From 19th to 22th of April 2018
Introduction:
After the NYE in Warsaw it has been decided to see each other more often with the Asian family (Gutcha, Ala, Kathy and Robin) while we are in Europe and renew the Gutcha’s tour as we used to do in China. So we chose the weekend and decided to book Prague. Meanwhile I have also shared the destination and the dates to my friends in France. Benoit decided to join. Such a great feeling knowing some of my best friends will share this trip with me.
19th of April - such a challenge to get to the airport !
With Benoit we have booked our tickets together with quite a convenient flight: leaving at 8:25pm and reaching Prague at 10pm. Well, the thing we haven’t forecasted were the strikes of the national French railway company (which deserves the airport). Considering the hour of departure taking a taxi wouldn’t have been a great idea either because of the rush hour... well, after some stress, cancelled trains, forgotten luggage ... I managed to reach the airport after 2h20 spent in the public transportation and almost an hour before the flight: victory!!!
I met Benoit and so the trip could begin!
First impressions:
We took an Uber to reach the apartment in which we were staying. Except being a real Schumacher on the road, the driver played some Edith Piaf music as he heard we were speaking French. A taste of the influence of the French culture abroad :)
The city seemed very well developed with a good infrastructure and a nice residential area with a lot of houses (which made think Benoit of the Parisian subs). Thanks to the driver’s skills we reached very fast the apartment (alive) where we met Ala, Kathy and Gutcha. Such a nice feeling seeing them again :) And 15min later we were already out and went for a beer on the « bord de la Vltava ». Here I can agree on similarities with Paris with all the boats transformed into bars full of young people just like the Seine in Paris.
Moreover the architecture of the surrounding buildings was just wonderful.
We went back home as the next day the real touristic experience would start.
20th of April
The weather was just excellent and I couldn’t wait to discover more of the city.
After a nice breakfast and Robin’s arrival, our journey started. The plan was to follow the lonely planet suggestion (which we only followed partially by the end).
Our idea was walking next to the Vltava river from more or less the Palacheho bridge and going North until reaching the castle. Indeed, this walk offers a great view over the city buildings which are surrounding it (Music house, National Theater which made me think about the Louvre...). Surprisingly, I was expecting to see an influence of the communism; less than what I saw in Warsaw and much less than in Bulgaria for instance but hell no! The architecture of the city is just amazing !! I won’t be able to define the style but let’s say that is very close to the Austro-germano architecture.
The city also offers a lot of nice picture spots, boats trips, bars all the way...
We soon reached THE Bridge which Prague is famous for: Charles’ bridge. Such a piece of art! It made me think about the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome, but this one had two tours on both ends and was more christian oriented as all the sculptures were connected to the different moments of the Bible and representing different saints.
Right above the bridge, on the hill, the castle was standing. Full of tourists but Gosh again such piece of art! Very specious place with a lot of gouvernement buildings.
I think what really impressed me were “the lights” in the Saint Vitus cathedral. So many colors!
After a walk inside the castle and the gardens outside which were offering a great view the city, we went down.
This is where we stopped following the lonely planet guide and started following « Gutcha planet » plan which is always a good idea:
We finally walked back to our apartment so we can get ready for the night. Indeed, few days ago Gutcha turned 30 so we had to celebrate it :)
Well we first sat down for a bite and a beer at V Podskali restaurant with a great terrace right under our appartment. Gosh! The ratio quality price was just great and the food delicious. I liked it so much that this place became our cantine for the next days.
After some drinks home we went out without an idea where to go... sometimes this is the best option. We went walking to the old town and stop randomly in different bars: first one an alternative rock bar, looked like an abandoned place with life music, we then switched to commercial rock bar and finally landed at a club where we kept dancing.
After the NYE in Warsaw it has been decided to see each other more often with the Asian family (Gutcha, Ala, Kathy and Robin) while we are in Europe and renew the Gutcha’s tour as we used to do in China. So we chose the weekend and decided to book Prague. Meanwhile I have also shared the destination and the dates to my friends in France. Benoit decided to join. Such a great feeling knowing some of my best friends will share this trip with me.
19th of April - such a challenge to get to the airport !
With Benoit we have booked our tickets together with quite a convenient flight: leaving at 8:25pm and reaching Prague at 10pm. Well, the thing we haven’t forecasted were the strikes of the national French railway company (which deserves the airport). Considering the hour of departure taking a taxi wouldn’t have been a great idea either because of the rush hour... well, after some stress, cancelled trains, forgotten luggage ... I managed to reach the airport after 2h20 spent in the public transportation and almost an hour before the flight: victory!!!
I met Benoit and so the trip could begin!
First impressions:
We took an Uber to reach the apartment in which we were staying. Except being a real Schumacher on the road, the driver played some Edith Piaf music as he heard we were speaking French. A taste of the influence of the French culture abroad :)
The city seemed very well developed with a good infrastructure and a nice residential area with a lot of houses (which made think Benoit of the Parisian subs). Thanks to the driver’s skills we reached very fast the apartment (alive) where we met Ala, Kathy and Gutcha. Such a nice feeling seeing them again :) And 15min later we were already out and went for a beer on the « bord de la Vltava ». Here I can agree on similarities with Paris with all the boats transformed into bars full of young people just like the Seine in Paris.
Moreover the architecture of the surrounding buildings was just wonderful.
We went back home as the next day the real touristic experience would start.
20th of April
The weather was just excellent and I couldn’t wait to discover more of the city.
