Lewis and I were excited for our trip to the Czech Republic (Česká Republika). Friends and coworkers scoffed at us for using 10 days of our precious vacation time, but we wanted an immersive experience in its capital. To be honest, there is so much to do in Prague that we invested each day to do different activities—and there’s a lot more to see! Czech culture is a cornucopia of amazing things. When we go to places, we like to create stories of rejuvenation that will carry you with us, so we hope you like this addition to my blog. I'm happy to share with you and describe the people, places, and essence of Prague.
There were no direct flights from New York City to Prague because the only airline that provides them is Delta and they only exist between May and October. We hope that NYC creates permanent direct routes soon; they already exist between Prague and Taipei, Beijing, and Seoul. We flew aboard KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines). Each round-trip ticket cost $1,075. Our flight involved a one-hour layover in Amsterdam because that is KLM’s international hub in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
I don’t need to complain again about the ineptitude and woefully-decrepit infrastructure at NYC’s JFK Airport because it will be the same things I describe repeatedly in my blog since 2012. (12 years of unchanged problems). However, this was (finally) the first time that Lewis and I were able to use the TSA Pre-Check that we paid for in March 2023. In the USA, citizens must purchase “travel convenience” to use at Airport Security, which is something that other nations provide to their citizens for free. After we bought it, we discovered that it was unqualified for use on four of the international flights that we took. So, we were happy to eventually get benefits from it.
We got aboard a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet. Established in 1919, Royal Dutch Airlines is the oldest airline in the world. The crown in its logo symbolizes its royal status (similar to a Royal Warrant) because its expertise was rewarded by Queen Wilhelmina in 1919.
Our jet became airborne on-time, and our transatlantic flight was serene—just the way we like it. We landed at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to change planes for a shorter flight to Prague. We detest an indirect flight because of the huge chance that we might miss our connection to the next flight. But we trusted the reputation of Netherlandish people to be prompt and accurate, so we expected an effortless transfer. Schiphol provided it for our first flight, but they failed miserably for our flight back to NYC (which I’ll describe at the end).
*To see our first time in Amsterdam, please use this link: https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2019/08/our-trip-to-netherlands-part-1-of.html
After a one-hour layover, we climbed aboard a smaller jet, named a CityHopper because it connects nearby cities.
We landed again with an hour in Central Europe... literally in the center. That is why the Czech Republic is nicknamed "The Heart of Europe".
The Czech Republic is also known as Czechia (Česko), just as The French Republic is known as France. It has three regions that are named for ancient areas: Bohemia (initially its own principality), Moravia (initially its own dukedom), and Silesia (a Dependency of the Bohemian Crown). Their coats of arms form the nation’s coat of arms.
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Our plane descended over the Central Bohemian Region because it encircles the Capital Region of Prague. We landed in the Capital City of Prague; it is the capital of the Prague Region, capital of the Central Bohemian Region, and capital of the nation. It’s an important city.
The Czech flag retained its red and white colors since 1192! Those colors originated with King Vladislaus I. (Born in 1110, he was an adventurous Duke of Bohemia who got his dukedom elevated to its own kingdom). Blue was added in 1920.
The nation has an unusual history of governance. It had tribal origins in the 500s, and it was a monarchy from the 800s until the early 20th-century. The last king died in 1922. But he wasn’t Czech; he was Austrian. For centuries, the kingdom’s sovereigns were from Austria. In 1918, Czech people joined with Slovaks and established their own independent nation. Like many European powers, they were occupied by Nazis from Germany, and then they were ruled by Soviets from Russia. Czechia separated from Slovakia and achieved independence in 1993.
Czechia was previously called Bohemia because it was first inhabited by a Celtic tribe named Boii during the Iron Age. (That is similar to the Republic of Venice being named for the tribe of Venetie). In the 550s, Slavic tribes of Czechs arrived and intermingled as the dominant occupants.
An ancient legend says that three Slavic brothers founded civilizations. The brother named Čech established Czech culture. After climbing a mountain, he proclaimed to his entourage that they reached the “promised land”, which was plentiful with food and defendable against enemies.
We exited the plane into Václav Havel Airport, which opened in 1937 on the site of an airfield from 1918.
Last year, it experienced a 29% increase in traffic: 13,828,137 passengers coming from 167 destinations on 68 airlines. Prague began direct flights to Taipei and Seoul because of a surge in visitors from Taiwan and South Korea. This year, it will implement direct flights to the Buddhist nation of Sri Lanka and the Kingdom of Thailand.
The airport is state-of-the-art and airily impressive with spaciousness and cleanliness that we never see in NYC. (NYC greedily builds taller skyscrapers to extract more profits. Yet, it fails to build things that actually benefit its society: power plants, subway tunnels, trams, bigger airports, and cleaner waterways. To expand its dilapidated airports, New York City could build on reclaimed land from the sea, but it chooses not to—for the pure inconvenience of all travelers coming to it. Only a gullible tourist would believe NYC’s advertising and relocate there to overpay for such crap). We greatly preferred Prague.
Stores were still decorated from the recent Lunar New Year celebrations.
Instantly, T-Mobile provided my Xiaomi Phone with excellent service.
Outside of their country, Americans must get acclimated to using the globally-embraced metric system: kilometers, liters, centimeters. America is the only first-world nation that refuses to update from the imperial system: miles, gallons, inches. (Two other nations refuse the metric system, but they are third-world nations). Next, most of the world writes the date as "Day, Month, Year" (e.g. The 5th of February, 2024), but America is one of three nations that stubbornly does "Month, Day, Year". Thus, it can be confusing when you read a date as 2/5/24. Nearly anywhere beyond the USA, time is displayed in 24-hour increments. It might be spoken as 4pm, but it is written as 16:00. In America, time is regarded in 12-hour increments, yet its military uses 24; that duplicity exists because neither was established as a national standard.
We did not need a currency exchange because paperless transactions occur nearly everywhere in Prague. Czechia is part of the European Union, yet it retains its own currency: the Czech koruna (crown), written as CZK. Paper money is colorful with vibrant images, and two denominations feature women! (American money is still man-dominated and bland). Coins are used for small purchases and gratuities. Nearly all payments are made digitally. That is far superior to the USA, where many people still use paper checks for payment.
[*Trivia: the "dollar" began in the USA in 1792 but it originated in Czechia in 1519 as "thaler". It was the world's first silver coin that could be easily made and traded. The Holy Roman Emperor made it the currency of his vast empire, and it inspired coinage throughout Europe. Netherlandish settlers brought it to North America. The USA stopped minting Silver Dollar coins in 2011, but dollars remain as increments].
Travelers can get to the city’s central train station on Airport-Express Buses, or they can take local buses to the nearest Metro Station and use that.
Like any truly first-world city, Prague wants a convenient railway connection to its airport, and construction began last year. (In contrast, NYC uncaringly refuses to spend money to have trains to go directly to either of its airports). Taxis are easy to get, too, and they're cleaner and more spiffy than NYC cabs.
Yet, Lewis and I chose a company named Welcome Pickups. We discovered it in Madrid, last year. It provides chauffeured cars—which are sanitized for 20-minutes between customers—at similar prices to taxis. Drivers in each city are knowledgeable to answer questions, and they know your flight/train number so they can be ready for your arrival. The company allows one hour for any possible flight delays (unless you contact them beforehand) before charging a fee for additional time. That is fair. Before our trip, we made an online reservation for one of their cars. We got an email notification of the driver’s name, type of car, and license plate. The flat-rate price was 725 Czech Crowns ($35) for our 30-minute ride to any destination in the city-center.
