tourists busy taking photos and getting in the way of the 'official' photographer.

I also found this rather eerie place near Diskařská which I decided must be where old trams go to die.

By the time Slavo and Renata arrived about half an hour later, the party was in full swing. I've been to a lot of beer festivals over the years, and some in strange places like a covered over swimming pool and an old converted railway roundhouse, but a monastery was a first, and it was also the first truly outdoor festival I'd been to.

Beer Festival in the shadow of Brevnov Monastery

The festival is fairly small in terms of the number of breweries, usually about 20 microbreweries, but with each of them having three or four different beers, there's no shortage of different tipples catering for most tastes. Along with the beers, there are a few Moriavian wines, ciders and a selection of typcial Czech sauages and other nibbly bits to choose from.

Having spent a good few hours sampling the delights and trying very hard not to get roped into the drinking contests (one of which involved drinking a litre of beer through a very long straw) we made our way back into town before winding down with a few cocktails at the bar underneath my flat.

Beer festivals are a Czech family affair!

The first of many beer festivals had been a great day out. Perfect weather, wonderful Czech hospitality, and truly wonderful friends. You'll hear more about them I'm sure!

Prague Moments #4 - Vojanův dvůr

With over 5400 local restaurants and bars mentioned in Trip Advisor, Prague is not short of places to eat and drink. The world doesn't need another set of restaurant reviews and I'm certainly not in the mood to become a food and drink critic. So, rather than start another theme in this blog dedicated to matters epicurean, I've decided to write about my favourite places under the mantle of my Prague Moments.

Vojanův dvůr is located on the West Bank of the Vlatava on U Lužického semináře. Cross the river via Mánesův Most, turn left and cross over the road and you can't miss the huge iron gates which lead into the courtyard.

The place has undergone a huge transformation since I first went there. My very first visit was with some Scottish friends who were in Prague for a friendly football match with the Czechs; it was during the winter and I remember us being the only people in the bar - outside the bar to be precise - and  even the hardy Scots were wrapped up in yellow blankets.

Some months later, in the middle of spring, I found myself back in the courtyard on a glorious spring Saturday morning. I sat at the same table as before (but with no need for a blanket) and had a few beers while people watching. I got talking to one of the waitresses and ended up staying a bit longer than I'd intended. I returned the following day, and ended up waiting a while for somewhere to sit, but  my patience paid off and I spent another happy afternoon there.

It didn't take long for Vojanův dvůr to become my favourite watering hole - much to the amusement of the staff. This is basically a tourist pub, and it's certainly not the cheapest place in the city - but compared to the UK it's still a bargain! This is my 'Cheers' pub, where everybody knows my name. I've spent many happy hours there and whenever I walk in I know I feel welcome.

For most of 2016, the courtyard housed a temporary kitchen. Even with this constraint, Tomáš the chef and his team were able to knock out first rate food at reasonable prices. The main building was cloaked by fencing and scaffolding, but these finally came down later in the year, and the new kitchen, bar and inside restaurant were open to all. With the new facilities, the menu has got more diverse, catering for both traditional Czech and international cuisine.

The Pilsner Urquell is as good as any you'll get in the city, and I enjoy sitting at the bar chatting with the staff, and continue to be amazed at how some people behave in public, usually without realising it!

Vojanův dvůr continues to be one of my first (and most regular) ports of call when I'm in town. Pop in one day if you're in the neighbourhood, and tell them Ally sent you! Maybe I'll be there myself and I'll be happy to buy you a beer (offer not valid for stag and hen parties or groups of more than two!).