After a nice breakfast and Robin’s arrival, our journey started. The plan was to follow the lonely planet suggestion (which we only followed partially by the end).
Our idea was walking next to the Vltava river from more or less the Palacheho bridge and going North until reaching the castle. Indeed, this walk offers a great view over the city buildings which are surrounding it (Music house, National Theater which made me think about the Louvre...). Surprisingly, I was expecting to see an influence of the communism; less than what I saw in Warsaw and much less than in Bulgaria for instance but hell no! The architecture of the city is just amazing !! I won’t be able to define the style but let’s say that is very close to the Austro-germano architecture.
The city also offers a lot of nice picture spots, boats trips, bars all the way...
We soon reached THE Bridge which Prague is famous for: Charles’ bridge. Such a piece of art! It made me think about the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome, but this one had two tours on both ends and was more christian oriented as all the sculptures were connected to the different moments of the Bible and representing different saints.
Right above the bridge, on the hill, the castle was standing. Full of tourists but Gosh again such piece of art! Very specious place with a lot of gouvernement buildings.
I think what really impressed me were “the lights” in the Saint Vitus cathedral. So many colors!
After a walk inside the castle and the gardens outside which were offering a great view the city, we went down.
This is where we stopped following the lonely planet guide and started following « Gutcha planet » plan which is always a good idea:
- going to the John Lenon’s wall which was located in the same area. As I really like street art this idea excited me and indeed it was a really nice wall where everyone was leaving a message of peace in multicolors.
- Another idea of Gutcha trying the narrowest street in the world which was 5min away from the wall. Indeed, it is so small that I walked next to it without even seeing it. Actually, I believe it is more about making it a tourist attraction than a street as it is basically a single person space between two buildings. In order to regulate the tourist traffic red and green lights have been added on both ends. On the other side there was a small coffee bar.
We finally walked back to our apartment so we can get ready for the night. Indeed, few days ago Gutcha turned 30 so we had to celebrate it :)
Well we first sat down for a bite and a beer at V Podskali restaurant with a great terrace right under our appartment. Gosh! The ratio quality price was just great and the food delicious. I liked it so much that this place became our cantine for the next days.
After some drinks home we went out without an idea where to go... sometimes this is the best option. We went walking to the old town and stop randomly in different bars: first one an alternative rock bar, looked like an abandoned place with life music, we then switched to commercial rock bar and finally landed at a club where we kept dancing.
21st of April
Surprisingly I woke up without hangover... the day couldn’t start any better. After a breakfast/lunch at our restaurant downstairs, our journey started by a walk to the old town. While walking I couldn’t stop looking at the buildings, indeed every street was hiding something new and different: statues, churches, impressive buildings... Something I really liked were the hanging statues on the top of buildings located on different spots in the old town.
We arrive at the Old Town square and went up at the Astrological watch tower from where we had a 360 degrees view over the city. Damn! this city is really gorgeous.
Gutcha had taken the lead (#gutchastour was back) and we were following him; the two main stops we did were the two statues of Kafta:
The first one was nice but the second one is maybe one the most original statues I have ever seen in my life: the head of Kafta was build from rectangular slices dark slices which turning itself around forming every time his face in the different direction.
We finished the day by a walk to the river and sat down for a beer on one of the boats. The weather was so nice that beer was definitely the thing we all needed.
The night was combined by a dinner in our restaurant, drinks at the river and the club/bar The One.
Surprisingly I woke up without hangover... the day couldn’t start any better. After a breakfast/lunch at our restaurant downstairs, our journey started by a walk to the old town. While walking I couldn’t stop looking at the buildings, indeed every street was hiding something new and different: statues, churches, impressive buildings... Something I really liked were the hanging statues on the top of buildings located on different spots in the old town.
We arrive at the Old Town square and went up at the Astrological watch tower from where we had a 360 degrees view over the city. Damn! this city is really gorgeous.
Gutcha had taken the lead (#gutchastour was back) and we were following him; the two main stops we did were the two statues of Kafta:
The first one was nice but the second one is maybe one the most original statues I have ever seen in my life: the head of Kafta was build from rectangular slices dark slices which turning itself around forming every time his face in the different direction.
We finished the day by a walk to the river and sat down for a beer on one of the boats. The weather was so nice that beer was definitely the thing we all needed.
The night was combined by a dinner in our restaurant, drinks at the river and the club/bar The One.
22nd of April - day of departure
Here again no hangover... Damn! I really love this city !:)
We didn’t have a lot to do as our plane was leaving in the afternoon. Our last mission was buying some souvenirs and going for a brunch somewhere. The downtown was a great idea for that and we did find a nice spot far from the crowd. We managed to catch up with Gutcha and Ala for 30min before we leave which made my day and again I left a place with emotions.
Here again no hangover... Damn! I really love this city !:)
We didn’t have a lot to do as our plane was leaving in the afternoon. Our last mission was buying some souvenirs and going for a brunch somewhere. The downtown was a great idea for that and we did find a nice spot far from the crowd. We managed to catch up with Gutcha and Ala for 30min before we leave which made my day and again I left a place with emotions.
In conclusion, Prague is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I ever visited and I can clearly put in the top 5 of most beautiful cities in Europe along with Paris and Rome.
Prague combined two things I loved: best friends, amazing city and atmosphere, and beer hehe. Thank you, Prague! I will be back :)
Prague combined two things I loved: best friends, amazing city and atmosphere, and beer hehe. Thank you, Prague! I will be back :)