Julie

<BR>My husband and I have just returned from two weeks in the Czech Republic and couldn’t have enjoyed it more. It helped that we had near perfect weather—not a drop of rain in 14 days and warm temps in the 40’s and mostly 50’s. We spent 6 days in Prague, then 4 in Cesky Krumlov taking several day trips in the surrounding countryside, then 2 days in Karlovy Vary before a final day in Prague and our flight home. The amount of time allotted seemed to work out perfectly. <BR><BR>I especially want to thank the person from this forum (and I apologize for not keeping his name) who encouraged us to rent a car and drive. In spite of reports about bad roads and police looking for bribes, we experienced no problems whatsoever and the opportunity to drive at a leisurely pace through the incomparably beautiful countryside was one I’d encourage everyone to avail themselves of. It was really one of the highlights of our trip. <BR><BR>Overall the country seemed tidy, neither rich nor poor (I was expecting the latter), the citizens to be rather “matter-of-fact” and tolerant like the Dutch, and the entire experience like taking a step back in time to travel in Europe like it was 30 years ago when we made our first trips there. The countryside is rolling, green and beautiful with trees in bud and few if any billboards. The forsythia was blooming everywhere, as were daffodils and what appeared to be magnolias, just starting to come out. The price you pay for this beauty and “unspoiledness” is to drive slowly on one lane roads behind trucks and farm equipment—a good trade off for my money. While food in the countryside was mostly traditional (nothing wrong with that), Prague provided ample opportunity for international fare and even a few avant garde treats. The cost of most everything was quite inexpensive in comparison to most other European travel. Is this a great country or what? <BR>

Julie

Prague<BR><BR>With six days to spend in Prague we did all the usual sights and branched out to see some of the less mentioned places, but returned repeatedly to the central square in old town as well as several of the sites in Mala Strana where our hotel was. We saw the following, all of which were worthwhile:<BR>Charles Bridge<BR>Old town hall with the astrological clock<BR>Our Lady Before Tyn church<BR>The two Churches of St. Nicholas, one in old town and one in Mala Strana <BR>The Jewish quarter visiting one of its synagogues<BR>The austere Bethlehem Church of the Hussites<BR>Kampa Island<BR>The National Theatre and the National Museum<BR>Wenceslas Square in New town. <BR><BR>We spent a day on Castle Hill visiting Prague castle/palace, St. Vitus Cathedral with the stained glass window by Alphonse Mucha, the Loreto Church with its diamond encrusted monstrance, the Strahov monastery with its beautiful library and hall with painted ceilings. We also went to the Sternberg Palace museum on Castle Hill expecting to find Klimt paintings (never use an old—1994—guidebook) only to learn that they are now in the Trade Fair Building quite some distance from Castle Hill. <BR><BR>We also made it a point to see and experience as much of the Art Nouveau painting and architecture available—lunch in the Hotel Europa in New Town, dinner in the Hotel Pariz, a concert in the Smetana hall in the Municipal Building, the train station and the Mucha Museum. At the latter we learned that his masterpiece, the Slav Epic with 27 foot canvases portraying important moments in the history of the Slavic people, is on display in a castle in Moravy Krumlov, a short distance from Brno, from April to October of each year, through the end of October this year whereupon it is scheduled to be sent to Prague for future continuous display at an as yet undisclosed location. Since there was no way we could add Moravy Krumlov to the trip we had planned this time, I now have my perfect excuse for a return to Prague hereafter. I am something of an Art Nouveau freak so I absolutely reveled in the wonderful d&eacute;cor and architecture available in Prague and other areas (most notably Karlovy Vary) of the Czech Republic. <BR><BR>But I also like modern architecture, so another highlight was the Tancici dum or Dancing Building or Fred and Ginger by Frank Gehry in the new town on the banks of the Vlatava river. It really does resemble a dancing couple. It’s fun. <BR><BR>

