London - Prague

After a relaxing Christmas we flew out from London Stansted airport to Prague on Tuesday 27/12/16. Stansted airport at that time of year was hectic, chaotic and unorganised and our Ryanair fight was delayed by about 40 minutes for no apparent reason other than that there was only one staff member checking people in and it took forever.

Luckily we had already booked to stay at the Holiday Inn Prague Airport for the night so that when we arrived in Prague late we only had a very short ride in the hotel shuttle bus to get to our hotel and settle in for the night.

Wednesday morning had breakfast then took a local bus to Zlicin metro station and the train to Andel.

It was cold and drizzling with rain that morning and we wanted to get to our hotel as soon as possible. So as soon as we exited the Andel metro station Matt simply did not have the patience to wait at the crosswalk for the green signal to cross the road. Unfortunately he jaywalked across the street right in front of two very stern looking and very armed Czech police officers who then asked for his passport, checked him out, giggled at the holographic kangaroos on the passport front page and then let him go with a warning ("green, only green").

We checked in to Angelo by Vienna House Prague hotel in Andel and then hopped right back on the metro (which was very modern, clean and efficient) to the New Town neighbourhood for our 3pm booking at the Prague Spa Beerland.
This was my Christmas gift to Matt and it was the perfect activity for a cold and wet afternoon.
We arrived a little early for our booking but we were warmly welcomed and provided two large steins to begin sampling the light and dark Krosovice beer on tap.
Shortly after we were taken to our private spa room and the attendant filled up the wooden tub spa bath with hops, brewers yeast, malt and piping hot water.

They say that the high hop oil content contributes to 'overall vitality' and helps open pores on the skin, Vitamin B and active enzymes in brewer's yeast have a salutary effect on skin regeneration and the whole concoction is supposed to generally give you a a good detox and of course ease stress.
After about 20 minutes soaking in the bubbling beer spa our skin certainly did feel extremely soft and we definitely felt relaxed although that may have been in part due to the unlimited self-service Krusovice on tap in the room!
The beer spa was really unique and enjoyable and we bought a few beer based cosmetic souvenirs to use at home.

(Photos: Prague Spa Beerland).

On Thursday we took the tram north and trekked up the hill to Prague Castle and strolled around Hradcany (the castle district) and saw the changing of the guards. The view of Prague was obscured due to heavy fog that hung over the city all day but at least the rain cleared up. The fog gave the city an eerie vibe.
We walked from Prague Castle over the famous Charles Bridge (built in 1357) through the Jewish Quarter to the Old Town. Had lunch at The Pub in Old Town and enjoyed some Czech food (garlic soup cooked with smoked ribs and Czech cheese, potato and mushroom soup, brown bread and pork cracklings with sweet pickled onions).

(Photos: tram in the city; Prague Castle; Hradcany District; lunch at The Pub; Charles Bridge).

After lunch we walked to Wenceslas Square and looked around the Christmas Markets and the outdoor ice skating rink. At the markets we enjoyed some warm Kingswood cider, mulled wine and popular Czech street food Syr Smazeny which is essentially a thick piece of cheese grilled on a grill plate (so that it is crispy on the outside and melty on the inside) and served with brown bread and cranberry sauce. It is smoky, rich and delicious!

(Photos: Wenceslas Square Christmas Markets; Prague Old Town).

Friday morning we visited the Museum of the City of Prague. The museum building was built in 1896 in neo-Renaissance style and was worth visiting just for the architecture and massive frescoes of Prague city.
The exhibitions covered the history of Prague city from the prehistoric era to present day and the main exhibit was the famous scale model of Prague created by Antonín Langweil. The model took 11 years to build from 1826 to 1837, is 2om square in size and is a 3 dimensional paper and cardboard reconstruction of the city at that time. The model became famous as it was quite unique at that time by virtue of being a 3D model and because of the incredible detail and accuracy Langweil incorporated into the model.
From the museum we took the train back to New Town where we had some beer and snacks (sausage with mustard and bread, pickled fish and pickled cheeses) at a local craft brewery.
Friday night was one of the highlights of our trip as we went to an ice hockey game and saw HC Sparta Praha play PSG Zlin at the 02 Arena. Sparta played a great game but lost 0-3 to Zlin. It was a really fantastic experience and tickets were so cheap!

(Photos: New Town; Pivovar Brewery; at the game).

Saturday was New Years Eve and we ended up staying in most of the morning as Matt was feeling sick with a cold and had started a chesty cough. We went to the Gold Class cinema just down the street (Matt's first time at Gold Class) and saw the new Assassin's Creed movie which we enjoyed.
That night we went to Na Verandach restaurant for dinner and enjoyed Czech beers, spicy Czech goulash with homemade dumplings, the most enormous pork knuckle we have ever seen and finished off with some Czech spirits (Slivovice - plum brandy, Hruskovice - pear brandy).
After dinner we rugged up with some extra layers to brave the -5 degree cold and walked down to the Vlatava River where we watched an intense and chaotic fireworks display lasting almost a full hour, including both the city arranged fireworks along with those being set off randomly by local citizens.
All in all it was quite impressive and a fairly spectacular way to bring in the new year.

On Sunday for New Years Day we had a good sleep in and a late breakfast then reluctantly stepped out of the hotel just after lunch time into what felt like -10 degrees. We took the tram back to Wenceslas Square to check out the famous astronomical clock (which was impressive as a clock but hanging around in the massive crowds of people to see the clock chime on the hour was not really worth it). We made out way back to the Christmas markets and bought a few souvenirs then stuffed ourselves with more cider, hot chocolate, Syr Smazeny and Trdelnik (funnel cakes) until we we just couldn't cope with the bitter cold any longer and retreated back to the warmth of the hotel.
On Monday we checked out and made our way to the train station for our train from Prague to Budapest. Just as our train was pulling out of the station snow began to fall and as the train rolled on through the Czech countryside we enjoyed watching the icy, white wintry landscape pass by from the warmth of the carriage.

(Photos: watching the fireworks; NYE dinner; Wenceslas Square astronomical clock; Czech scenery from the train).