We started our adventure in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia. Our flight from Dublin had landed before noon, but Melissa's flight from Frankfurt was two hours later, then we had to retrieve our bags and find the driver from the Hotel Paris. Vaclav Havel airport is modern, clean, and efficient; we had no trouble meeting and getting underway.
We arrived at our hotel in Prague in later afternoon. We were warmly welcomed in that beautiful space, and after some quick unpacking we set out on our grand 2,000 mile adventure across three countries and 2500 years of art and culture.
The hotel is right in the middle of the Old Town; we had easy access to shopping, dining, and just gawking, so we set to it with gusto. Within a block we were deep into our first major find of the trip!
Lorna's big takeaway was effusive: "Everyone had told me what a charming, beautiful city Prague is, but nobody prepared me for what a shopper's paradise it is!" Melissa agreed with her mother and they both spent freely. Readers should note that Lorna's greatest shopping joys are art glass and jewelry, both of which have been celebrated in Bohemia and then Czechia for centuries. She's been hunting for fine Bohemian garnet jewelry for decades, and she has a short-list of Czech art glass makers whom she follows on Facebook. In fact, she had the name and location of her favorite, a master who makes fine Art Nouveau vaseline glass perfume bottles out in the countryside whom we planned to see the next day, but that didn't deter her from shopping in the city too. Shoppers who prefer fashion or shoes or walking-sticks or whatnot may have a different opinion but there's no denying that Prague's strengths play exactly into her favorite things and both women spent the rest of the day on a "shopper's high" exploring the boutiques of the Old Town.
For me, it was just as exciting for foodie goodness. Czechia is between Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Poland, and it has had a thousand years to fuse those influences into unique cultural foodways. The Czech people have long been known for their inventiveness in everything from art and architecture to music, literature, technology, and food. I hoped to try some of the unique street foods, plus the classic Svickova (a braised sirloin of beef with a sauce of pureed vegetables and cream, served with fluffy knedlicky (bread dumplings), and Gulás (a hearty stew made with beef, onions, and paprika often served with dumplings).
Of course, no plan survives contact with reality. I had sketched out a plan, with a map, to explore Prague's Old Town in the afternoon and evening. It would bring us shopping along the pedestrian shopping area from 28 Rijna to Na Prikope, but we skipped that when we discovered that it’s mostly fancy name designers. Then we'd head into the Old Town Square and Parizska Street shopping for garnets and moldavite, then to the Manes Bridge and up the hill to Prague Castle (there's a tram that runs up the hill en route to other stops). Then we'd see the Wallenstein Gardens and a leisurely walk by the Lennon Wall and over the Charles Bridge and back to hotel.
Well, it didn't go like that.
About a block from the hotel was a large shop full of Bohemian garnet jewelry and moldavite, and that was the end of my plan. Lorna has been wanting some old-style deep red Bohemian garnet jewelry for ages. Moldavite is a green semiprecious mineral found only in this region. It was formed by a meteorite impact that transformed silica into a glassy substance that makes fine jewelry and it reputed to have wellness properties. We were not going to leave Prague without some moldavite trophies!
We spent a lot more time shopping for garnets and moldavite than I expected, but we did make some progress exploring the old town center. We heard the Astronomical Clock chime and I got to try Old Prague Ham and Kapusta at a stand off the main plaza. We also spent time at a shop of high-end crystal and jewelry, and plundered a confectioner’s shop.
Eventually we walked to the bridge and crossed over.
We took the tram up the hill, but we got off a stop too early at the suggestion of a local, so we saw the outside of Queen Anne’s summer palace but we never made it to the castle. It had been a long, long day since our overnight flight from Boston; my back was killing me from sleeping on the plane, and we were all tired, so we got an Uber back to the hotel (Lyft is not present here, but there's another ride service called Bolt, and taxis are common).
We had dinner back at the Hotel Paris. The restaurant is called Tony’s Cafe, and it's very nice. I had the Gulás, Lorna had grilled trout, Melissa had mushroom risotto with truffle oil. They have an awesome wine list that I had to skip due to back pain.
We stayed two nights at Hotel Paris, and we'd stay here again. It's a beautiful old hotel in a great location. The service was great, the room was comfortable and well-supplied with electric power outlets, the breakfast was ample and local (a favorite is beet-apple juice!), and the hotel restaurant was one of the best places we ate on the whole trip.