Julie

Other sightseeing highlights included the wooden stalls set up both on the old town square and in Wenceslas Square to sell all manner of Czech folk art and almost anything else for the Easter holidays. Painted eggs were everywhere and the birch trees that had been erected for the occasion were strung with yards of orange, chartreuse and yellow dayglo ribbons and balloons to look like eggs. It obscured the Jan Hus monument a bit but was certainly colorful and festive. We particularly liked the grounds of the Polish Embassy in Mala Strana near the metro station. Trees and flowers were in bloom and they had an interesting horse statue made of tree branches. Likewise we enjoyed the gardens below the Prague Castle that occupy a steeply terraced hillside. They must be beautiful when the roses are in bloom. Perhaps next time. <BR><BR>The number of musical and theatrical events available in Prague each night is staggering. The streets are lined with people handing out flyers advertising all of them. We attended two—a Black Light Theatre show called The Best of Image that featured the Black Light stuff that Prague is famous for and some interesting modern dance and a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with a full chorus singing the Ode to Joy, in the beautiful Art Nouveau Smetana Concert Hall. The music and the setting were both wonderful. In contrast, I was a bit disappointed by the Prague market. Only one big one and filled with more trinkets and handcrafts than veggies and no meats at all. The latter were instead in permanent stores along the street where the market is but not as interesting or as colorful as markets I’ve experienced in other European countries. <BR><BR>Restaurant food in Prague was surprisingly good. I admit I was narrowly thinking that the offerings would be dumplings, pork, duck, cabbage and more of the same. We had some of that—after all it is good and the Czechs are very good at it—but we also had some very interesting continental/international cuisine and even some fusion things. We ate at the following restaurants: Voyanuv Dvur, a hotel restaurant in Mala Strana with lovely traditional food and atmosphere—pink linens and candles; Pelko, a cave behind the Stahov Monastery on Castle Hill with a modified disco bar and a pool with running water; the Circle Line Brasserie near the St. Nicolas Church in Mala Strana, with a traditional French menu and a couple of businessmen entertaining their “nieces” at the nearby table; Ryhi trh, a terrific fish restaurant that served parrot fish and tiger shrimp with ravioli filled with blue cheese and played Ray Orbison and Johnny Ray on the sound track (haven’t heard Johnny Ray in years, what a treat); Pravda, probably the trendiest restaurant with beautiful floral displays and an international menu that permitted me to have a California appetizer of scallops on a bed of pumpkin with artichoke embellishment and heavenly lime beurre blanc, and a Norway entr&eacute;e of steamed cod over mushrooms with mashed potatoes. The former was terrific, the latter, so-so. <BR>

Julie

Also ate at Kampa Park where Hilary Clinton and Michael Douglas had preceded us—separately, I believe. For their sakes, I hope they also ordered the rack of lamb. It was very good and the artichoke bottom stuffed with mushrooms couldn’t have been better. Had a lunch at Barock, owned by the same people who own Pravda. It’s very trendy with an arugula, tomato, bacon and tofu salad served in a deep black bowl that had a hole on one side near the rim to insert one end of your chopsticks while resting the other in the small indentation in the rim on the reverse side of the bowl—the kind of thing you’d expect in New York or LA at three times the price we paid in Prague. And we had a dinner at Reykjevik, a sort of unofficial embassy of Iceland owned by a man who is the sort of unofficial ambassador of his native country. Great seafood in cream sauce and cheese followed by lamb chops with potatoes and celery root in a blue cheese sauce. <BR><BR>While we drank several French and Spanish wines, Sancerre and Conde de Waldemar, we tried and liked the local wines especially the Frankovka red from Moravia and the Bohemia Sekt Brut, a kind of local version of the Spanish cava. Often such wines were available in the restaurants for less than $10 US per bottle. <BR><BR>We found internet access at several places but especially liked the Bohemia Bagel places to stop for a drink and a little cyber time. <BR><BR>We stayed at the Hotel Hoffmeister, just a block or two from the Mala Strana metro station and easy walking distance to the Charles Bridge. I couldn’t resist it as the only Relais and Chateau member in the Czech Republic. As such it was far pricier than was necessary but we enjoyed it, loved its breakfasts—several different kinds of herring, smoked salmon, pickled sausage, various cheeses, etc. etc, etc—and were very pleased with its location. We had booked our first 6 nights there and figured to check out other places for our final night back in Prague before flying home. We liked it well enough to book that last night back there even at its higher rates. The convenience just seemed worth it—and proved so when our drive back to town took us directly through Prague traffic to the hotel with nary a wrong turn or problem. <BR> <BR>

