Prague adventure

I just got back on Sunday from my long weekend in Prague. The hubby and I went together with our good neighbors/friends John and Georgia for ascension weekend. We left really early on Thursday morning at around 3.15 to avoid the traffic on the road. After a few pit stops in Germany and one right after the border to get a vignette, we arrive at our hotel in Prague at around 1-2 in the afternoon. For everyone who wants to go to Prague by car, don’t stop at the first vignette sales booth. There are more after the first booth and they are even cheaper.

We were so happy we left early so we still had half a day to explore the city. Our hotel was very conveniently located close by a shopping mall and the metro. We bought a daily pas (valid for 24 hours) for public transportation. This only costs us 100 czk which was about 4 euro. The metro system was very easy and took us wherever we wanted to go. We found out that the busiest area was what they called “old town”.

That night we were lucky; they had sort of a concert right on the square. To bad I forgot my camara so no pictures of the food we ate then.

The next day we woke up at 9 and bought some sweet pastries and coffee to start the day. We took the metro to old town and walked all over the place.

For dinner we at this restaurant recommended by some Americans my hubby talked to when we were having a drink.

I ordered a big jug of ice tea and it was very nice. It was slightly sweet and very refreshing.

I really wanted to try the roasted lamb shank with mash potatoes and stir fried spinach. The lamb meat was very soft en tender and went really well with the mash potatoes. The spinach had a bit too much raw garlic for my taste, but I ate it anyway.

 

The hubby ordered an entrecote on a bed of arugula and pearl tomatoes. It wasn’t anything special. Meat is meat.

That night we discovered a few stands selling food they made on the spot. The next day we came back for lunch to try some.

They had huge hams on a spit smelling so nice we had to try it.

This piece of ham was 8 euro!!! Way to much money, even for ham they freshly roast for you. Needless to say it was a one timer for us. It was good ham, but not worth the money.

This on the other hand was something different.

It is a string of dough winded on a wooden pole and cooked on either gas or charcoal. The poles are turned around over and over till the dough is evenly browned. Then they are sprinkled with nuts and sugar.

 

This typical Czech delight was crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and very addictively good. It is definitely a must try.

On our last night we book a boat trip on the Jazz boat. This was our most expensive meal. It was 35 euro per person for a 3 course menu and a 2,5 hour boat ride on the river. And since it was a jazz boat there was a jazz band playing.

I started with some home made ice tea. It was good, but not as good as the one I had before.

The first course was a slice of duck liver pate with a Danish pastry and some cranberries.

Then we had pork medallions with potato pancakes, red cabbage and homemade plum sauce.

We ended the meal with apple pie and whipped cream.

Although the jazz boat came highly recommended by several sites and even Georgia’s Czech colleague recommended it, I have to say it wasn’t worth the money. The food only costs about 12 euro but the boat ride and jazz performance was the expensive part. If you didn’t book the package the boat ride would cost you about 23 euro. The food was just ok, but nothing to write home about and the same goes for the jazz performance. From the 2,5 hours boat ride the band only played a bit over 1,5 hours. And although the site claims they take you to see historical site there was hardly anything to see. So be warned, things are not the way they are portrayed.

We enjoyed our long weekend in Prague thanks to good company and great weather. Big thanks to Jonh and Georgia. We had a great time!

Although the city was very pretty I don’t think we’ll be back any time soon. There are still so many places to discover.