| Helena |
Feb 16th, 2000 06:02 AM |
Ah, three days in Prague in early June. What a nice time to be there. Here are my two cents' worth on eating, buying, and teh like. <BR> <BR>Restaurants: my favorite is Cafe Colonial on Siroka street, right across from the Jewish Cemetery. The prices are reasonable (entrees for $8) and the food is imaginative, well-prepared, and good. Service is good as well. It's an informal atmosphere where you can wear anything from jeans to very dressed up, and they have a nice cafe as well which serves really good espresso. You should make reservations for dinner, although I've gotten in without reservations -- and you can also eat in the cafe area. I also like Pravda and Barock, which are both on Parizska street, although they're both more expensive and more trendy than Cafe Colonial. For classic Czech food, try almost any Czech pub or restaurant -- the dishes are so traditional and so unchanged over the centuries that it's hard to do it poorly. A very classic Czech dish is pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, or goose. It's not what you'd eat at home, probably, but it really does taste good and although the caloric content is high, the portions aren't so gigantic that you're destroyed at the end of your meal. The Mucha restaurant on the street leading from Wenceslas Square straight down to Old Town Square (the name escapes me) is good. <BR> <BR>There are many nice souvenirs to purchase in Prague, and they're relatively inexpensive. Starting at the top of the price scale, you might look at the Moser store on Na Prikope for high-end glass. It's a very old Czech company and the glass is beautiful. Lately they've added modern pieces and opened a new wing in their showrooms. Moser glass has been crafted for kings for centuries, and heads of state (including George Bush) have some. It's all hand-made. <BR> <BR>You can then work your way down the price scales to the thousands of glass stores you'll find all around the city. There's a particularly nice group right in the thick of the tourist strip, between the Charles Bridge (on the Mala Strana side) and Malostranske namesti, on the right-hand side. Also, there's a nice shop on Rytirska street with a giant selection. <BR> <BR>I've also bought ceramics (folk style), especially from a store on Havelska, right near the church on that street. <BR> <BR>Around Easter time (but also sold the rest of the year) you can find hand-painted eggs (real eggs) that are a bit of a pain to transport, but quite spectacular and very very cheap. <BR> <BR>The traditional liquor of the area is Becherovka, which is, I believe, in the gin category. It's a little bit sweeter than gin, and goes great with tonic and a lime. It's slightly bitter, and is rumored (by everyone's grandmother) to be medicinal. I always bring back a bottle or two. If you do, by the way, wrap them in a plastic bag -- they sometimes leak a tiny bit. The bottles are sturdy enough to check in a suitcase, but do wrap them. For some reason, the caps ooze a little bit. <BR> <BR>As you wander around Prague you'll also find many galleries and outdoor markets, where you can find some wonderful regional artists. <BR> <BR>For clothing, I'd stick to London or NY. The boutiques in Prague are expensive (they do have nice things though) and the size selections are small. Even stores like Marks & Spencers, a British chain, are more expensive in Prague than anywhere else, and don't sell anything unique. <BR> <BR>Books are a nice souvenir too, albeit kind of heavy. There are many nice bookstores around town, and most will have an English-language section. All have guidebooks and books about Prague in English, some have literature in English as well. <BR> <BR>Finally, my father always buys classical music CDs in Prague. They're cheaper than in the US, and there's a tremendous selection. There's a store to the left of the St. Nicholas church on Old Town Square, right on the corner, that has a great selection and a salesman (blondish hair in a ponytail) who knows classical music. <BR> <BR>If you buy things at the outdoor stalls on Old Town Square or if you buy marionnets (sp?) in any of the puppet stores, negotiate, especially if you're buying more than one item. They will go down. <BR> <BR>Have fun!!
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