Weekend in Prague

Maybe it was the sights, the food, the people I met, or the weather (this definitely has an impact on vacations), but Prague was by far one of my favorite destinations. I had been so excited to go to Prague before actually getting there, but nothing could have prepared me for this magical city.

The morning of our first day in Prague we woke up in the heart of Old Town. Just a 10 minute walk from this small and adorable coffee shop, Original Coffee. It was here where my three friends and I met an incredibly sweet barista who gave us so many recommendations. After downing our delicious lattes we walked to the Old Town Square (seen above) and had a real meal because we were STARVING. Guys! If you every go to Prague you have to go to the Old Town Square (for the views obviously) but also for the food!! I don’t eat meat so I had the “Halusky” (I picked out the meat) and it was PHENOMENAL. Picture this: a potato gnocchi-like dish that’s so savory you can still remember the exact taste weeks later (yes that’s what’s happening to me right now) and that is what Halusky tastes like.

After eating our lunch we trekked, and I mean trekked to the Prague Castle (the view from pic above is from the Starbucks by the castle). My brief stint of exercise didn’t stop there, inside the castle is St. Vitus Cathedral and we walked up it – all 287 steps of it. It was well worth it though because check out the treat I had afterward:

Next up was a different type of Prague icon: The John Lennon Wall. People flanked all areas of the wall ready for a selfie with the infamous wall and I was way more impressed by it then I thought I would be. I looked up the history of it as we stood there and really appreciated how Prague had preserved this piece of history that was so important for its time. For those who don’t know, the wall was essentially a place where young people of the late 80’s would flock to and write their grievances surrounding the communist regime at the time, and what better way to describe how you’re feeling then through lyrics by John Lennon.

For the rest of the day we hit more Prague hot spots: The Charles Bridge – a photo-op must in Prague and we went to the Gallery of Arte Prague in the Old Town Square which had a Warhol & Dali exhibition at the time.

After leaving the exhibit we didn’t think the day could have ended on a better note but boy were we wrong. It was dark by the time we exited the museum and we heard the most beautiful piano melody coming from the square. As we walked towards home it became clearer what it was – a man had strapped wheels to a piano, and covered it in twinkling lights and played for everyone in the square and it was beautiful. It was such a moving experience, to stumble upon such incredible talent in such a romantic city, I had goosebumps.

We then went to dinner at Picola Perla (10/10 recommend and my friends and I can confirm the dishes were delicious!!). If you’re looking to experience night-life in Prague (you should) for all my 18-30 years old peeps, if you’re looking to do a pub crawl, do the Drunken Monkey Pub Crawl!! I could not recommend it enough! My friends and I had so much fun and although it seems kind of pricey, it was definitely worth it. We met so many amazing people from all over Europe and it was truly an unforgettable night.

Day 2 was just as phenomenal as day 1 but I’ll try to sum it up quickly. Our first stop was Café Savoy (omelet  was to die for and so was the actual interior).

Just look at that bread!! Are you kidding me Prague?!

We then took the tram to the Petrin Lookout Tower, because we clearly love torturing ourselves and walking up a gagillion steps, but jokes aside the view was great and we got to go to this funky mirror hall within the Petrin Gardens – a very good time. We then headed towards the Charles Bridge and made a pit stop to see The Statue of Baby Jesus – so intricate and gorgeous, this wasn’t even on my list of things to see but I recommend to all. We ended this day with what was probably one of my favorite experiences, A Night in a Bookstore.

I found this experience while scrolling through the Airbnb website and I was drawn in like a bee to honey. I asked the owner, Jiří, if my friends and I could do this our last night in Prague and was EXSTATIC when he agreed. Book Therapy is his quaint little bookstore with hand-picked books (all of which I wanted to take home). He gave us free reign of the store for two (maybe four) hours– it’s hard to be sure when you’re lost in pages and also the wine he gave us! Could you think of a more perfect night??  Thank you so much for this incredible last night in Prague, Jiří!

So maybe it was the Halusky, the 280+ steps I walked up, the night spent in a bookstore, but Prague forever has a special place in my heart.