Julie

The Countryside<BR><BR>My plans called for a more or less circular route around Prague to see more of the Czech Republic before returning for our flight home. We began by traveling east to Kutna Hora to take in the St. Barbara Cathedral. It took us only about 15 minutes or so to exit Prague and its suburbs, with the usual unsightly mess that surrounds big cities but neither worse nor better than others, just shorter. We were immediately thrilled with the beautiful countryside. Although the coal burning that takes place frequently provides an overlay of smog, it usually dissipates by noon or so, and leaves viewers free to enjoy uninterrupted vistas of rolling hills, vast expanses of green fields and quaint little villages. The latter are not as attractive as the more picturesque villages of France, Italy or Germany, but they are sturdy, clean and well kept, often with a central pond, apparently from which to draw water in case of fire. There were few major flower plantings but every so often a house would sport several rows of chipper yellow daffodils and the spring flowering trees were in bloom. But the best thing for us was the frequent stands of birch trees along the highways, bringing back visions of my husband’s native Latvia and my northern Wisconsin roots. They were so white and so graceful just beginning to bud. <BR><BR>We arrived in Kutna Hora at noon, just as the cathedral was closing for lunch, so we found a small pension that served food and had lunch—salads, roast pork, dumplings and cabbage plus tonic water and a bottle of red wine for a total of $10 US, our cheapest meal of the trip, but plenty good. We explored a bit of the town including an “also ran” church and made our way to the Cathedral. It’s quite unique with its three conical spires in plain black and its flying buttresses. Definitely worth a detour. Don’t know if the bone church in nearby Sedlec is similarly worth a detour as we were running behind and dropped it from our schedule in order to get into Cesky Krumlov with time to find a hotel for the next several nights. <BR> <BR>

Julie

Hotel booking <BR><BR>Finding a hotel on the fly is not something we do much or any more. We did on our first couple of trips to Europe but then I began having so much fun planning our trips in detail and we found it so much less stressful to have reservations in advance that we have pretty well given that up. Because I was less sure of what to expect on this trip, I decided to leave the number of nights in the countryside open—to decide whether we would want to spend fewer days in Cesky Krumlov and more in Karlovy Vary or vice versa. We also expected to be able to kind of walk around and find a place that looked good to us and walk in to book it. It just didn’t work out that way. We got into Cesky Krumlov at about 5 p.m. and needed to find something before dark. We were unsure of where to find the center of town and of where to park since we had no maps of the town. We were lucky enough to stumble into one of the two tourist info centers in town and to find someone who could book us a room there—but from pictures that I could have looked at on the internet not from personally finding and inspecting the places as I had envisioned. I had done enough research to know a few places that sounded pretty good, so I asked the young man to check those out for availability. The first had a room for only 2 nights and by now I had pretty well confirmed my expectations that we’d split the time between Cesky Krumlov and Karlovy Vary into 4 in the former and 2 in the latter. The second could give us a room for 3 of the 4 nights I was now requesting so I grabbed it. The Zlaty Andel hotel was fine, right on the main square, with nice modern furnishings, plenty of room, a well-appointed bathroom and a cute breakfast room. At $67 US per night, it was also very reasonable. However, they like the other full-service hotels in town that I checked, were fully booked for the Friday and Saturday weekend nights. By the second day in Cesky Krumlov I had found us a room in a nearby pension for the fourth night. The pictures displayed looked nice so we booked it. At $27 US for the night and a nice breakfast it was incredibly cheap, probably the least expensive hotel we’ve stayed in in 20 years. It was furnished in 1920’s antique furniture, had a nice bathroom with shower, a cute breakfast room, and was probably the cleanest place I’ve ever stayed. Actually it was 1/10th the price of the Hotel Hoffmeister in Prague, kind of hard to determine whether there’s any sense whatsoever in that ratio. <BR><BR>Although everything turned out fine, it got me thinking to try to make advance arrangements for our intended two day stay in Karlovy Vary. The woman at our Hotel Zlaty Andel was very helpful in this regard, making the calls for us. We had a momentary hiccup when she learned that all the rooms at the Hotel Pupp--the largest, most expensive, grande dame of a hotel in the spa town and therefore, I reasoned, the most likely to have a vacant room—were all taken, except for the Kaiserin Elizabeth suite at $560 US. Thoughts of a completely booked town filled my head until I gave our helper numbers for three more hotels there and she found us a room with the next call. Turns out the Hotel Pupp was hosting their annual Ms. Czech Republic contest and the hotel was completely booked with contestants, judges, and tv people. We were actually able to get a room at the Hotel Central right in the middle of Karlovy Vary for $67 US per night. Again a spacious, well-appointed room with a nice bath, pretty good breakfast and an adorable elderly door man in a green cape and top hat. <BR>

