The last destination for our second leg of Europe trip was in Prague, Czech Republic.We took an overnight bus from Budapest to ÚAN Florenc Praha via the FlixBus company. The ride was fine and smooth all the way. Moreover, it was the cheapest option available and the toilet was at least very clean compared to the Megabus in the UK. The journey took us about six and a half hours to reach Praha hl.n. (Autobusová St. Wilsonova), the main bus station in Prague.

(I can't decide on which photo to pick out of the four so I'm going to upload all of them. Leave your comments below on which photo you think is the best!)

Day 1

ÚAN Florenc Praha

One of the advantages of reaching Prague that early was we felt safer simply because it was broad daylight but the weather was significantly freezing. We did not pack any jackets with us as we thought it would not be that cold during summer in western Europe. Worst of all, all the shops were not open until 10 am so we had to stay in the bus station for a couple of hours.

I went outside to have a walk and realised that Prague actually seemed quite similar to Malaysia in terms of the highways and after I accidentally stumbled upon a convenient store. Upon checking the price of the items, I figured the cost of living was about the same as us living in South East Asia. No wonder most Asians enjoyed travelling to Czech Republic during the holidays.

Home Kitchen

After waiting for four hours, we finally left the bus station that did not even have benches for the public, let alone cushion seats to have our breakfast. While we were walking, one of my friends started talking about the existence of the Babicka or Babička grannies in Czech Republic. The cafe was just about to open when we reached so we had to wait for another 30 minutes for the staff to get prepared.

The place was seemingly small but it was very cosy and warm inside. The staff were friendly and kind enough to recommend us on the local dishes that were on the menu. We ordered the cappuccinos, eggs and hams as well as the berry pie. The hams were surprisingly good as they were well cooked (not a sight of burnt edge seen) and the yolks were runny which were my preference. The berry pie was not as good as I expected because I wished it was creamier and had thicker fillings but it tasted quite okay.

Prague Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí)

Then we proceed to check in at our Airbnb accommodation. The location was slightly further than the city area as we could not get a cheaper rates near the city. We dropped our luggage and rest for a while before  heading out to explore Prague. Our first destination was none other than the famous Old Town Square. In order to get there, we went to the metro station and bought some tickets (24 Czech Koruna (CZK) per person per ride) to take the metro to the nearest station.

Prague was essentially made up of two places, namely the Old Town and the New Town separated by the Vltava River. As true as people said, the square was really beautiful as the bright sun shining over the buildings but it was considerably hot and dry. Also, the square however was filled with tourists from all over the world and I noticed that many Asians loved visiting Prague in particular as most tourists were Asians.

There were significant amount of historical buildings all over the square, most notably the Church of Our Lady before Týn, the Varoque Church of St Nicholas, the Rococo Kinský Palace, the Gothic House at the Stone Bell, the monument to Jan Hus, not to mention the memorial stones built in the middles of the square marking the execution of 27 Czech Lords in 1621.

Prague Anatomical Clock (Orloj)

We also took the chance to look at the Astronomical Clock, one of the most famous attractions in Prague. It was worth waiting for the clock to strike as the little figurines on the clock moved in a funny way but it was not as interesting as people mentioned. In addition, there were tons of tourists so we did not went up as it would be too crowded to move anyway once we reached the top and all we could see were heads as we were quite small in size compared to other European travellers.

Nonetheless it was worth reading about the history of the clock before visiting it as it contained lots of history. For example, it was the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and according to the local myths, the city will suffer if the clock was not well maintained and the only hope was represented by a boy born on New Year's night.

Church of Our Lady Before Týn (Chrám Matky Boží před Týnem)

Being another significant landmark in Prague, the Church of Our Lady Before Týn was somewhat partly hidden behind the Týn School which was four storeys tall itself. The spires of this gorgeous church can be seen throughout the Old Town area and they lit up during the night, making the church looked very magical and breath-taking. It was said that the golden image of Virgin Mary was made from the chalice that was melted by the catholic who took over the church in the 1620s.

Image Source:flickr.com

The interior of the church was equally amazing but photos were not allowed to be taken inside. The security was tight as they watched us entered the building after making a small donation. In contrast to other Catholic churches with duller themes, this church was decorated with lots of black and shiny gold metal columns and angels.

