Local, Near and Far: Our journey of exploring the world.

Tag: Old Town Square

Český Krumlov Town Overview

After two full days enjoying Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, Rebekah and I were looking forward to a change of pace as we explored a small portion of the Czech countryside!

We boarded a train at Praha Hlavní Nádraží Train Station in Prague’s New Town, and were on our way to Český Krumlov, a small town located in the Bohemian area of the Czech Republic.

With an early departure, we wanted to make sure we had everything prepared.  The day before our departure we purchased one-way tickets for 240 Crowns each, roughly $11.50.  Overall, we found the rail tickets  to be very reasonable as long as we did not cross country lines, which can escalate the prices.

The four hour train trip was comfortable.  Rebekah LOVES trains, and this leg of the trip was a highlight as we watched the Czech countryside pass before our eyes!  The only disturbance from the peaceful views was a large group of college-aged students having an overtly good time with alcohol.  We changed trains once in České Budějovice, where we found the locals extremely helpful in successfully making our connection.

At 1:00 PM, we arrived in the Český Krumlov! The main attraction of Český Krumlov is the town itself, dominated by its imposing Castle.  We loved exploring this UNESCO World Heritage Site!  Český Krumlov is situated on a double oxbow on the Vltava River, with the Castle Town occupying the larger oxbow, and the Old Town occupying the smaller oxbow.

Continue reading

The Music of Prague

A Statue Honoring Dvořák infront of the Czech Philharmonic

A Statue Honoring Dvořák

When David and I planned our Prague trip, I knew I HAD to experience a concert featuring the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.  He is my second favorite composer, after the German composer, Brahms.  Dvořák’s music is compelling, emotional and stirs your spirit.

Other notable composers, such as Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček, were also influenced by the lands of the Czech Republic.  The Czech culture has a true love and respect for great music and great composers!  When we visited the Vyšehrad Cemetery filled with national heroes, we saw their final resting places.  After their deaths, the Czech people celebrate these composers across the country through monuments, statues and performance halls named in their honor.

Mozart also has a connection to Prague.  Prague proudly hosted the first performances of his operas Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito, and of his Symphony No. 38, also known as the Prague Symphony.

But before I could listen to the music of Prague, I needed tickets.  There is a great ticket office that sells tickets for all of the concerts and theater shows offered throughout the city.  Located in the Old Town Square, walk through the little alley between the buildings in front of the Týn Church, where the front doors of the church are.  Once in the alley, the ticket office is on your left.  There are a lot of options!  You can find your perfect combination of price, venue and style of music.  If in doubt, the friendly staff will help you make your selection.  Tickets are sold for the day of the event, or a few days out.

When picking our tickets, my first priority was to hear Dvořák.  We decided to use the concert as a way to visit a venue we otherwise would not have access to see.  We decided on a chamber ensemble performing at the Municipal House.   The two tickets cost 1,460 Crowns, or $70 total.  You will pay so much more for similar tickets in Vienna.  Take advantage of the prices and professionalism in Prague.

Exterior of Municipal House

Exterior of Municipal House

The Municipal House is an incredible performance hall!  Located in the New Town next to the Powder Tower.  It is easily accessible from anywhere in the city.  The Municipal House is a block away from a major subway and tram stop.  Since it was just a few blocks from our hotel, we enjoyed the short walk.  I cannot imagine a building that exemplifies Art Nouveau more than this hall.  Every single detail of the exterior and interior was just beautiful!  We arrived a little early so we were able to explore a little bit.  There is a café on the first level and a bar/pub in the basement available to all.  In order enter the concert hall, you need tickets (although tours are offered during the day).  Since the group we saw perform rented the hall, certain features were not available.  A curtain covered the pipe organ, and the stunning ceiling glass feature was not lit.  Even so, these adjustments did not take away from our overall experience.

Municipal House Performance Hall

Municipal House Performance Hall

The music was excellent!  If you are not familiar with Dvořák, I suggest looking up the following pieces so you can learn a bit about him and hear the music we experienced that night:  Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 popularly known as The New World Symphony, Slavonic Dances, and Songs My Mother Taught Me.  The New World Symphony was written when Dvořák lived in the United States for a short time.  In this piece, you can hear him exploring a new place.  The result is exciting and mesmerizing.  But throughout the piece you will hear a theme that is filled with longing and homesickness as he misses his country and home…just beautiful.  The Slavonic Dances make you want to be in a giant dance hall laughing and twirling around until your legs can’t move.  In Songs My Mother Taught Me, you can see a mother caring for her children, singing to them, and passing on a proud musical heritage to the next generation.  The concert also featured some works by Mozart.  After the concert, we meandered back to the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square and grabbed a little ice cream.

