My old ‘hood: Mala Strana. In 2006, I knew I was lucky to live here (two blocks away from the end of Charles Bridge) and loved every second of it. The neighborhood was (and still is) spectacular (albeit a bit more touristy than I remembered). I walked home either over the infamous bridge or towards one of the more famous churches in town everyday. My roommates were great. Even the ten flights of stairs to climb up to our apartment were more than manageable! It is probably my most favorite place that I’ve ever lived. I missed it all as we walked thirty minutes from our hotel room through the old town towards ‘the little side’ that used to be right out my bedroom window, and front door. Andrew humored me, and insisted he enjoyed hearing me reminisce about my year in Prague. We’ll all just pretend he really meant it and wasn’t tired of my stories after awhile…
I insisted the Kafka Museum was cool. I told Andrew that I’ve been, but still have yet to read any Kafka, so perhaps I should wait to return until I’ve read at least one book to better appreciate the museum. He agreed, and instead we took a picture of the statues of men peeing on a pool of water in the shape of the Czech Republic before moving on. If you want to read about the sculptor, David Cerny, and see more of his pieces, I suggest you check out this article. I had no idea he was the one responsible for so many works throughout Prague!
Marionettes are popular here, and not just chintzy ones either. While one of our walking tour guides didn’t seem to understand their popularity, a Czech friend of ours remembered shows being put on for children at one point. I love (LOVE) marionette shops and dream of one day having a theater and put on a show much like the one in "The Sound of Music."
These marionettes only ran around $400-$600. I totally would have gotten them… you know, if not for the old budget. Oh right, and the fact that I don’t have a theatre yet, or a house to put it in, or a job to pay for it all…
After a quick lunch and some more of Mala Strana, we plopped down and took a nap in the park.
We walked back towards the area of town sandwiched in between Narodni Divadlo (the national theater) and Narodni Trida (where the best fried cheese sandwich stand used to reside). Walking around this town was like riding a bike. Usually Andrew relies on google maps to get us around, but I wouldn’t even let him peek at his phone, insisting I would figure it out. I did, and it felt good. What didn’t feel so good- eating cold (and overpriced) wings at Jama!
This restaurant, Jama- used to be a block away from where I worked. It had really cheap food (salads and wings were my favorites) and really terrible waitresses. We would go for lunch and try to order tap water with our food, and the waitresses would always insist, “It’s not possible!” wanting us to buy overpriced bottled water instead.
We would always grumble “IT IS POSSIBLE, YOU’RE JUST NOT GOING TO DO IT!” to each other and then order a (cheaper than water) beer instead. A friend of mine who left Prague only a year or so ago warned me about the decline of Jama, but I had to see for myself. At least now I know.
Paying a visit to one of my favorite places, which has (for the most part) remained the same made up for it. Hello, Usudu, you old friend! What’s great- is that it’s still pure awesomeness walking down several flights of stairs through an old, dark wine cellar that has been converted into a bar. What’s not so great- we learned later on that it’s on a tourist pub crawl and if you don’t time it right, you’ll suddenly be surrounded by thirty or forty twenty year old Brit boys drinking Pilsners in Prague for the first time.
