Czech Republic – Prague and Český Krumlov

After a lot of discussions and planning, I decided to visit two countries in Central Europe which were Czech and Hungary. This was my first international trip from Mumbai with two close friends. We had booked it via Travel Agent (Extremely bad idea, refer to other post) It was in mid-April in 2015, climate in Czech was fairly cold. Average temperature during the day was 1˚C and it would go to minus after day end. Walking in the evening or night time took lot of time to get used to the temperature. The flight started from Mumbai via Lufthansa which had a halt in Frankfurt and then Prague. The flight experience was good in spite of congested seats. Frankfurt airport was superb, well organized and our immigration check went smooth as everything was prepaid and booked seamlessly.  As soon as we landed in Prague, we felt the cold chill in the air. We had a pick up arranged from the airport since this was the first time in Europe. The welcome tour person was pretty polite however the driver was not welcoming (Like where did these people come from!).

In about twenty minutes, we reached the city centre and boy, the route was superb. Amazing landscapes outside and in the city, the architecture was mind blowing. We saw the famous Saint Charles Bridge which was crowded even during 3 pm. Also we saw a parade of vintage cars. Our hotel (Beseda) was located in a good locality close from Wenceslas Square. As soon as we arrived, we thought let’s head out for lunch first, then settle in the room. There was an Indian butler in the hotel who was trying to guide us however he we found him not that credible. The common perception about Indians is that we look always for cheap options but it’s not true in all cases. We wanted to live this five day journey like a local. Nearby there was a restaurant which looked pretty good to try, but we decided we’ll walk a bit and explore. After walking a couple of blocks found a crowded restaurant filled with travellers. It had a nice vibe to it. 

That was the first time I tasted the Pilsner Urquell beer. That’s it; I decided that I will have this beer all the time during the trip. Food was good; there was a Dim Sum version of Prague which was with stuffed meat. After having a good meal decided to head back to the hotel for settling and rest. That evening we walked and first visited the St. Charles Bridge. It was walking distance from where we were staying, being on a water body, it was chillier. The narrow cobble streets make your feet more swollen and the chill adds to the pain. But it was quite crowded; we saw lot of tourists here. The bridge had lot of painters and musicians. 

Although people here don’t speak English, they are fond of English Metal. We saw a small garbage truck passing by and they were listening to AC DC. We came across a local small boutique café where it became essential to sip on a cup of cappuccino along with the famous Trdelník. It was so good and perfectly suited the hot coffee. After this we decided to take the metro and visit old town square. Metro is damn good, very well organised across the entire city.

The famous old town square was really picturesque. It was like visiting a medieval shopping fair. There were small shops of food, souvenirs, clothing, artefacts, ornaments and restaurants surrounding the area. The old town square has a nice lively vibe to it; however the shops close pretty early because of the chilly weather. There are lot of party places around and we realised that even walking at 1 in the night is pretty safe.

The next two days, we were exploring Prague. Visited most of the squares, Prague castle, the funicular ride which offers fantastic views, John Lennon Wall which is quite hidden but very sacred. The street food is pretty awesome from fried cheese to hot dogs, a good option for all kinds of food lovers.  Prague can be described as one of those cities which have beautiful medieval looking buildings, narrow streets and amazing well connected public transport. Now since we were doing all this on our own, we were confused where Prague Castle was. We visited the place however we didn’t realize it was actually the castle.

Then on the third day we had a plan for day trip to Cesky Krumlov. Our travel agent had informed us that the trains are quite regular and there is one every hour. However it was misleading information due to which we got real late and reached the place by evening instead of noon.  The entire journey takes about four to five hours with a transfer from Cesky Bujevick. On reaching Krumlov at about 4 pm, we found this place to be a fairy tale town. A Castle in between surrounded by river, town square and small narrow lanes. It is a sight which you can never forget.  Now we reached the castle garden and looked like as we are in a Game of Thrones set. Just breathless, it was so beautiful.

We had a plan for another day excursion from Prague to Terezin which was a Nazi Concentration Camp. However we decided to chuck that and stay in Krumlov as a tour was definitely needed of the castle. We didn’t have a place to stay, so went to some hotels at the town square and found they were really expensive as per our budget. One of the hotel staff was very kind and recommended a traveller’s hostel. Now most of the hostels have a shared dormitory and we were unsure, however on visiting one called Traveller's Hostel, found they have individual rooms also and they fitted our budget well. There was a nice bar also downstairs. We finally made the decision to stay back and I called the travel agent to reschedule our next day’s tour on the last day. She said she will try to reach her supplier and get it done. It was all BS. Lesson learnt - travel agents only give big talks. They have no control and just act as middlemen for these kinds of transactions, hence better to book yourself.

We had an early dinner and were quite tired, so decided to head back to the room.  From our hostel we could see the castle in dark with some flashlights. It was freaky however later we found out they have night tours as well in the castle. After sometime we decided to head to a bar for a couple of beers. We walked a bit and found a proper local one called Guerilla Bar. It was a place full of locals and as soon as we entered we got those cunning looks from everyone. Where have these outcasts come from? Still it didn’t stop us.  We sat on one of the tables and ordered the beer. It was an amazing experience. Felt like Clint Eastwood in the old movies where in western town bars, he was never welcome and treated like an outlaw. It became a long night but worth it. 

The next morning we had an early breakfast and went for a free walking tour. The guide was really good (it was called Wiseman Tours) which started from middle of the town square. We were the first ones waiting. He took us through the streets and told us about the history, significance of the castle and went on to take us inside the castle. The castle will always be one of my favourite fortresses as it was very similar to what we have always been seeing in legendary movies.

They have three lovely bears in the castle area and we got a chance to peak at them. The castle has a tower which is mesmerising as you can see the entire town from there. We fell into some cash trouble, as we bought a whole lot of souvenirs and later realised the cards do not work in the ATM. So we were counting each penny all the way up to the train station. We had return train tickets luckily, so we could reach Prague. During the journey back we experienced snowfall.

The last night in Prague we went to Harley’s Bar which was very happening and had good old rock music playing out loud. The bar tenders were super friendly and we blew our heads out drinking that night. It was a never ending session. The next day, we roamed around the streets and went to Prague Castle again knowing now that is the exact location. We kept our bags in the hotel and checked out. This is a relatively bad idea, after roaming all day you should come back to a place for rest however we had an overnight train for our remaining trip to Budapest in Hungary, so we decided to just sit in the hotel reception and wait it out. It became quite tiring. But overall Prague was superb, weather was chilly, food was good especially Gelatos, bars and pubs are lively. A good place to party all night long.