Our driver was a young man named Azamjon. He gave us a hearty welcome, and he brought our luggage to his Hyundai i40 Wagon.
We love how Prague’s airport makes arrivals easy with convenient parking near the terminal!
As he drove, Azamjon talked about how he emigrated from the mountainous nation of Tajikistan three years ago. He loves his life in Prague, and he resides in a large district named Prague 6. He considers himself to be a proud Praguer. People who reside in Prague are Praguers… similar to Londoners and Berliners. We asked about local events during February, and he described the annual La Bouteille de Champagne festival occurring at New Town Hall. It occurred that day to showcase handmade champagne.
He sped across the Ring Roads that encircle the capital. They were built to alleviate congestion and pollution in the city-center (something that NYC lacks, despite having the worst congestion in the USA). We also zoomed through tunnels in the hills.
Our car featured a glass roof, which made our entrance into the city even prettier.
This is Prague's coat of arms...
The capital includes 10 municipal districts named Prague 1 to Prague 10. (Each is divided into smaller administrative districts). Our destination was a municipal district named Prague 1.
This is its coat of arms and flag...
Due to its astounding quantity and quality of historic structures, most of Prague 1 is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! That’s similar to the enormous Canal Rings of Amsterdam. (Czechia is blessed with 16 UNESCO sites!) Prague 1 encompasses most of the tourist attractions, both houses of Parliament, Prime Minister’s Office, President’s Office, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The Military Police, Czech Air Force, and Special Forces Command are headquartered there. Established in 1233, the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star have their headquarters in a massive church built in 1252.
Our hotel was in a famous quarter of the city named Nové Město (New Town).
Despite its name, it is quite old, but it was the newest of five areas built during the Middle Ages. It was designed on March 7, 1348 by King Charles IV, who was born in Prague and became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. This is its coat of arms...
It was placed beyond the City Walls and adjacent to the area named Staré Město (Old Town). It was three-times the size of Old Town! Due to the addition of New Town, Prague became the third-largest city in Europe. Charles IV achieved Prague’s independence from the Roman Catholic Church by appointing his own Archbishop of Prague in 1344. The development of New Town furthered his aspirations for Czech greatness. It was Europe's largest urban planning project, and no city had the type of wide streets that Prague got from the New Town district. Its central marketplace (now Wenceslas Square) was larger than some cities! It became the third-most-populated city after Constantinople and Rome. New Town was unique because it was created as a “royal city” with its own legal governance that didn’t depend on Old Town. The title “royal city” or “royal town” was bestowed by the monarch to instill privileges and rights that enabled prosperity. In addition, the establishment of New Town made the fortified walls around Old Town obsolete, and Old Town was compelled to dismantle them for the benefit of commerce and travel.
We stayed at the 4-star Cube Hotel, which has 83 rooms. It’s in a historic building from the 1880s.
Like most buildings in Prague, it preserves its historic beauty but is fully revamped with modernity.
As usual, we made our reservation through Booking.com because we love that website’s honesty, convenience, and assurance. Users on Booking.com made reviews that praised the hotel’s attributes, level of caring, and professionalism. This year, it won Tripadvisor's Travelers' Choice Award as "Best of the Best" among Europe's top 25 hotels! That is the highest recognition presented to the top 1% of hotels! Of 8 million hotels, less than 1% achieve that. From of 718 reviews, it consistently achieved a perfect "Excellent" rating of 5 of 5 for location, cleanliness, service and value. (Intuitively, we knew it was great and chose it a year before it won its rating). Our room cost $1,260 for nine nights.
The urbane hotel is situated on a cobblestone street named Kremencova, which is one of the city’s oldest. (Street signs are located on the sides of buildings, to avoid the clutter of sign poles on the pretty streets). It was laid in the early 1400s and named for a prominent homeowner: Velik Kremenec.
Within the hotel, a fully-equipped gym allowed our mornings to start with fitness, and their spa sold an array of massages. Included in the cost, the dining room offered a daily Full Breakfast, which impressed us repeatedly. The Lobby Bar dispensed coffee, tea, cocktails, and wine, and the Front Desk was staffed 24-hours per day. That’s great for international visitors who do things at all hours. Everyone was fluent in English, and we heard employees converse to guests in Czech, German, French, and Spanish. Every day, the Front Desk team included the cheeriest Czechs imaginable, and they went out of their way to create an upscale-yet-homey environment.
In Czech, Lewis' name is "Ludvík". My named doesn't translate, so it remained as "Kenneth"; it originated with ancient Gaels to mean "handsome lord born of fire". "Lewis" has Frankish-Germanic origins to mean "loot-carrying warrior".
During our arrival, two young men and a young woman welcomed us with bright smiles. As with most Czechs, as soon as they detected our American accents, they switched languages. (Since the nation is visited by people from around the world, English is the common language that everyone uses). When the trio realized that we were from NYC, their smiles beamed. As a pair of New Yorkers, we were like celebrities. Being restaurant-savvy, Lewis asked for local recommendations. One guy boasted that if we needed any, we should ask the woman because she was a native Pražan
(Praguer). Indeed, she gave us a hand-written list: Knedlin for snacks, Aroma for Italian seafood, Pilsnerka for pilsner, and Brazilerum for Brazil cuisine.
As we went up to our room in the glass elevator, the trio waved and said, “We hope you have the greatest time in Prague!” It was the sincerest welcome that we ever experienced in any hotel in the world!
Our room overlooked the garden courtyard with a full-size glass door that we opened for a breeze. We heard birdsong and the occasional church bells from a nearby bell-tower. Lovely!
The room was handsomely designed with recessed lighting, the comfiest queen-sized mattress, firm pillows (our preference to the hotel), ample closet space, lots of counters and shelves, a push-button “blackout shade” for the windows, sheer curtains for privacy, drapes for partial dimness, and a mini-fridge that blended into the wall.
The sleek bathroom had a towel warmer and a heated marble floor. We liked the “rainfall shower”. At night, a motion-sensor nightlight illuminated the floor from under the counter.
A fully-stocked coffee/tea maker was provided (with utensils and cups), and small chocolates were near the bed. There were two complimentary bottles of water. Thanks to its high quality, tap water is safe to drink in Prague, so we did.
In the USA, hotel linens are usually made in China. In Prague, the sheets and towels were made in Czechia by a company named Tibex, which focuses on hotel bedding with 20 years of expertise. Their textiles and fabrics were plush and soft, and the towels were absorbent. The toilet and sink were manufactured by a great ceramic company named Villeroy & Boch, which was founded in Germany in 1748.
The hotel provided slippers because Czechs don’t wear their shoes indoors. Every home has a place to remove your shoes, and people use slippers inside. That is because Czechs maintain a clean society. We love their sanitary smartness. It reminded us of Asian sensibilities. We rarely see that in America. NYC is the dirtiest city—with dog poop left uncaringly on every sidewalk—yet people wear their shoes indoors… often putting them on the furniture—and their beds! Yuck.
We melt with admiration at a clean society.
As we left the hotel for lunch, we asked the employees how to turn on the towel warmer? A young man with gelled hair volunteered to go to our room and activate it, while we left the hotel to begin our day. That was gracious.
It’s helpful and considerate to know some Czech phrases, and we learned these:
Please = Prosim (pronounced as Pro-seem)
Thank you = Dekuji vam (Dye-koo-yi Vam) and Dekuju (Dye-kooyoo)
Good morning = Dobré Rano (Dob-rye Rah-no)
Good afternoon = Dobré Odpoledne (Dob-rye Od-pole-dne)
Good night = Debrou Noc (Dob-roh Nots)
Hello = Dobry’ Den (Dobree Den)
Hi = Ahoj (Ah-hoy)
Goodbye = Na Shledanou (Nas Khled-an-ow)
Yes = Ano
No = Ne
We liked The Cube’s centralized location, which made it easy for our daily explorations. A Metro station for Route B (the Yellow Line) was a few streets away, and Trams # 2, 9, 18, 22, and 23 stopped there.