Jewish Quarter (Josefov)

The Jewish were ordered to settle in one area during the 13th century which then formed the Jewish Quarter located between the Old Town Square and the Vltava River. We went to walk aroudn this quarter to appreciate the Old Jewish buildings including the cemetery, the synagogues and the squares that were filled with historic events. Some of the popular synagogues included the Maisel Synagogue, Pinkas Synagogue, Klausen Synagogue, and Spanish Synagogue (I did my homework okay).

We did not follow the tour as it required bookings with specific timings hence we explore the area by ourselves. I was particularly intrigued by the difference between the synagogues and the churches and the religion wise but I could not get any answers from my friends as they were equally confused as well.

Letná Park (Letenské sady)

Next we went to our favourite spot, the Letná Park. It was one of the top five parks in Prague and being flat as well as on top of a hill, the park was a perfect spot for people to chill and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the city. There were many roller skaters around the park playing while most of them were at the beer garden chatting while sipping a pint. The park was enormous and it took us about half an hour for us to navigate through it to the Metronome.

The huge metronome was located in a small square in the middle of the park visible from the centre of the city. Designed by Vratislav Novak, the functional metronome was built on a demolished statue of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The place was now mostly a scenic area and a hang out place for the youngsters. We bought some cheap beer in cups and sat beside the metronome while watching people and the views which was really awesome thing to do.

Powder Tower (Prašná brána)

Of course, we spent some time at this monumental building before going for dinner. I think the Powder Tower got its name as it was formerly used as a gunpowder store. This tower was also the place where the coronation processions of the Czech Kings would enter the town, making it one of the most significant buildings of late-Gothic Prague. By that time we were kind of starving so we did not make effort to enter the building to look at its interior. The ticket entrance however was 100CZK and we were told that the entrance could be easily missed.

Restaurant U Sadlu (U Sádlů)

After walking for a whole day, we went to this somewhat dodgy looking restaurant recommended by our friend. We had to go into a small door entrance and walked down the spiral stairs before reaching the restaurant which made us being more sceptical about the restaurant. We browsed through the menus and ordered some food to share amongst the nine of us. Shockingly, the food was fantastic and they came in big portions, much to our liking. We also celebrated our friend's birthday at the restaurant itself before ending the dinner and called it a night.

Day 2

Charles Bridge (Karlův most)

On our second day in  Czech Republic, we went to visit the oldest bridge in Prague, the Charles Bridge. It was built to replace the Judith Bridge that was badly damaged by floods that happened back in 1342. The view again was so mesmerising and I had to admit that every photos that we had taken in Prague was like an art itself!

The bridge was wide and there were a lot of tourists walking around taking photos of the statues and the bridge. Naturally, where there were tourists, there would be street artists / scammers around. (Hence tourists should always be careful whenever they visit Charles Bridge.) It was a silly game where the guy would put a cash in one of the three cups and the public would need to guess the correct cup to win prizes which were double of the amount you bet.

From the internet we got to know that both the artist and the public were scammers and there would be a couple of people from the same gang stood there watching out for their colleagues. Say if you happen to be so daft to fall into the trap and won some cash, they would not let you go until you lost all your money! In short, just don't be greedy and there is no free lunch in this world. Everything comes at a cost!

Prague Castle

Enough of lecturing and nagging, we then made our way to the beautiful and dreamy Prague Castle. It was notably the largest castle in Europe that contained more than seven hundred rooms in the castle itself. So there were two types of circuits to be chosen from when we bought the tickets as mentioned in the itinerary below and it was worth exploring the whole castle as there were many memorable and historic events that happened in the castle.

Some of the must visit area included the St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilicas, and the Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower. Furthermore, at noon (12pm) every day, there would be changing of the Guards that took place in the first courtyard of the castle. Having said that, it was a formal handover that was carried out by the guards with a fanfare and banner exchange. The sentries at the gates of the castle, on the other hand, would change every hour from as early as seven in the morning.

Just to take note, there were horde of tourists when we were there and it was so crowded especially during the guard changing session. Walking around the place without paying for the tour was fine as well as there were many things to see outside of the castle. Also, there were rows of food stalls for us to grab some beer and snacks to stroll around the perimeter. The slush was a good option considering the hot weather with the blazing hot sun during the summer.

The Church of Saint Nicholas (Kostel svatého Mikuláše)

Image Source: ttnotes.com

Dedicated to Saint Nicholas, this Baroque church was located in the Lesser Town of Prague city (not to be confused with the church of same name behind the astronomical clock). It was by far one of the most amazing church we have visited in Prague, second to Church of Our Lady Before Týn with impressive St Nicholas statues and ceilings all over, not to mention white marbles and gold literally everywhere that enhanced the interior of the church. What was interesting about this church was the fact that Mozart himself actually played the organ in this very church! 

