On the other side of the Charles Bridge

Crossing the Charles Bridge brings you to the pleasant neighbourhood of Malá Strana, or Lillsidan as it is also known. There are not as many tourists here and therefore a little quieter. The beautiful buildings line the streets and testify to the fact that this has been the neighbourhood of the city's wealthy since the 16th century. So just taking a walk here is an experience. Incidentally, it is also from this side of the city that you get up to Prague Castle. You can read about our visit to the castle here.

The destination of our walk today was an exciting food market we had heard about. At the Manifesto market you can hang out in a sun lounger, drink delicious drinks and eat yummy street food from around the world. After our potato experience the day before (more on that to come), we opted for the Mexican cuisine with super tasty tacos and refreshing drinks. We could probably have stayed here all day and sampled the entire range, from pastries to dumplings. Full and satisfied, we instead moved on to a slightly different museum.

As you have probably realised by now, we are not beer drinkers, but if you are in the promised land of beer, you are. The other year I visited the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam, which I thought was interesting and fun even for non-beer drinkers as you got to see the brewery's history and manufacturing process. We therefore went to Staropramen Visitor Centre to see some Czech beer history. Unfortunately, that didn't happen as the visitor centre is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Note to self when you are a tourist is to check the opening hours before walking across half the city.

We crossed the river back to the east side again and arrived in Nove Mesto, also known as New Town. Here you will find significantly more modern architecture and art than in the rest of the city, which makes this an exciting neighbourhood. Among other things, you will find the New Stage theatre and concert hall, which is a massive lump built from 4000 glass blocks. Walk along the waterfront and you'll come across a building that will make you wonder if you've got a vision problem or something strange in your morning coffee. The Dancing House looks like any other building, except that it looks like it's dancing, of course. While we're on the subject of strange things, you'll find a collection of strange babies down by the riverside.

Somewhat confused by all these strange impressions, it may then be time for coffee. As a coffee conservative, I like to seek out traditional cafés with beautiful surroundings and staff with starched aprons. Just between the old and new town you'll find Café Slavia, a classic Viennese café with a pianist playing every night. They also have lots of great coffee as you can see below.

After visiting both the new and old parts of Prague and also a short stay in the Jewish quarter, which you can read more about here. here, we ended up deciding that we liked Malá Strana, the small side, best. We lived here and also had dinner in the area in the evenings. By far the best dinner we had was at Picnic Park, a really nice Italian restaurant down by the water. Here we ate good food matched with good wine, which was actually not always the easiest to find, it is noticeable that the beer culture dominates.

On the way home from Piknik Park, we found this cute little alley that was so narrow that it needed traffic lights to avoid meeting on the stairs, nothing for those with cellular fear. 🙂 However, it was much more airy down by the riverbank where we got a beautiful evening view of the Charles Bridge.

We often go for Italian restaurants when we are travelling, but of course we also want to try the local food. For example, we found the Potato Garden restaurant. Potatoes can be said to be a signature of Czech food, and this restaurant had really taken the potato a step further. There were potatoes in everything. Well, almost, there were no potatoes in their signature drink. Anyway, it was a fun place with good food, at least if you like potatoes.

In a new city, it's always difficult to know where to stay, but we found a cosy little hotel on Lillsidan right near the Charles Bridge. U Páva is a, according to them (see below), romantic hotel located in one of the many small squares in the city centre. The decor is colourful and many of the more expensive rooms and the lobby have spectacular ceiling paintings. A far cry from the boring chain hotels. By the way, if you are still in the neighbourhood, I would like to take the opportunity to tip you about Bagel Lounge, a simple joint in the middle of a student accommodation where we stopped for a quick lunch before heading to the airport. However, it turned out that they collaborated with Michelin-starred chefs who had to challenge each other to make the best bagel. A bit unexpected, but quick and tasty!

Just around the corner from our hotel, we found a hard-to-please museum, namely an entire museum dedicated to Franz Kafka. As a student, I struggled through the not so thick, but still difficult Process which is said to take place in Prague. He was a special character, at least that Kafka, which has resulted in an interesting museum. All this hardship can of course be countered with a coffee in the museum's own café.

If you want the best view of the Charles Bridge and a good meal at the same time, you should try the Bricks. An "up and coming" restaurant that you find right next to the Kafka Museum. We stumbled upon it while looking into the courtyard of the museum. We talked for a while with the maître d' who would take over the running of the restaurant and he had big plans for the business. It definitely feels like a restaurant to visit again.

Visit again, by the way... We'd love to go back to Prague, a great weekend city. If you have more time, there are also many interesting places on the outskirts of the city to visit, from spas to a skeleton church. You!