Brainwashed from their "car culture", Americans may want to drive themselves everywhere... but cars are not needed. It is better to use the marvelous public transit and your own two feet.
Before our trip, I did online research to learn about Prague’s transit system, and we love its transit app that we downloaded on our phones. The transit system is named PID (in English, it means Prague Integrated Transport). Similar to London (and unlike NYC), you can buy tickets or passes at many shops, not only at transit stations. You gain access to trams...
buses...
trolleybuses...
ferries (in greedy NYC, ferries are an additional cost)...
commuter railways (yes, unlike in the USA, those are included),
Metro system...
bike-sharing program, and a funicular.
It sustains 548 lines with admirable modernity and efficiency. That is an achievement that American cities haven’t attained. Seen below, NYC's greedily-unhelpful subway system resembles a drainage designed to funnel workers to Manhattan. It doesn't care about letting people get between boroughs.
71% of Prague’s population relies on public transportation. (NYC is choked by the worst traffic congestion in the USA, but only 54% of the people use public transit. That’s because America brainwashes its people to be car-centric, and NYC allows its public transit to decay since it was installed). You can also purchase tickets online via the app and email them to friends. That’s helpful if you have people visiting from out-of-town.
The PID Litacka app also provides the locations of entrances to Metro stations—at both ends of the platforms! We don’t have that technology in NYC. It includes locations of bike-share stations. The Route Planner informs you of exact bus arrival times on all 118 routes, and it mentions the exact number of minutes that a tram might be delayed on their 35 routes. It gives a detailed map—with moving icons of vehicles in real-time. You can type station names and it will help you find ways to other destinations.
When you select a route, the map highlights it...
Best of all, the Metro stations brim with modernity, and all facilities are cleaned daily. Passengers never have to wait in dirty environments. That takes effort to sustain, and we love it. Prague’s population is 1.29 million, while NYC’s is 8.9 million. Considering that NYC doesn’t care about having modern infrastructure for its people (it repeatedly embezzles the funds), we were enamored with Prague because it invested continuously for amazing infrastructure. Think about that. Prague has a smaller population, so it has less tax revenue… yet it outclasses NYC: the wealthiest city in America. Meanwhile, NYC demands higher taxes from its 8.5 million inhabitants but avoids upgrades to mass transit, airports, regional trains, flood prevention, roads, and electricity. Some trains are still from the 1970s! That is atrocious when you realize that 4% of all NYC Sales Tax is given to Commuter Transportation. It's appalling when you also know that the transit authorities take tolls as revenue from nine bridges and tunnels in NYC (including the bridge with the most expensive toll in America) equaling $2.4 billion per year! Every month of the year, NYC’s transit agency syphons millions of dollars… yet it neglects infrastructure, stations, tracks, subway trains, signage, broken elevators, a lack of air vents, a lack of handicap accessibility (despite decades of lawsuits), and electric signals from the 1930s. For its vast system, it only has 3 track-cleaning machines, but only one works.
Further proving Czech society to be upstanding, the transit system relies on a “honor code”. People are expected to validate their tickets at kiosks or have proof-of-payment on their phone apps. Seen below, there are no turnstiles or gates at Metro stations.
Riders tap their transit cards on yellow validator kiosks, or on the screens inside trains, trams, buses, and ferries. People with prepaid fares on their mobile apps only show it if asked. If you have a paper ticket, you insert it, and the validator stamps the time/date. You only have to insert it once during the validity of your ticket! Drivers of trams and buses do not validate tickets. However, transit inspectors patrol the system to randomly check everyone.
When you buy an e-ticket via the mobile app, there is a one-minute delay before activation. That is intended to thwart riders who didn’t pay their fares until they see an inspector. During our 10 days in Prague, we experienced 3 inspections: on a tram, at a Metro station, and on a Metro train.
If NYC’s overpaid transit police did that, it would stop the illegal turnstile-jumpers that we see every day in NYC.
Using the PID app, we purchased monthly tickets priced at 550 Czech crowns ($23.52). That’s a better value than NYC’s monthly ticket costing $132.00! Which city would you prefer to pay for? Riders can also buy increments of 30 minutes, 90 min, 24 hours, 72 hours, as well as long-term passes for three months, or a yearly ticket that costs 3,650 CZK ($156.00). One year of Prague’s amazing transit system costs almost the same as only one month in NYC’s cesspool of crap. New Yorkers are overpaying 10-times the price for crap! We prefer Prague’s value! Furthermore, if you have a monthly or yearly ticket, you get discounts to climb the city’s famous towers or enter some museums. That's great value!
Famished for food, we rode on a tram over the river to one of the capital’s prized eateries.
In Czechia, things are happening with gastronomy that aren't happening anywhere else. Chefs in Prague use superior ingredients and tried-and-true techniques to create exceptional recipes. We knew the ideal place to start our culinary exploration!
Established in 1893, Café Savoy is in a handsome old building on Vitezna (Victory) Street. The cobblestone street was named for the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, which was its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is located in Prague 5...
The building was built in 1841 to honor a Count named Karl Chotek. From 1826 to 1843, he worked in Prague as the Imperial Government’s President of the Kingdom of Bohemia. He improved education, roads, bridges, sewage, street lighting, arts, and he cared for poor people. He was knighted in 1836.
We discovered the restaurant from online sources: local vloggers who praised its heritage menus, and foreigner bloggers who loved its meals. When we told the employees at Cube Hotel where we were going for our first meal in Czechia, they were flabbergasted that we found Café Savoy so quickly! Most tourists flock to Old Town Square for chain-operated “Fast Food” places. Lewis and I are never tourists; we are travelers. So, we prefer to avoid touristy places. Café Savoy straddles the role of a local spot that attracts foreigner visitors. It is worthwhile! Proving its popularity, it is open Monday-Friday from 8:00 to 22:00, and from 9:00 to 22:00 on weekends.
Customers are always rewarded with a menu of succulence, decadent pastries, vibrant chatter, Old-World ambiance, and the clatter of silverware against crockery. Chef Martin Čáslavka
oversees a team dedicated to resurrecting nearly-forgotten methods and old-school recipes. The service is correct without being stuffy.
Café Savoy is blessed with Art Nouveau décor: a rich blend of curvaceous symmetry and stylish flamboyance. The interior was modernized, yet it honors its historic architectural elements. Its double-height ceiling has richly-colored moldings that surround Florentine frescoes, and huge hand-blown glass chandeliers illuminate big rooms with a soft glow. There are plenty of tall windows for airiness.
We arrived without a reservation, and we knew that queues often exist with customers waiting for a table. But we did our research beforehand and were confident that the restaurant would be less-crowded when we appeared at 15:30 (3:30pm). We were correct. Café Savoy differs from many Czech restaurants because it does not have a break in service between lunch and dinner. It has enough staff to keep customers satisfied throughout the day. The maître ‘d escorted us to a table-for-two in the main room, situated against a tall window. Perfect.
Before we ate any food, we already knew that we were in the midst of something special. With typical Old-World charm, the windowsill had a rack of free magazines and newspapers for customers.
A gentleman took a newspaper from it while we sat there. Since the 1700s, coffeehouses in Europe provided newspapers because they were gathering places where locals discussed news of the day. It was the Age of Enlightenment. Czech coffeeshops and cafés still uphold that tradition.