Now that I have visited the Czech Republic, experiencing first-hand the generous, kind people that are deeply rooted in their cultural identity, I am able to better understand Dvořák’s homesick when he wrote the moving notes of New World Symphony.

Foreigners in a Local’s Pub

It was our first day in Prague, and we were starving!

After enjoying Czech art at Mucha’s Slav Epic, Rebekah and I were hoping to find a local pub for lunch and  since it was after 2:00 PM, the delicious breakfast from our hotel had worn off.  Following a recommendation, we found the Golden Tiger Pub, located a short walk from the touristy Old Town Square.  The Rick Steves guidebook warned that it was not a tourist-friendly pub.  Not that the place was unfriendly, but that this pub catered to locals.  That was an understatement.

Exterior of the Golden Tiger Pub

Exterior of the Golden Tiger Pub

As we entered the pub’s rectangular room with simple tables and benches stretched along the long walls, we looked for an empty space.  All the tables were packed.  Catching the eye of an employee, I attempted to ask him for a table.  He simply walked away.  Total fail.  When I returned to the bar he saw I was still there, and stated abruptly, “Wait here.”  After a few minutes, he returned for us, ushering us to a table with four other people.  He indicated we were to sit down by tossing two beer coasters on the table.  Before walking off without saying a word, he set a blank sheet of paper on the table.

We sat, encouraged by this small achievement.  We had a table.  I looked for a menu, even turning the sheet of paper over in hopes of finding a list of food and drink options.  Blank on the other side.  Feeling out of place, we surveyed the other guests at our table.  A young Czech couple sat next to me.  On Rebekah’s side of the table, two retired Czech men chatted away.  No one acknowledged us.

Suddenly, two full pints of Czech beer were set before us.  Just as quickly, two hatch marks were added to our blank sheet of paper.  “Oh, that’s the tab”, I realized.  “But why had we received beers without ordering?” I wondered.  As I looked at other tables, I realized everyone was drinking the same beer from the same glass.  I guess this pub only serves one beer (Pilsner Urquell), and why would you be at a pub if you did not want a beer?  I sipped the beer, enjoying the light yet flavorful taste.  This is how a pilsner should taste.

The beer was wonderful, but we still had not ordered food, and we were hungry!  When we entered, I noticed food on other tables.  Finally catching our server’s attention, I requested a menu.  He responded by walking off.  He left me again feeling discouraged.  However, in two minutes, he presented us with one menu to share.

We decided on a sausage plate and some beer cheese.  Shockingly, our nameless waiter was back within a few moments to take our order.  We pointed to our choices, and he briskly took the menu back from us, giving it to another table.  Our order had been taken promptly because there were only a few food menus for the entire pub, and they needed it back.

Drinking the local brew, we waited for the food.  A basket of bread appeared first.  Soon after, two plates arrived at our table.  The sausage, served with a house-made mustard and horseradish sauce was delicious.  The beer cheese plate was a bit of a mystery.  Two blobs dominated the dish, along with mustard and chopped onions.  Thinking the smaller blob was cheese, Rebekah took a bite.  Pure butter.  She chased the butter with some bread.  The first blob was the only cheese.  And it smelled.  With some effort, we spread the cheese on our bread.  Adding the sausage, mustard and onions, we made miniature sandwiches.  It was delicious!  However, the Czechs at the table were visibly amused.

Almost finished with our meal, the young man sitting next to me turned away from his date, and asks, “What do you think of the cheese?”  After sitting there for almost an hour and a half, our new friend spoke to us!  Rebekah replied, “It is a bit strong.”  He laughed, and informed us that we are eating it incorrectly.  “You do not eat it on the bread”, he stated.  I inquired, “How do you eat it then?”  He replied, “I will show you,” ordering his own beer cheese.  Turning back to the woman, he resumed his conversation without us.

Once his order arrived, he took a fork and began mashing the blob of cheese, mixing in the butter, mustard and onions.  Still talking with his friend, he slowly, mechanically mixed his cheese for 15 minutes.  It seemed like an hour.  After this, he signaled to the waiter, who then brought a small shot glass full of a white liquid.  Dumping it on the plate, he handed the glass back to the waiter without a word.  For another ten minutes, he mixed the beer head/foam into the cheese concoction.  Once complete, he turned to us and said, “This is how you eat the cheese.”  Taking his knife, he smeared the mixture on a slice of bread, and proceeded to consume the entire concoction.

The Surprise Second Round

The Surprise Second Round

Thinking this unique experience was almost over, we began thinking about our bill.  Before we could act, Rebekah’s empty beer stein was replaced with a full mug, and a third mark was added to our sheet of paper.  I naïvely said, “I’ll help you with that,” thinking I had bested the unfamiliar system since I had left a small amount of beer in the bottom of my glass.  However, as soon as I took a sip from her beer, my mug was also replenished, and a fourth mark added to our bill.  Needless to say, we would be here for a while.  The man next to me became more talkative, and shared some insights into the city and the music scene.  This turned out to be a wonderful delay!

