Once we czeched into our hostel (pun intended), we decided to go ahead and hit up Old Town for a bar and dinner. Walking through the streets, we were taken aback by how windy, narrow, and beautiful they were. With Prague being mostly spared the bombings of World War II, you can imagine how much of Europe would have looked if they too had been spared. As we wandered through, we stumbled upon a 1920s-themed absinth bar with a fantastic piano player banging out tunes a la Abba. Yes, we stopped and tried ‘the green muse’ or ‘La Fee Verte.” 

While looking through the types of Absinthe, our waiter recommended we try it crafted with fire instead of the traditional water. What an excellent idea! The drink is prepared by soaking a sugar cube in the Absinthe before putting it on an absinthe spoon over your glass and setting it on fire. From there, the caramelized sugar brings a sweetness and smoothness to the drink that is quite pleasant on the tongue. My drink tasted delightfully like a smooth whiskey, Laura’s sparkled in your mouth, and William’s was just horrific. He and I ended up sharing. 

After enjoying the tunes and sipping our green fairy drinks, we continued on our quest through Old Town, searching for a place to eat traditional Czech food. We ended up at a restaurant in the center of Old Town Square near the Astronomical Clock. Each of us ordered something different to share and enjoy various traditional dishes. William’s dish, the Pork Knuckle, was the clear winner among the plates. It had delicious, crispy skin that acted almost like chips, while the meat was tender and juicy. We noticed the grocery store nearby also sells pork knuckles, so we may try our own hands at cooking it sometime. 

Full from dinner, we walked around a little bit more before finding another Absinthe bar. It was the weirdest, most fanciful, oddest Absitnh bar you’d ever seen. The walls were covered in fantasy murals. Bottles, detached baby doll arms, and other miscellaneous items hung from the ceiling. It was quite the show as we walked down three flights of stairs into the bowels of a 12th-century basement. While the location may have been slightly odd, the bartenders were more than happy to explain types of Absinthe and make recommendations. I got a basic ritual while Laura and William asked for the BarTender’s pick. Everything was delicious, and a great end to the day. 

The following day we headed out of our hostel at 9:00 am. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the “day of walking.” Our first stop was the Strahov Library, inside a monastery overlooking Old Prague. It’s one of the most valuable and best-preserved historical libraries – its collection consists of approximately 200,000 volumes- and its ceiling is adorned with gorgeous frescoes of famous philosophers, painters, and bible stories. From there, we walked down the hill toward John Lennon’s wall. The walk was stunning, passing through an apple tree (we guess) orchard in the middle of Prague while admiring the most amazingly carved doors. John Lennon’s wall was fun to walk around, with a small part dedicated to the peaceful end of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which we all appreciated.  

By this point, we’d walked almost four miles and were rather hungry. Luckily, we stumbled upon some street food a few blocks out. I ended up with potato dumplings, William had chicken kabob, and Laura had different types of traditional sausage. I personally enjoyed my food best, but it was all delectable. 

From there, it was a “short walk” to St. Charles Bridge and then to Prague Castle. Of course, the short walk involved walking up hundreds of stairs which took the wind out of our sails. Thankfully we could get into the museum rather quickly though we split up to see the sights. Due to an ankle injury, I wasn’t comfortable walking up the giant tower, so I wandered around a few different exhibitions. Meanwhile, William and Laura walked up 280 steep, narrow steps to catch breathtaking views of the city. 

Once they came back down, we caught up in a cafe on the grounds to drink hot mead and spiced, hot wine. With almost eight miles under our belts, we agreed to trek to St. Wencles Square before grabbing dinner. Of course, we ended up stopping at an Asian grocery store to grab pocky to hold us over, but it was well worth it. Dinner was at a fun little restaurant where beer was less than a dollar. The food was a little less traditional but well in line with the food tastes of the modern Czech millennials. After all the walking, we decided to spare our feet and take a Bolt (uber) to our hostel. A good investment since it only cost ~$5. Laura and I headed to bed once we got to the hostel, but Seth went downstairs to grab one last beer and enjoy some music before heading to bed. 

We spent the morning of the next day wandering around the Old Jewish Quarter. We toured the Old-New Synagogue, the Pinkel Synagogue, the Spanish Synagogue, and the Jewish Cemetary. The Synagogues do an excellent job of balancing the seriousness of the Holocaust and life in the Ghetto with the beautiful architecture and social life that thrived there. Amazingly, much has been well-preserved from before the World Wars, as well as during. If you were inclined to do so and had the time, you could easily spend days pouring over the information available here. 

From there, it was a quick walk, and we were back in Old Town during the day for sightseeing. We stuck mainly to the main square, grabbing pizza and traditional fire-roasted pork before walking to Kafka’s rotating head, a Bohemian German-language writer. I suppose I should say it “supposedly” turns. We stood there for almost 40 minutes without the statue so much as twitching. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay any longer and had to head home to help our friend set up for her Super Bowl Party at midnight. So, we’ll have to go back someday to see what we missed and catch Kafak’s head actually rotating.