A Weekend in Prague

For some reason when we hear the words, “Czech Republic,” we tend to think of the old Soviet bloc with its gray, sensible concrete buildings, extreme practicality and lack of inventiveness. Perhaps, this is just my hang-up, evidence that I am a child of the 80’s/90’s, a time when much of the Soviet bloc was collapsing, and therefore, in the news. However, when I hear, “Prague,” I think of elaborate stonework architecture and classical music. To find out if the stereotypes swimming in my head were true or not, I spent a weekend in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

What I learned is that in the 21^st Century Prague presents some of the most beautiful & varied architecture in Europe, offers up wonderful cuisine, and surprises visitors (or at least this visitor) by infusing a weird & quirky sense of humor into a fantastic public art scene.

My Weekend in Prague: An Architecture Playground

I now believe that all architecture students should visit Prague for at least a week. I don’t know if this is a thing or not. Maybe this actually goes on in colleges of architecture all around the world already. I have no idea, but if it isn’t happening, it should be. Since I am not an architect, I can’t use fancy words to describe what I saw. So, I will just say it was hard to know where to look first because it was just all so cool and pretty. Note: Praha apparently means Prague. Can you find it on one of the buildings below? Remember to click on each image to see them in their full glory.

The astronomical clock in the city center puts on a show every hour on the hour. Crowds begin to gather about 10 minutes before the figures at the top open their little blue screens and parade past (similar to a cuckoo clock). This clock was installed in 1410, making it the 3^rd oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still in operation. There are a number of local legends around the clock, including that the city will suffer if the clock is ever neglected. This may account for why it is still operational and has been carefully refurbished so many times.

Czech Cuisine

Golden nugget #1 from Mrs. HomeFree: Always eat the street food in any city in Europe. This is the cheapest way to have the very best food that is the most authentic. There is a reason that entire television shows and books have been dedicated to this genre of cuisine.

I was there in the Spring with Easter approaching. This had the unexpected and added benefit of providing me with Easter Markets to visit. Christmas Markets are famous in Europe, but I had no idea there are (apparently) Easter Markets as well. In Budapest, I tried Langosh and chimney cakes at a Christmas Market and discovered that one should never pass up a chance to eat them. The version of Langosh I had in Prague wasn’t quite as good as the Hungarian version, but I think that was the vendor I selected.

One happy accident was walking past a farmer’s market sort of setup down by the river one morning. We strolled through and realized that there were stunning food displays calling our name. This is the kind of thing that makes a foodie never want to return to America. I’ve written before about how some people have happy places. My happy “place” is anywhere that someone takes pride in the food they prepare and elevate the ingredients to the level of art.

One day, after hours of walking, we were tired and damp from the intermittent rain. We decided to have a light lunch at any restaurant nearby that looked good. Our pick was Luka Lu Restaurant. While the food here was good, that isn’t what begs to be written about. The atmosphere was so. . . ummm. . . hard to define that my pictures don’t do it justice. Do yourself a favor and check out the gallery of photos on their website.

I borrowed one photo off the restaurant’s website to help out.

When I asked our server where the restroom was, he pointed at an archway and said, “Johnny Depp.” What the hell? Huh? I could have sworn that guy just said, “Johnny Depp.”  Obviously, there was a bit of a language barrier but, I shook my head thinking I couldn’t have misunderstood that badly. I also couldn’t imagine what he was talking about. I walked cautiously through the archway and found this. . .

Yes, readers, those are friggin’ life-sized murals of Johnny Depp and Monica Lewinsky designating the bathrooms. Why? I don’t know. No one knows. Perhaps the most confusing part of all is that Johnny is on the ladies’ room and Monica is on the mens’ room. This requires that the restaurant provide a more traditional (and less confusing) bathroom symbol on each door to keep patrons from entering the wrong door.

A Street Art Walking Tour

The inexplicable quirkiness of Luka Lu restaurant is a good segue into the surprising and wonderful sense of humor that we discovered during our weekend in Prague. Their taste in public art is wide-ranging. My husband actually designed his own walking tour of all the famous public street sculptures for us to see. It was a lot of walking, and we didn’t see them all, because there are dozens and dozens, but it was worth it.

The first thing to know is that David Cerny, who was born in Prague and is world-famous, is an artist who has a lot of sculptures placed all around the city.

There are also amazing examples of public art from other artists throughout the city too.

While Prague isn’t quite as inexpensive as it once was, these Eastern European countries are, for the most part, inexpensive places to visit in comparison to overpriced behemoths like London and Paris. My weekend in Prague revealed a beautiful city with real personality. Golden nugget #2 from Mrs. HomeFree: Don’t be afraid to visit a few major cities in Eastern Europe to give your travels some variety.

What’s one place you want to visit but are a little intimidated by? Share it in the comments. And don’t forget to book your summer vacation lodging by clicking on the ad below.