On that topic, the 2024 World Press Freedom Index stated that Czechia is #17 in the world for "media freedom". It rates every nation's censorship, legislative framework for media, punishments against journalists, and corporate ownership of reporters. It is no surprise that the USA is far below at #55.
Espresso machines whirred in the background, and ice cubes clattered inside cocktail shakers. Happy voices were heard everywhere. Wearing black aprons and bowties over white shirts, the servers moved efficiently through the crowded rooms to bring the tastiest handmade dishes to enthused customers at cozy tables. The mezzanine was full, and a central Waiter Station was active with water pitchers, wine chillers, and silver trays being exchanged.
Going downstairs to the lavatory, Lewis and I passed a huge window that gave a view of the pastry kitchen: bakers and chefs bustling but smiling. One waved at me.
During our 1.5-hour meal, we were assisted by a team of servers. Waiters and waitresses acted cohesively—not the typical American attitude of “I’ll get your waiter to help you." All of the servers seemed content and unpressured. That indicates a happiness with their profession. Any civilization with happy waiters has effective Life/Work Balance. The Czech Republic has a mostly non-tipping culture… so those employees were content because they get paid livable wages and get Universal Healthcare, while working in decent circumstances. It is superior from how hospitality and restaurant workers are mistreated in the USA.
On the topic of tipping, if you enter a Czech café for coffee and cake, you give 20 crowns ($0.86) as a tip. Two people dining together should double that amount. Meals at standard restaurants should garner a tip of 50-100 crowns (up to $4.32). At high-end restaurants, the tip should be calculated as 200 crowns ($8.64).
I ordered a latte (88 crowns), and I relished in the knowledge that I could consume hormone-free Czech milk without disturbing my stomach. Lewis and I can’t do that with the majority of milk in America. Savoy's coffee beans are roasted in Liberec: the provincial capital of the Liberec Region.
The coffee supplier is Nordbeans, which was founded by brothers in 2015 and uses a Dutch-made Giesen roaster. They proudly get beans from small plantations in Kenya, Colombia, El Salvador, Ethiopia, and family-run farms in Cameroon.
My superb latte was promptly presented on a small metal tray.
With elegance, Savoy serves each item on its own apropos-sized tray.
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Savoy serves its coffees in appropriately-sized cups and saucers, with matching-sized spoons. Those details are often ignored at pricier American coffeeshops. At Savoy, civilized sipping occurs with a paper doily between the cup and saucer. The cup handles were Art Nouveau. My tray had a jigger of sparkling water (to cleanse the palate before drinking, and to provide hydration against the caffeine) and unbleached sugar. (Lewis and I might use honey, but we never add sugar to any beverage).
Lewis perused their list of loose teas and was delighted that they came from Nepal, India, Taiwan, China, and South Africa. The Earl Grey tea came from the mountainous nation of Nepal, as did a white tea named Arya Tara Silver Tips. Green teas outnumbered the black ones, and two were harvested on the island-nation of Taiwan: Winter San Xia Bi Luo Chun and Cui Feng Chin Shin Oolong. Grown in China, there was a tasty green tea named Tai Mu Long Zhu. Sencha tea was sourced from the archipelago of Japan. Despite that, he drank a Café au lait Savoy (made with espresso instead of strong coffee) for 118 crowns, which was topped with shavings of Valrhona chocolate and a dusting of cinnamon. The “foam art” was picture-perfect, thanks to a talented barista.
Our eyes and palates were overjoyed by the menu, and we noticed Shredded Beef with Yorkshire Pudding and Wiener Schnitzel pan-fried in clarified butter. The aromas from each passing plate evoked rich flavors. Breakfast items were usually offered until 11:30, but thankfully it was the weekend, so the chefs offered them until 16:00. We selected a substantial lunch. A blonde waitress with braids and red lipstick jotted everything onto her notepad. She seemed delighted with our enthusiasm to try her restaurant’s cooking.
We ordered Vienna-style “Eggs in a Glass” with black truffles (275 crowns), served with a sliced baguette and the creamiest butter. The eggs reminded me of my grandmother’s coddled eggs: softly cooked with runny yolks. There was a generous shaving of rare truffles, which we love.
The Czech way of eating keeps the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right. It's convenient.
As a boy, I taught myself to do it, instead of the American method of constantly switching the fork between left and right hands.
America might be the only nation that obstinately does that... and also resists the metric system and Universal Healthcare. We encourage you to try the easier way.
Instead of Beef Tartare, we chose lobes of Duck Liver sautéed with onions on a perfectly-browned potato pancake (resembling a Jewish latke) that cost 278 crowns. Yum!
Costing 325 crowns, Lewis added a portion of snails in wine with pesto butter and thick slices of an oven-fresh baguette.
We bypassed the Getaria anchovies and chose Confit of Duck Leg/Thigh that was served with luscious red cabbage and a tureen of handmade bread dumplings. It cost 565 crowns. When it arrived, a bald waiter used a gravy boat to drizzle more succulence on it.
Czech sauces and gravies are the best in the world, and I’ll describe them in Part 2. The intensity of taste was perfect! The duck skin was crispy and well-charred, and the meat was delicious. The dumplings were not heavy lumps that weighed in our stomachs; they were fluffy and absorbed the gravy.
Let me explain a difference about the word "dumpling". Asian dumplings resemble Italian ravioli: a succulent filling that is wrapped in dough. Czech dumplings are balls of dough that are soaked in broth. Sometimes, they are made of potatoes. Czech dumplings seem less dense than German ones.
Forgoing the Grilled Pork Chop, I opted for Wild Boar Loin, prepared with rosehip sauce and bread dumplings. Boars are not domesticated, so their meat is flavorful. It was was worth the 515 crowns.
As part of Prague’s tradition to offer affordable lunches, Café Savoy is one of many places that offer Daily Lunch Menus that change every week but are priced low at only 235 crowns ($11). We saw Daily Lunch Menus throughout the capital—at upscale places and average ones. Despite being upscale, Savoy still provided low-priced lunch specials. (That never happens in NYC). We respect that sensible effort to maintain affordability. A certain quantity is made each day, and the policy is “first come, first serve”.
In that regard, Prague offers fantastic values. Affordable prices provide high-quality food, drinks, service, and ambiance. Many Americans are traumatized by cheapness in the USA, and they are brainwashed by needless markups of prices, so they always assume that exorbitant prices are the only way to get quality. They might be fearful of low prices as a sign of cheap-quality. That is wrong. Lewis and I know better. We were enamored to enjoy generously-affordable quality in Prague (the biggest city in Czechia). It’s something that we don’t see often in NYC (the biggest city in America).
Lewis was intrigued to have a glass of organic unfermented grape wine with seltzer. It cost 95 crowns. He loved it. We also drank a carafe of tap water.
The café has an on-site confectionary (the mezzanine seating is on top of it).
Handmade pastries are always wonderful! A ponytailed server encouraged us to go to the confectionary window to see the daily offering. Customers can also come in to buy bread and pastries for “take-away”. After eyeing the goodies, Lewis chose a slice of Savoy Cake: chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, cherry jam—all enrobed in white marzipan, with an embossed chocolate wafer on top. 155 crowns.
Our favorite was the Větrník (Pinwheel): a classic Czech recipe of choux pastry filled with caramel/vanilla-flavored yolk cream and slathered with caramel fondant on top. 148 crowns for a large one. It was delectable!
The excellence at Café Savoy earned a Golden Lion award—the Czech equivalent to a Michelin Star—and the restaurant retained it for several years. Congrats to them for that honor!