Julie

Cesky Krumlov<BR><BR>The rest of our time in Cesky Krumlov was devoted to seeing the town itself and to a couple of wonderful day trips outside it. Besides the town and its streets and buildings which are a destination in themselves, the most interesting sites in CK are the castle and its gardens, and the St. Vitus Cathedral. We took the English tour of the castle and enjoyed it. Wish we’d have had more time to take the second tour of the theater which is apparently a very unique historical building with sets and costumes dating back centuries. One day trip took us as far east of CK as Telc in Moravia. The castle there was a delight. Very colorful d&eacute;cor including a ballroom with over 130 figures adorning the walls in a masquerade motif. On our return to CK we stopped in Trebon where another castle was closed for the day or not yet open for the season (many of the outlying castles and sights do not open until April so our trip beginning in Prague at the end of March and then taking us into the countryside in April was planned correctly—just luck.) Our other day trip took us to Orlik, north of CK. The pictures of this place looked spectacular but I don’t know why I’ve never tumbled to the problem of seeing a place in person whose pictures are all shot from the air. There’s just no way to see it like it’s pictured without taking to the air. While it is impressive, you just can’t see its position surrounded by water without being above it and there’s no way to get above it and stay on the ground. We gave up and even scrapped the idea of seeing the interior and returned to CK via Hluboka nad Vlatou, another castle described in both Fodor’s and Frommer’s as in extremely poor taste. I beg to differ. It’s modeled after Windsor Castle and may seem a bit hokey from that standpoint, but it’s a nice replica with lovely glass enclosed wintergarden-like attached art museum. We arrived too late to see the interiors but I certainly would try to do so if I ever get there again. The gardens were nice as well, as was the surrounding town. One of the outbuildings, complete with the same kind of crennelations (sp?) and turrets as the main castle, has been turned into a hotel and had a restaurant with an impressive looking menu. We stopped for coffee and wine in their garden and wished we’d known what a lovely place it was, so that we’d have planned lunch there instead. The hotel is the Hotel Stekl. I intend to check it out on the net to learn more about it. Looks like a true find to me. The garden reminded me of the area in Epcot in the France pavilion and also of some of the wineries in Napa. It’s pretty manicured and would fulfill a young girl’s fantasy of a princess castle to stay in. <BR><BR>We had three really good meals in CK. One was a lunch at Papa’s living restaurant or some such—tagliatelle with 4 cheeses including a blue, rich but excellent, and chicken legs, sort of the Czech equivalent of chicken wings in the US, all on a deck overlooking the fast-flowing Vlatava river looking across to some lovely little cottage-type houses on the other side. The other two were both dinners at Rybarska Batta Jakuba Krcina, a mouthful of a name and a great fish restaurant. Call us lacking in imagination but both times my husband had a whole trout and I had baked eel in butter and herbs. Absolutely wonderful and even with two bottles of great white Czech fish wine, salads and an apple strudel, the bill for two was under $30 US. <BR> <BR>

Julie

Spa Towns<BR><BR>After leaving CK, we headed northwest through spa country. On our way to Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad) we stopped enroute at Marianske Lazne (Marienbad of film fame). It’s a beautiful little town with a spectacular white wrought-iron colonnade and many beautiful pastel painted hotels that seem to beg to be populated by blue-haired ladies having afternoon tea. It’s terribly relaxing. While I didn’t have tea, I did stop for a Bailey’s Irish Cream. Sometimes you just need something sweet. <BR><BR>Our last stop was Karlovy Vary and an excellent place to wind up our trip outside of Prague. It too is a spa town and has 3 (possibly even 4) different colonnades to house their springs. One is a stuffy looking stone structure. Another is a fanciful white wooden structure with all manner of pointed decoration and the third is a new construction (1974 or so) in austere but attractive granite with a glass tower of about 3 stories into which the steaming water spouts at frequent intervals. Many people walk about with their funny little cups with what looks like a bird whistle in the handles sipping their waters from the whistle spout. Again the hotels lining the river running down the main street are pastel beauties, some in my beloved Art Nouveau style. On one hill is an incredible blue turreted Russian Orthodox Church to be explored. The shopping, geared to the city’s wealthy German and Russian visitors, is excellent. The food we found at two restaurants was also excellent, the Promenada in the hotel of the same name and the Embassy, also in a like-named hotel. The latter had been visited by Michael Douglas and Vaclav Havel as demonstrated by the pictures on their menu. It was an especially cute little restaurant with tiny separate rooms of 3 or 4 tables each. I had the traditional duck with cabbage and dumplings and it was very tasty. <BR> <BR>

