Pizza in Prague (Praha, Czech Republic)

We arrived in Prague, but then had a bit of trouble getting out of the train station. To get to our hotel we needed to take the metro out of town. But to do so, we needed to, of course, buy metro tickets. When we found the ticket machines, we were pleased to find that they had English instructions. We were not pleased to find that they only took coins, and the Czech Republic isn’t on the Euro. We then took some money out of the cash machine, but of course, as all cash machines work, we got bills. So we went to a shop in the station and kept buying snacks until we had enough change to buy our metro tickets. Our hotel was a bit of a hike from the metro stop, but checking in was really easy and we found out that they sold metro tickets at the front desk. And they took bills. They also sold Coca-Cola in glass bottles at the desk, and everyone knows that the best way to drink Coke is from a glass bottle.

Since it was Saturday we were hoping that things would still be open, or at least available for us to see. The castle atop the highest hill in Prague was our first destination. There we saw Prague’s cathedral, the royal palace, and a small row of shops selling mostly artsy trinkets or marionettes. After taking in a beautiful view of the city we headed back down the hill and walked across Prague’s famous bridge. It is lined with religious statues and is also filled with artisans selling caricatures and photographs. Tourist shops then line the streets leading up to Prague’s famous clock. It tells not only the time but also the month and your Zodiac position or something like that.. In this square they had an Easter market as well. We looked for eggs to buy, but nothing in the thousands of eggs they were selling really caught our eye. At this point we were getting hungry so it was time to try some Prague pizza. My grandparents told me before we left that while in Prague we had to try the “best pizza they had ever had.” Being pizza lovers, we couldn’t resist. My grandma directed me to one specific restaurant to get pizza. However, she didn’t know the name, just some general directions. She told me as she remembered, “Go to the famous clock/bell thing. When looking at it, go back behind you to your right. Walk ½ a block and turn right and it is set back in some alley.” We were slightly skeptical whether we would ever find this place since there are about 12 roads leading off of this square, but we followed the directions the best we could. Well, I can tell you that my grandma has a pretty good memory, because we found it just as her directions said, “set back in some alley.” We can also attest that it is some really good pizza. However, like good Americans we are still partial to Papa John’s.

The next morning was a great morning…because it was Easter Sunday. We did look to see if there was a Lutheran church in Prague, but to no avail. So instead we chose to go to church at the Cathedral, St. Vitus, up by the castle. We also chose the 9:30 service because we heard that there would be a Cardinal there officiating the service. The service was pretty interesting. It was mostly in Czech and some of it was in Latin. Then at some points the cardinal would say the same thing in Czech, German, Italian, French then English. I think everyone there at least understood one of those. The one thing we found lacking, at least according to our usual Easter practices, was the music of the service. There were a pair of songs sung by a quartet, and one short piece in Latin that everyone sang, but that was about it. No resounding “Alleluias” like we’re used to, but it was still Easter without that of course. From the summary the Cardinal gave of his sermon in English, it sounded like he had a Christ-centered message, which is always good to hear. We tried to get a picture of the recessional, but it didn’t turn out too well. The highlight, however, was that he splashed holy water at us. What more could you want? After the service we looked around and found the tomb where King Wenceslas is buried. He is a poignant figure in the city of Prague.

Our next stop was actually King Wenceslas square where there was another Easter market. At this one we did find some eggs that we liked and purchased a couple. We also stumbled across a place that called itself “Hard rock café” near the square, but it was a total rip off. Not the real thing, because there is no Hard Rock in Prague. Someone should check on the copyright issues with that one. At the market we also tried a desert that they had at pretty much every other stand. It was made of dough, cooked and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. It looked like a tasty toilet paper tube when it was all ready, and it was tasty at least. Don’t ask me what it was called. We’ll just call it the toilet paper tube treat. We had some time to kill the rest of the day, and nothing planned to do, so we stopped in a couple of stores. In a sports store we found some outrageous clothes and sporting goods at outrageous prices. Name brand clothing was between $50 and $90 per item. We even found one pair of Asics shoes that cost over $400. Seriously, who pays that much for shoes? Especially Asics. Shopping in other stores in a mall was just as crazy expensive. We weren’t sure who shopped at these places.

We wanted to buy some sandwiches to eat on our night train that evening so we found a Tesco (a grocery store chain that’s in the UK as well). We got a couple sandwiches, but also inside the store was a Little Caesar’s. We were really tempted to get pizza, but after having it the night before we passed and just got Crazy Bread instead. I insisted that we at least buy something to send some more money to Mike Illich, thus supporting the Detroit Tigers. I think Cabrera received the $1.20 that we spent on the Crazy Bread in his recent contract deal. That’s fine with me. Go Tigers.

Back to Prague…we stopped for dinner and got 2 Czech Budweiser’s as well with dinner (which is better than regular Budweiser just to let you know). After eating we went to St. Nicholas Church and listened to a choir and orchestra concert. They sang the Alleluia Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, so we did get our Alleluias for the day. They also sang a Bach mass, a Vivaldi piece, and a Mozart piece. The music was great…the choir was sub-par. The sopranos just drowned everyone out, but it was still fun to go to an Easter concert in Prague. Our short Prague trip had ended and we headed to the train station to pick up our night train to Budapest. Prague was an okay city. Some good history and some interesting sights but we just wished they had nicer train stations. We enjoyed our Coke in glass bottles as we left for Budapest.

Pictures of Prague: click here!