We wanted to return for another meal. Savvy customers make reservations, so we chose the next Sunday at noon to see how brunch looked during “prime-time”.
Stepping outside, we really liked the nice temperature. It was nearly 17:00 (5pm), yet the warmth registered at 55-degrees (13 Celsius). Back in New York City, despite its "urban heat bubble", the freezing air was only 28-degrees (-2 Celsius)!
Prague has a latitude that is farther north than NYC by 10-degrees, and it has a higher elevation by 175 meters (574 feet), yet it is warmer than NYC in winter! We loved that.
From there, Lewis and I walked to the famous funicular on Petřín Hill.
The cost is included as part of the public transit system. It was constructed in 1891 when Prague hosted the World’s Fair (opened by Austria’s Archduke Karl Ludwig and Czechia’s Prince George Lobkowicz).
Every day, the slanted train carries passengers uphill and downhill. Praguers use it for their commutes, whilst others ride it to reach restaurants along the slope and the 78-hectare (193-acre) park at the top. The ride is several minutes, and that mechanical convenience saves you from a 30-minute hike uphill.
Petřín Hill rises 327 meters above sea-level, and its name derives from the Latin word for “rocky”.
For a millennium, its rocks were used to build houses and walls in the capital. By the 1100s, Prague was the most prominent city built of stone in Europe.
Due to its slant, the train has “stacked” levels for passengers.
Lewis and I were smart to stand at the lowest level at the back of the train because the rear window provided the grandest view of the city, as we ascended the hill.
The sun was beginning to set, and the sky got bluish hues. The streetlamps flicked on. The entire scene was pretty.
Near the top, the funicular drove through an outer Castle Wall that stands from the medieval era.
It was nicknamed the Hunger Wall because the project began in 1360 by royal decree from Emperor Charles IV to provide jobs for hungry laborers… and defend his castle. The huge wall is 4 meters high and 2 meters thick, and it was equipped with battlements and 8 bastions. Its crenelated top still retains walkways and steps that soldiers used when patrolling it. Most of it was dismantled in 1891, and the old stones were incorporated into the cellars and foundations of houses.
The train halted and everybody exited, including the female driver. We remained in the same place so we could enjoy the view as the train descended. Other riders with the same idea raced into the station and hurried to stand next to us. After a few minutes, the driver returned and took us downhill. By then, the sky was almost dark, and the city was shrouded in shadows and lamplight.
We disembarked and began an exploratory stroll of the area. This year, GuruWalk declared that Prague is the 7th-best city in the world to explore on foot! It beat Amsterdam and London.
Lewis and I went through a neighborhood named Lesser Town. In Czech, it is Malá Strana.
A direct translation is “Lesser Quarter”, but the district is referred to as “Lesser Town” because it blends with the districts that are named Old Town and New Town. During the 700s, Prague’s main settlement began where Lesser Town is. It gained prominence within a century, so it was chosen as the Seat of Authority for the legendary Přemyslid Dynasty, whose descendants became the first rulers of the land. 17 Czech sovereigns were born there. Lesser Town was officially founded in 1257 as a “royal town” by an edict from King Otakar (Ottokar) II, who lived in Prague Castle. He was nicknamed “the Iron and Gold King”, and he was also the Marquis of Moravia, Duke of Styria, Landgrave of Carniola, and Duke of Austria. He was revered for his Crusades into Prussia and wars with Hungary.
The area was known as “New Town beneath Prague Castle” until King Charles IV established New Town on the other side of the river. Lesser Town is situated against the river, and it fills the valley between Petřín Hill and the castle’s hill, as seen below.
Lewis and I ambled across Kampa (Camp) Island. It is a charming area of 2.6 hectares (6.5 acres) that is separated from the mainland by the mighty Vltava River and the smaller Certovka River, which was used as a power-source for watermills in the Middle Ages. In daylight the small river looks like this...
Three famous waterwheels remain as historical markers: Hutsky Mill, Zlomkovsky Mill (burned during the Hussite Revolution and rebuilt in 1532), and Velkoprevorske Mill (from the 1500s Renaissance). That one belonged to the Grand Priory of the Knights of Malta, so it is nicknamed The Grand Priory Mill.
From 1169 to 1755, the island was not named, and the origin of its name is unknown. Praguers speculate that it derives from a Polish term for “bush-covered island”. The Club for Old Prague is responsible for the preservation of beauty on the island. Established in 1900, it is dedicated to preserving historic landmarks and national monuments in the capital. Thus, urbanization may occur with smooth juxtaposition to Czech heritage. (Czechia’s unbroken architectural heritage is rare in the world). For more than a century, its historians, architects, urban planners, and public advocates preserve parkland, skyline vistas, ancient structures, and the river embankments. They lobbied for vehicular tunnels (which NYC ignorantly ignores), to reduce air pollution, noise pollution, and traffic congestion. Underground garages alleviated unsightly vehicle parking.
Seen below, those pillars are used for bulletins and advertisements. Keeping ads in designated places prevents them from cluttering the scenery. Every city should use them.
We walked downriver, admiring the reflection of the city’s lights on the rippling water. Boats skimmed along the surface, and we saw cars and trams zooming over the bridges.
We paused at row of 34 illuminated statues named The Penguins, created by The Cracking Art Group as a warning about climate change. They were made with recycled plastic bottles.
As we continued north, Kampa Park morphed into a cluster of historic buildings that are museums, restaurants, gift shops, and residences. We ambled through the courtyard of the Kampa Museum of Modern Art. Open seven days per week, its cafe is situated on an esplanade facing the water.
After that, we paused at an art installation titled Crawling Babies.
We passed the sizable Liechtenstein Palace. Built in 1680 by an Italian architect for a Czech family, it was purchased by the Liechtenstein Royal Family in 1831. It was their second palace in Prague. (They are the ruling dynasty of the Principality of Liechtenstein). In daylight, the palace looks like this...
Next, we passed the Embassy for the Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta. (The chivalric order established that Commandery in the 1200s, and they had Commanderies across Europe). We arrived in a public square named Na Kampe Square that was paved with stones. It was surrounded by pristine houses from the 1650s.
In daylight, it looks quaintly like this...
That night, it was filled with street vendors selling snacks, sausages, beer, pastries, gingerbread cookies, and mulled wine. I love mulled wine, and I adore the taste of gingerbread! I was thrilled to get both because they are only produced in America at Christmas. However, other parts of the world serve them as tasty snacks throughout all of the chilly months. Prague is one of those blessed places.
The vendor sold five types of warmed spiced wine, and their booth was busy. Lewis and I bought two tall cups of mulled wine for $7.00 each. We paid $2.00 as a refundable deposit for returning the reusable cups, and it was given as two coins. The coins featured the Czech lion and Prague Castle.
Despite being at a food stall on the street, our payment was cashless Tap-and-Go. That is high-tech for us because many food stalls and street vendors in NYC only accept cash... and that seems like a third-world situation. Making things worse, many American businesses illegally have a "credit card minimum", forcing you to spend a certain amount before you can use cards.
That is because they try to avoid the Credit Card Usage Fees that greedy American banks charge every business.
*During our 10 days in Prague, we visited dozens of businesses and only one place did not accept debit/credit cards: a takeaway Vietnamese noodle shop.
Another vendor sold handmade iced gingerbread cookies. We got two, totaling $4.90. Soft, chewy, and the right mixture of spices. The ginger tasted authentic: not artificial. Our Czech snacks were triumphs!