Wallenstein Palace Gardens (Valdštejnská zahrada)

After visiting the church we went to the next place, the Wallenstein Palace Garden. This geometric garden that represented the early Baroque was located at the Wallenstein Palace. There were bronze statues placed in the garden as well as magnificent fountains. Apart from that, there was also a small green house that had various types of small plants in it.

The most eye-capturing subject in the gardem was non other than a pair of magical ablino peacocks that wandered around the garden. First I was surprised by some screeches that came from a big tree, thinking that it would be eagles or hawks. Then, I saw some white tails and feathers hanging on the branch of the tree. Upon looking at the peacock, I was beyond amazed by its pure white colour.

Havelská Koruna Restaurant

Stopping by the Havelská Koruna Restaurant for a quick lunch was the best decision ever. Completely unknown to the restaurant and having zero knowledge in czech language, we went inside and were shocked that it actually looked like a high school canteen. We were given a blank tickets and we got our trays and queue to choose our food and drinks. 

The servers then asked for our tickets and marked them before giving them back to us. After our meal we brought our tickets to the cashier to make payments. In all honesty, the starter and the main dish were so good (despite the fact that we were ordering them blindly as there were no English menu in the restaurant) but the desserts were below average as we did not like the fermented taste of the buns.

John Lennon Wall

The ultra famous John Lennon Wall was definitely in the itinerary! Being regarded as one of the cool hipster places in Prague, the wall was used mainly for graffiti artworks that were being whitewashed for multiple times but to no avail as more artworks were added the next day. One of the most famous arts were of grief over John Lennon when he was murdered on eighth of December 1980. It was currently the only wall where graffiti was legal in Prague.

Petřín Hill

Our last destination for the day was the Petřín Hill. We chose to hike up the hill instead of taking the funicular as it was free first of all and we could save some money for our meals later. It was however quite steep so it definitely took us some effort to get to the top but once we reached the top it was worth it after all. The view was amazing and we went to the Petřín Tower (rozhledna) as well as the Mirror Maze (Bludiště) and therose garden. However, we did not enter the Štefánik Observatory (Štefánikova hvězdárna).

Strahov Monastery

I also took the opportunity to visit the Strahov Monastery while hiking the Petřín Hill. Coincidentally, there were wedding ceremony being held there at the time so the monastery was closed for the private occasion. Unconsented, I manage to take a beautiful shot of the couple and the attendees were really happy and cheerful for the couple. 

The Hemingway Bar

The visit in Prague would not be complete if we did not go to the bar and try their beer, hard liquor and ABSINTHE. Some of you might not know about absinthe but it was acutally distilled highly alcoholic beverage that ranged between 45% to 74% alcohol by volume. (Anything higher than 74% would be considered as moonshine haha). This anise-flavoured spirit was generally derived from plants, including the flowers and leaves of grand wormwood with green anise. sweet fennel and other herbs that were used in culinary. 

We went to one of the most famous bars in Prague that was inspired by Ernest Hemingway, the Hemingway Bar Prague. The entrance was kind of dark and we were ushered to the underground that was also dark and chilly but the atmosphere was not bad. The drinks were superb and somehow we managed to leave the bar by the end of the night without embarrassing ourselves (eg vomiting/ fainted/ drunk)

Day 3

Náplavka Farmers' Market

On our final day in Prague, we went to the Farmers' Market at Náplavka. It was a busy riverfront market that drew attention from both locals and tourists. It somehow reminded me of pasar malam back in Malaysia, just cleaner and less smoky. There were many stalls that sold all kinds of items ranging from fresh ingredients such as eggs, fruits and vegetables to flowers and local food. The atmosphere was great and we could enjoy looking at the Vltava River while eating our food and walking along the riverfront.

After spending quite some time at the market, we went back to our accommodation to packed our bags and checked out. Then we proceeded to the Prague Airport to head back to the UK to start our second electives in Newcastle. Overall, the second leg of our Europe trip was definitely a blast and I could not be happier to travel with my friends. Although there might be some disagreements and disputes during the trip, we managed to sort them out which made us somewhat closer in the end of the vacation. Do stay tuned for the third and final leg of the Europe trip. Cheers. 

Prague Itinerary