Julie

Returning to Prague and summing things up<BR><BR>On our last day in the Czech Republic we left Karlovy Vary to drive through Melnik on our way back to Prague. Melnik is a wine-producing town at the confluence of the Vlatava and Elbe rivers that I had read about in a 1989 issue of the no longer published “European Travel and Life” magazine. I’d saved the article about the castle and its owners “just in case” we ever did the unlikely and traveled to Czechoslovakia. I was so excited about actually doing the unlikely and so interested to see this wonderful little town that the article and its mention in the Frommer guide to Prague and the Czech Republic spoke so highly of. All the more reason to be very disappointed when the castle was not open (though Frommer claimed it to be open daily) and the surrounding town seemed charmless and very industrial. The best available was a little restaurant near the castle with views down to the locks on the river that had been pictured in the magazine article and a drink of Ludmilla, the Melnik wine. The latter was good and you can’t expect every dream to come true. <BR><BR>We decided to go to Prague and CZ after reading reports on this forum, especially those that extolled the virtues of Cesky Krumlov. We were not disappointed and we thank those posters who made the reports that got us interested. Overall, our trip to Prague and the Czech Republic exceeded our expectations. It was culturally interesting and very relaxing with slow drives through a pretty much unspoiled countryside studded with more castles than you can count. Once more my thanks to the Fodorite who encouraged us to drive. We recommend Prague, CZ and driving through as much of it as possible very highly. It is a wonderful country. <BR><BR>Happy to try to answer any questions. <BR>

Jim Tardio

Very excellent report, Julie. I'm planning on visiting Prague in September. Actually, we will be flying home from Prague. <BR><BR>I always like to stay in a nicer hotel before we return home. We have 3 nights in Prague and the Hotel Hoffmeister sounds good. What was the price there, in US dollars? Do they have a web site? And, are they close to the main train station. <BR><BR>Thanks again for the report and any info you can provide.

Julie

Hotel Hoffmeister website is www.hoffmeister.cz. The insert in the Relais and Chateau guide they encourage you to leave with quotes daily rates for 2002 in September at $230 US double, $250 suite and $330 Honeymoon suite with a 5% VAT and $10 breakfast per person. It must be those add ons that drove the price of our room on the last night to $310 euros or about $263 US. At any rate, it's a very nice hotel and we certainly liked it. Small and pleasant and well located. Glad you enjoyed my report. I'm certain you'll enjoy Prague.

Marcie

Julie, I LOVED your report. It has such great information. Thanks for sharing it with all of us that will be traveling shortly! Marcie

MJM

Thank you for the wonderful report! I visited Prague a week ago and miss it terribly. I only wish I could have seen the countryside. Best regards.

Julie

Jim, I neglected to mention in my earlier response, that one of the nice features of staying at the Hoffmeister is that they have their own car to drive clients to the airport. Apparently unscrupulous cab drivers are a big problem in Prague (though prices are so reasonable that an extra $10 added to the bill isn't really a big deal) at any rate, to remedy this problem, the Hoffmeister has their own car and driver. All you need do is book him in advance at the front desk.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Thanks Julie, Best report on CZ I have seen on this forum--great detail.

Jim Tardio

Thanks, Julie.<BR><BR>Right now the Hoffmeister is at the top of my list...especially with their own car. That's perfect for getting to the airport.

Julie

Just discovered an error in my report. The castle with the 130+ masquerade figures on the wall of the ballroom is the one in Cesky Krumlov not the one in Telc. Not that this discrepancy would ever cause anyone to cancel their trip to CZ or anything, but I just thought it best to set the record straight.

carol

Many of the hotels must have cars/drivers. We are staying at the Romantic Hotel U Raka and they also have a car/driver at the guest disposal. Will will use the service to transfer from the airport to the hotel as well as a trip to Cesky Krumlov.

jeanne

Thanks for the report. <BR><BR>Do you happen to remember the name of the pension you stayed in in Cesky Krumlov? We're going to be there in June and it sounds like a good, inexpensive place to stay.

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