It was fun to pause and savor our treats while admiring the good vibes of passersby. We watched a mix of people drinking and laughing: Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, and African. We heard dialects of Korean, Catalan, Mandarin, Portuguese, French, German, Australian, Japanese, and British. Everybody mingled at standing-tables to share a pleasant evening in Prague.
Looming ahead of us was a span of the Charles Bridge that goes over the area, and a majestic staircase allowed people to come down to the square or ascend to cross the river.
Just then, the cobbled streets were cleaned by a municipal worker with a silent electric truck. No disturbance. Praguers walked their dogs, traded gossip, and watched visitors take selfies against the handsome houses and the mighty bridge.
The Charles Bridge is a global icon and a National Cultural Monument. Lewis and I were eager to cross it, but we wanted to start by examining its most historic parts. The arched bridge is made of stone, and the oldest stones are on the underside. We went under one of the medieval arches that stretched over a street, and I used the flashlight on my phone to admire the architecture.
Medieval stones still retain their stamps that indicate the mason who supplied them. That’s incredible heritage. (We recommend viewing it in daylight).
In Czech, the name “Charles” is Karlův, so the Charles Bridge is locally known as Karlův Most. Until the 14th-century, bridges over the Vltava River were repeatedly destroyed by high water and floods. Prague needed a strong one. According to local folklore, the Charles Bridge was initiated by Emperor Charles IV on a specific date, 9/7/1357, at a precise time of 5:31. He helped install the foundation stone.
Charles believed that the configuration of numbers blended auspiciously with astrological alignments. Deemed as a magical combination, “1-3-5-7-9-7-5-3-1” ensured the bridge’s stability, longevity, and beauty for centuries. It worked, and it ensured admiration from millions of annual visitors.
Being an engineering marvel of its era, it still captivates visitors from around the world.
Czechs proudly put an image of the bridge on their 5-crown coin.
Alas, three arches were wrecked by a flood in 1890.
After restorations, rails were added to the bridge, and electric trams crossed it from 1904 to 1907.
But the weight was unwanted, so the rails were removed, and the bridge was pedestrianized—back to its origins.
With a length of 516 meters, it’s a long bridge. (We visited the bridge again in daylight on our last day, and I’ll describe its impressive statues in Part 9). Unlike how NYC only uses its bridges for congested traffic and pollution, most of the bridges in Prague are used as gathering places for people to enjoy panoramas of the city. We admire that as an unhurried aspect of Life/Work Balance.
A starlit stroll across one of the world’s most beautiful bridges is always a romantic idea, so Lewis and I did it.
46 gas streetlamps gave amber-colored light. In December, a uniformed lamplighter is paid to add charm to the scene by manually igniting them. We love that quaintness. After 667 years, people remain enamored with the bridge. We are, too!
Bridge Towers are lit with spotlights, and they “bookend” the bridge on each side. Begun in 1357, the Bridge Tower in Old Town is an unforgettable part of Prague’s urban landscape.
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It required 25 years to finish, and it survived the Swedish Siege of 1648 and revolutionary protests of 1848, as well as both World Wars. It was protected by a “magical trap”: an inscription that repelled evil. The tower is regarded as the finest Gothic Gate in Europe and one of the most impressive examples of civic engineering in the world. It was part of Old Town’s fortifications and allowed passage from the Royal Road to the bridge. Emperor Charles IV intended it as a Triumphal Arch to commemorate his fabulous reign, and that of his son, Wenceslaus IV. A plaque on the tower announced, “Here lies the glory of the Holy Roman Empire: the seat of the Emperor”.
(The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy that was composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, baronies, Free Imperial Cities, and prince-bishoprics where churchly bishops were allowed to be secular rulers).
The roof of the tower is open for visitors at 10:00 (extended hours in summer), and the cost is 190 crowns. The price is discounted to 170 crowns if you have a monthly transit card from the PID app. A further discount of 50% is extended to Early Bird guests within the first hour.
As you might expect, the community on the opposite side of the bridge erected their own gate tower—but they built two: Lesser Town Bridge Towers.
They do not match because they were erected 200 years apart. The smaller tower was named for Queen Judith, and it was part of the Judith Bridge that pre-existed the Charles Bridge from 1158 until 1342.
The tower existed in Romanesque style since 1170, but subsequent builders heightened and broadened it. The taller one was constructed in 1464, and it was styled like Old Town’s Bridge Tower, so Prague could have symmetry and harmonious beauty. The entrance fee for those towers is the same as Old Town’s.
We reached the other side of the river, and we saw the dome of the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi. It is directly next to the bridge tower, and it is the workplace of the Grand Master of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star.
Walking through the Bridge Tower, we paused for a selfie...
Lewis and I were officially in Old Town. It began in the 800s and earned City Rights in 1232 from one-eyed King Wenceslaus I of the Přemysl Dynasty. Famously, he repelled invasions by Mongols sent by Genghis Khan (who conquered Beijing), as well as the Turks and Tartar troops that the Mongols hired. In 1251, his son, Otakar II, was elected to be the Duke of Austria. The king was a prolific castle builder. His body is interred in Saint Agnes Monastery, nearby.
We turned right and used an enclosed passageway to get to the Smetana Embankment. The embankment hugs the river between Legion Bridge and Charles Bridge, and it gives pedestrians and traffic some great views. King Wenceslas I had mills positioned there, so renewable power could be used for work. Fishing cottages existed until the 1850s. Back in 1894, the embankment was named for František Josef (Franz Joseph): King of Bohemia and Emperor of Austria. In 1907, Prague hosted one of his imperial visits. To celebrate, the embankment was fitted with 10 iron pipes that let gas-fed flames resemble Greek Fires. The statues of the Charles Bridge were adorned with garlands that contained light bulbs (a new invention at that time)!
We liked the abundance of benches on the embankment; they overlooked the riverfront and exuded a Parisian milieu.
Lewis identified the Kranner Fountain: a Neo-Gothic monument to Emperor Francis I, who was crowned in Prague Castle in 1793.
Leisurely, we walked upriver and let the dinnertime traffic whizz by. We turned left on an avenue named Narodni (National). It is the border between Old Town and New Town, and it was built in 1781 on the former moat that protected the City Walls of Old Town. In 1870, it was renamed to honor Emperor Ferdinand I, but it was renamed again in 1919 when the nation gained sovereignty from the discriminatory empire.
(Old Town’s fortifications existed since 1235 when King Wenceslas I erected walls that stretched for 3.8 kilometers. Considerable segments of the old walls are preserved in the city. Narodni Trida, Na Prikope, and Revolucni are thoroughfares that run on the sites of former walls).
Across the street, we peered over the railing from above the embankment and saw a café named Capadlo Terrace. In winter, it has an ice skating rink...
But it is renown in warmer months for its waterside terrace that often features live music. Lewis and I would be very happy at a place like this!
Its location on the quay gives customers a grand view of the castle, and boaters can come ashore for refreshments. Praguers are lucky to have a place like that. Currently, Lewis and I live on a boulevard that is alongside a river, so we enjoy waterside views every day. It’s refreshing. Yet, NYC has no cafés on that riverfront, which is absurd.
On the corner was the magnificent National Theatre, which was perched to overlook the river. Day or night, it provides picture-perfect grandiosity.
We arrived at the Metro station closest to our hotel. It also has tram stops.
Signs for the Metro system are cleverly emblazoned with a letter “M” attached to a downward arrow.
We familiarized ourselves with the station—for future use—and also explored the shopping center that enclosed it, named Quadrio. The sleek glass building was built in 2014 and designed by Czech architects at Jakub Cigler.