Two and a half hours after entering the Golden Tiger Pub, we managed to pay our bill.  Not sure how to make the beer stop arriving, I put my wallet and money on the table, trying to convey, “We are ready to give you money!”  The entire meal cost $14.40.  For such a small amount of money, we had an amazing experience, one we will never forget.  And we now know how to eat beer cheese in Prague!

Hotel Hastal Prague Old Town

When Rebekah and I travel, we look for a cheap but comfortable hotel near the town’s center. We do not like to pay a lot of money for a really nice hotel room, especially when we want to leave that room as much as possible to experience the culture surrounding us. To make the most of our time in Prague, we also valued staying in the heart of the city, with convenient access to our points of interest. Hotel Hastal Prague Old Town was the perfect fit!

View of the Square from our Room

View of the Square from our Room

Location: Hotel Hastal is located just outside the Jewish Quarter in Prague’s Old Town. The great location makes it easy to access all of Prague’s sights, especially if you take advantage of the subway and above-ground tram system. A tram stop is a short five minute walk east of the hotel. If you walk five minutes to the west, you will be standing in the Old Town Square, featuring the Tyn Church and the Old Town Hall Tower with its popular Astronomical Clock.

Our Double Room

Our Double Room

The Bathroom

The Bathroom

The Room: The hotel is not fancy, but is very comfortable and clean with a family-run feeling. Art Nouveau prints by Czech artist Alfons Mucha decorate the hallways and rooms. Our room provided plenty of space along with a double bed, desk, chair and closet. The room also included a small TV and a safe. The bathroom was spacious with a corner shower. The large double window overlooked a mostly quiet small square and church.

The Breakfast: A delicious breakfast of hot and cold food is included with the room. The buffet features eggs, sausage, meats, cheeses, breads, yogurts, cereals, and jams. Each day, a different coffee cake is served as well. The options do not rotate much from day to day, so plan accordingly for a long visit. As an added bonus, a coffee machine and tea are available 24 hours a day. This was a great perk, and added to the overall value of our room! We caffeinated up one afternoon before taking to the streets again for a concert at the Municipal House.

The Cost: Our double room cost us only 80 Euros (about $110 at the time) per night. We found the cheapest rate by emailing the hotel and booking directly with them. A credit card number was required to hold the room, but only cash (USD, Euros, or Crowns) was accepted at checkout. Since we knew ahead of time that Hotel Hastal would accept US Dollars, we avoided an ATM/exchange fees by bringing the required USD with us from home. Overall, the payment process was very easy.

Other Noteworthy Items: The staff was incredibly helpful and kind.  They even arranged a private car to pick us up at the airport since we were arriving at midnight and were not familiar with the city and public transportation. The transportation cost (29 Euros) was added to our hotel tab.  This was great because we had not figured out currency yet.  A bar serving Staropramen beer, a Czech beer staple, shares the breakfast room. Although the hotel bar sells some of Prague’s least expensive brews, we were not able to partake due to relatively early closing times.

View of the Church from our Room

View of the Church from our Room

Without a doubt, if we travel to Prague again, we would stay at Hotel Hastal.

As avid fans of Rick Steves, we bought his 2014 Prague & the Czech Republic Guidebook, where we first found information on this gem of a hotel.

Prague City Overview

Rebekah and I have always wanted to explore Eastern Europe, and Prague was the top city on our list.  Prague, the City of a Hundred Spires.  When we found a cheap flight to Prague using frequent flyer miles, we didn’t think twice about booking the flight!

After much planning, we decided to spend four of our ten day European trip exploring the Czech Republic.  We also wanted to see the Czech Republic beyond Prague, so we limited our time in Prague so we could travel 4 hours south by train to the picturesque Czech town of Český Krumlov.  This decision left us with two full days in Prague.  Looking back, two days is theoretically enough time to catch the Prague highlights, but we moved quickly to cover so much ground.  You could have easily spent a week in Prague, including short day trips to see the surrounding countryside complete with small castle towns.

To make the most of our time, we researched the destination beforehand so we could spend our time on the ground enjoying.  Rick Steves 2014 Prague & the Czech Republic Guidebook was a most helpful resource.  I highly recommend this book for traveling in the Czech Republic.

Before we jump into what we did, let’s take a look at the city of Prague itself.

Crossing the Charles Bridge from the Little Quarter into the Old Town

Crossing the Charles Bridge from the Little Quarter into the Old Town

Continue reading

%d bloggers like this: