We’re going to start this blog
post off with a fun fact:
Prague has the highest per capita
beer consumption in the entire world. This statistic also includes babies and
those under the legal drinking age, seniors, etc. And Winnipeggers thought
their Slurpee record was impressive.
We stayed at the “Czech Inn,” on
the recommendation of our friends Tianna and Tamara. Good call on that one,
girls! This was more of a hotel than a hostel, but retained the fun, relaxed
atmosphere of a place where backpackers from all over could sit together, laugh
together, play trivia together, and share stories of their travels. Our room
looked like it was furnished by Ikea. We even had a TV, which allowed us to
watch part of the Olympic closing ceremonies…in Czech.
Our time in Prague started with a
comprehensive walking tour of the city. Yes, it was free, and yes, we tipped
our guide handsomely. Our guide then took us to a spot with traditional Czech food
and traditional Czech prices (read: cheap).
That brings up another point:
Prague reminded us a lot of Ukraina. More specifically, it reminded us of Lviv.
The buildings are all more or less the same height, the architecture is
similar, a grandiose opera house is flanked by a main street, etc. We could
immediately sense that we were getting closer to Ukraina because everything was
starting to cost less: food, subway rides, water, and drinks. A subway ride in
Prague costs about 24 Kc (that’s Czech Crowns—currency number seven that we’ve
used, for those of you keeping score), which equates to just under two dollars.
Not quite as cheap as Kyiv’s two hryvniy ($0.25) metro rides, but definitely
not as pricey as what we paid in Paris and London.
The rest of our time in Prague was
spent exploring all four main parts of the city: the Old Town, the New Town,
the Jewish Quarter, and the Castle Quarter. Prague was swarmed with tourists
everywhere we went, which we definitely didn’t expect. We also didn’t expect to
come all the way to the Czech Republic to do something we haven’t done in
years—go paddle boating. For 200 Kc (about five bucks each), we rented a paddleboat
for an hour and paddled blissfully along the Vltava River, enjoying the Charles
Bridge, Prague Castle, and fake Eiffel Tower from a different angle. We didn’t
get the cool paddleboat shaped like a race car, but at least we didn’t get the
one shaped like a swan.
It is said that Prague knows how
to party. It has a reputation as a party town, so we decided to check out the
local nightlife for ourselves by going on one of Prague’s numerous pub crawls.
For about 15 Euros, we had 90 minutes of all-you-can drink beer or wine, free
admission to three clubs/pubs, a discount at a fourth, and free shots along the
way. Not a bad deal at all. We also made a few friends from England and
Australia; along our journey, we’ve definitely met more travellers from across
the world than locals in given city. Funny how that happens. There have been
lots of Canadians everywhere we go, as well…it’s nice to be able to discuss CFL
football while we’re across the ocean. We even met a Ukrainian fellow from
Baltimore on the tram one day. Anyway, after all the bars, pubs, and clubs, we
grabbed a hot dog with our English buddy Oliver on the way home and called it a
night.
Our time in Prague was short,
sweet, and full of puns (see this post’s title for examples). We saw what we
wanted to see, and did almost everything we wanted to do. Would we recommend
Prague to other travellers? Absolutely. We would also like to advise anyone
going to Prague not to ride the tram without a validated ticket. Trust us—it’ll cost ya.
We’ll leave it at that.
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