Inside, we noticed a creperie, Sephora cosmetics store, Vapiano pasta eatery, Lee’s Vietnamese Bubble Tea, and an unwanted Starbucks. The top level had a skylit Food Court with a huge Indian restaurant and a spiffy vegan one.
We did food shopping at Delmart: a chain of upmarket grocery stores. It sold sustainably-made food, responsibly-harvested fish, and nutritious delicacies… all at a fraction of the prices found at American supermarkets. We bought a box of 6 coconut macaroon cookies (made with wholesome ingredients that we could pronounce—and not with corn syrup), priced fairly at 59 crowns ($2.50). Consider that price and remember that Prague is a capital city. Lacking greed, it still offers nutritious items affordably—for the betterment of its society. That is smart. That is unlike cities in the USA. Here are typical food labels in the USA: overloaded with sugar and noxious-sounding ingredients that you cannot pronounce... (click on each image to make it bigger/clearer).
Below, a corporate-industrialized cereal maker in America has a pathetic label, claiming "simply 4 ingredients", yet 2 are corn (which becomes sugar), sugar, and salt. Not good.
In American stores, “natural food” costs twice as much—as if it is a luxury to have healthy, non-GMO food.
Next, we went downstairs and compared prices at the mid-priced supermarket named Billa. Prices were half of Delmart's. There was a large assortment of pumpernickel bread, which we love. We were impressed with a wheel of Czech-made Hermelin cheese (similar to camembert) priced at 34 crowns ($1.49). It was produced by Král Sýrů (King of Cheese), the leading cheesemaker in Czechia. In the 1920s, French camembert became popular there, and dairy farmers in the Village of Pribyslav launched their own version as that brand. Considering the cheese’s white exterior, they named it for the ermine fur on a king’s robes: hermelin. That explains why an image of a king is on the label.
When you live in a nation where the government provides Universal Healthcare, you see an abundance of nutritious food. In the USA, corporate-made “junk food” is as rampant as obesity, and greedy pharmaceuticals overcharge for “remedies” that are derived from petroleum. Yet, the USA costs three-times as much as Czechia to live in. Which would you prefer?
This year in Czechia, prices at four major supermarket chains dropped: Albert, Lidl, Tesco, and Penny Market. Does that happen in your area?
We walked south to Albert Supermarket (open until 23:00). Finished with their jobs, folks shopped for dinner ingredients. Five muscular teenagers were dressed for football (only America calls it soccer) and they bought bottles of juice and vitamin water.
We bought a bottle of Czech mouthwash (costing only 49 crowns, as compared to American-made Listerine that cost 179 crowns). Lewis bought rice pudding for 23 crowns ($1). It was creamily delicious, and the rice had texture—unlike American types that are overcooked into goop.
It was a huge relief that fruits and vegetables were fresh and edible. In almost every supermarket and grocery store in New York—except high-priced gourmet ones—shoppers must be wary of moldy food! Greedy/cheap shippers and trucking companies illegally turn off their refrigeration to save money. Unchecked by (overpaid) authorities, they deliver food that is spoiled and rotten. Stupidly, thousands of markets leave it on their shelves to be purchased. It’s insane. It looks like this...
[Seen next, we bought non-dairy cashew yogurt from an upscale market, and it had an expiration date that was two weeks away. But when we got home and opened it, it was covered with mold! We had to go back to the store (1.4 miles away), exchange it for something else, and return home again. Very inconvenient].
It’s like being in a third-world country, yet we pay USA prices.
As we saw in almost every city outside of NYC, grocers sell wine. It is the year 2024, yet citizens in America’s biggest city can’t buy wine at grocery stores because the city keeps an outdated law from the 1920s Prohibition Era. Also, NYC greedily wants overpriced Alcohol/Liquor License fees from its 3,700 liquor stores, and officials are profiting from the bribes to get them. So, they uncaringly prevent change for 100 years, while overtaxed citizens are frustrated by uncivilized inconveniences. As a further hinderance in America, only 21 of 50 states allow liquor to be sold in food stores.
Look at the prices: great bottles of well-made vintages only cost several dollars (199 crowns).
In the USA, wine at that price is usually crap, and consumers must spend $30.00 to get a decent one—even if it’s made domestically in the USA. We love going into a grocery store in Europe and buying an affordable bottle of wine, and we were excited to get a locally-made one.
We chose a Czech vintage produced by Rochuz winery, made with white Palava grapes. The family-owned vineyard is in the Moravia Region, near the Rochuz Nature Preserve, and it produces 30,000 bottles per year.
On the label, Pozdni sber translates to “early harvest”. The price was 279 crowns ($11), and that was “a pricey bottle”. (We drank it in our hotel room, and it was crisp with fruity undertones. It’s perfect for zesty foods).
In the republic, the legal age to buy alcohol is 18 years old. Absurdly in America (supposedly a Land of Freedom), the age is still 21, which is lagging behind the rest of the world. Americans are allowed to join the military at 18 and be licensed to kill humans... but it is illegal for them to buy alcohol. That is stupid, yet America doesn't care.
Men and women purchased bouquets of flowers to adorn their dinner tables (European apartments have dining areas). Being a polite population, Czechs also use flowers as gifts to friends when they meet for home-cooked meals. That’s lovely. Unlike the USA, the fresh flowers were affordable. (Anything “nice” in the USA costs extra, as if it is a luxury to have).
As we exited, we realized that we faced Karlovo Namesti (Charles Square), named for Charles IV who initiated New Town. It is a rectangular park with a Metro station and a traffic byway. Sized at 8 hectares (20 acres), it’s one of the largest public squares in the world.
When it was laid in 1348, it was the largest in Europe. Its main purpose was a cattle market. The area is steeped in remarkable history, so I will remark on it.
Charles IV created it as New Town’s main square. At that time, Wenceslas Square was less important… even though it’s the biggest one now. To modernize his medieval kingdom, he wanted the square to be a vital commercial center. Its second purpose was an immense gathering place that accommodated 30,000 people during their pilgrimages to Prague to see religious relics. To attract “tourists” of that era, a building at the end of the square exhibited the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1377, the Town Hall for New Town was built on the square, and it still exists! It is a National Cultural Landmark.
Its 70-meter tower was used by watchmen to alert people of fires or enemies. The Town Crier climbed its 221 steps to announce the time. At night, the road was closed at the tower so wagon-wheels and horse hooves did not disturb the peace. It’s the most important Gothic structure in New Town, and it has an astonishing history. I’ll explain.
On 30 July, 1419, the Hussite War began in Prague when an argumentative Hussite (Catholic) priest named Jan Zelivsky preached near the New Town Hall. First, I will explain who the Hussites were. In 1410, a Roman Catholic priest named Jan Hus was the rector at the University of Prague. He preached against the rampant corruption and moral decay within the Catholic Church, so his papal bosses proclaimed him to be a heretic, and they excommunicated him. (Excommunication meant that the pope claimed to have God’s permission to ban someone from the Church—so they couldn’t receive sacraments—and it terminated their employment with the Church. It also made them an outlaw in the community). In 1415, Hus was condemned by the Church for “defying the doctrine of the holy Catholic faith”.
The Church had his tongue nailed with a spike—to prevent him from speaking. He was stripped, tortured, and tied to a wooden pole and “burned at the stake” (burned alive) for telling the world that the Church was corrupt. His followers in Bohemia named themselves Hussites, and they became reformers and vigilantes.
Within 100 years, 90% of the Czech population left the Catholic religion. (After 500 years, in 1999, the pope finally apologized for the hellish way that Hus was murdered by the clergy). July 6 remains a national holiday in the Czech Republic as Jan Hus Day. [As you can see, Czechs argued for Protestantism long before Martin Luther hammered his thesis on the doors of a church in 1517 and challenged the Pope. In 1526, the Lutheran Reformation became a new religion and broke away from the Roman Catholic Church].
So, in 1419, when Zelivsky amassed a crowd by the New Town Hall, it was problematic. The municipal councilors were incensed and threw stones at the crowd from a window. One struck the priest, and the incident infuriated the people who stormed the Town Hall. The mob murdered the mayor, a judge, and several members of the City Council by throwing them out the window. (According to the dictionary, a defenestration is the act of throwing someone out of a window). That was the first defenestration in Prague that caused a war. (The 1618 defenestration is more famous). Catholic churches were looted, and Catholics fled the capital. Hearing the ghastly news, King Wenceslaus IV died from shock! The Queen Dowager sympathized with Hussites, so Catholics accused her of heresy and witchcraft. The death of the king transferred the Throne to his only legitimate heir: his brother Sigismund (Zikmund) of Luxembourg, who was the King of Hungary, Elector of Brandenburg, and King of Croatia. The manly red-haired king led his army of crusaders to siege Prague and was crowned in the castle, but it took 17 years for Czechs to accept him and his wife, Barbora (known for her white skin and sexual fervor).
The Hussite Wars sparked reforms in Catholicism’s monopoly over Europe, and the Roman Catholic Church lost 80% of its Czech lands and estates. That was 100 years before King Henry VIII had the same idea in England, which improved his nation. The weakened power of royalty in Prague enabled the local-born nobility and merchant-class to grow. After 15 years, the Hussite Wars ended, but another Defenestration of Prague occurred in 1483 and aldermen were fatally thrown from windows at New Town Hall, as part of a political coup.
On a lighter topic, we're happy to report that Prague is a whimsical city... especially with its public art. Lewis and I turned a corner and suddenly looked up to see two statues hanging from umbrellas over the street! (It’s often fun to look up in Prague and admire the sights).
Titled as Slight Uncertainty, the pair of suspended statues dangle from wires. They were created by an artist named Michal Trpák who wanted to provide Prague with whimsey.
We were near an Asian restaurant that we discovered online, so we dined there. It was named QQ Asian Restaurant, and we recommend their food.
The culinary duo consists of Lee Chang (from Colorado with Taiwanese lineage and a childhood in Taipei) and Nyoman Purnata (from an Indonesian island in Bali named Lembongan).
They have been friends for 15 years, after getting acquainted as kitchen workers in Prague. They opened their own restaurant in 2017, and the Michelin Guide recommends it annually since 2021.
As it grew, the restaurant moved into the 4-star Mosaic House Hotel and was refurbished in 2020. It survived the lockdown during the COVID pandemic by encouraging Praguers to buy takeout food. Seen below, the hotel is plush.
On that Saturday night, the restaurant was nearly full—which was a good sign. We admired the interior: porcelain plates and bowls were suspended from the ceiling: literally “flying saucers”. Ha ha!
The furniture was handsomely made of wood, and we liked the skillful carpentry that made the curvaceous chairs.
Chopsticks were on the table, resting on Chinese mahjong tiles. That was clever.
Naturally, Lewis and I chose a table with a view of the “open kitchen”. We love watching talented artists do their artistry, and that kitchen team was full of refined techniques.
Reviewing the menu (printed in Czech and English), we sensed Chef Chang’s influence from America: a Po’Boy sandwich from New Orleans, an American-Chinese recipe of General Tso’s Chicken (that Chinese customers cringe at due to its origin of ignorance against Chinese cooking), and fortune cookies.
Let me inform you that fortune cookies originated in Kyoto, Japan, in the 1850s as tsujiura senbei. They are not Chinese and have nothing to do with Chinese culture. In 2014, Lewis and I travelled across 2,700 km of China and never saw them. Japanese immigrants brought them to California. After America racistly and illegally imprisoned Japanese immigrants and citizens during World War Two, Americans still wanted fortune cookies. They urged Chinese immigrants to make them, and the industry shifted. In typical American style, the recipe was converted from savory to sweet. Americans still expect fortune cookies from basic Chinese restaurants, uncaring that it’s the wrong culture. Outside of the USA, Chinese restaurants don’t make them.
We began our meal with cocktails: a Pandan-flavored Old Fashioned for me, and Butterfly Daiquiris Fizz for Lewis. Both tasted great and looked pretty. As appetizers, we ate a Soft-Shell Crab Mushu Taco and a fried Oyster Po’Bao (an Asian twist on the Po’Boy, but served on a bun). Perfection.
The kitchen crew was the happiest that we saw in a long time: chuckling together, joshing around playfully, cooking perfectly, and whistling. We watched Chef Purnata doing tasks, and he was calmly in command of everything. In too many upscale restaurants, the chefs merely supervise and do the plating, but he is hands-on and actually does the cooking.
We adored his classic interpretation of slow-cooked Beef Rendang, which used a 24-hour marinade.
It was the best that I ever had! In many big cities, it's rare to make a "food discovery" because mundane sameness permeates the minds of most chefs. It's exhilarating when you encounter someone doing things uniquely.
Lewis devoured the stir-fried Baby Squid, which seemed true to its Sichuan (a.k.a. Szechuan) roots.
We ordered Dry Laska with Prawns and Pineapple, along with a bowl a rice.
We enjoyed the mouth-watering Taiwanese braised Pork Belly with Nashi Pears.
As he finished his work, Chef Purnata passed our table and saw the enthusiasm on our faces. I told him that his Beef Rendang was the best that I ever tasted! Sensing my honesty, he grinned with satisfaction. The three of us began a 15-minute conversation, and he described his relocation to Prague. His expatriate family loves living there, and he loves his career. Lewis asked about Prague’s celebration of the recent Lunar New Year, and the chef described how his restaurant would honor the Balinese New Year with dancers, depictions of mythological creatures, and firecrackers for purification. He told us that Prague hosts an annual Indonesia Week in October. He answered our questions about where to find Asian markets: there are several in the capital that specialize in Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese food. Similar to Copenhagen, Prague never had a Chinatown because Asian residents were welcome to live anywhere. They weren’t confined to one area, as they were in the United States. We thanked Chef Purnata for making the yummiest meal possible. He hoped that we loved our time in Prague. (We did).
We saw that the dishwashing team worked behind a sliding door, and servers used their feet to activate the sliding door to enter the kitchen. That is smart technology. NYC still relies on swinging doors—unchanged from the 1920s—that are hazardous when they swing back and hit someone. We saw several restaurants that installed those foot-activated sliding doors. We paid the bill and our waiter gave us fortune cookies. Mine said “Your way is heading for success”. It was 22:00 (10pm) when we left.
Our hotel was a short walk up the street. Seen below, we passed a beer hall and brewery that was established in 1499. It is named U Fleků. It is very popular, and its beers are not sold anywhere else.
The automatic doors of the hotel opened silently for our key-cards, and we loved the lobby’s perfumed scent.
The elegant fragrance was dispensed by a machine near the door. Other thoughtful things were always near the entrance: a dispenser of citrus-flavored water (and reusable glasses), and a shoe cleaning machine. That is a great innovation.
Czechs are as clean as Asians by never wearing their shoes in their homes. They keep shoes clean, and they keep them in closets. The Front Desk team seemed impressed with us for using their shoe-cleaning machine every time that we entered the hotel. It seemed normal for us. Settled in our room, we left the window open and had the comfiest sleep.
*In Czech, sdilet is the act of allowing others to have access to your experiences, with the intention of fostering connections and mutual benefit. That's the goal of my blog.
Join us for the next part, as we have a full day!
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