Let's Talk About The Souvenirs (Prague)

I don’t know how many people are like me when it comes to souvenirs, but I’ve got quite an obsession with collecting things from foreign places. If I could, I’d walk into every souvenir shop there ever was! 

So when it comes to buying souvenirs in Prague, there’s a myriad of options to choose from! I’ll start with “Blue Prague”, because I know for a fact that everything in the shop is 100% Czech. I got a couple of souvenirs from there including these cute crystal dolphins (made with their famous bohemia crystal):

You’ll also find across many souvenir stores a bunch of Marionette Dolls and wooden Matryoshka Dolls (also known as Russian nesting dolls, which are placed inside each other in decreasing size). Though they’re originally Russian, they are available in almost every souvenir shop. One really neat thing I came across was a bunch of Matryoshka Dolls in the shapes of football players. This shop had dolls from all sports teams, which were quite a sight:

Now if you want something authentically Czech to bring back home for yourself, Botas 66 is a Czech shoes store that sells awesome shoes in many great colours and designs. There's a shop not too far from Old Town (located at Skerepka 4 Praha 1 - Stare Mesto). I picked these black & white sneaks that come in both Yellow & Black Laces. You can check out their available collection here.

On another note, I'm also a big "cities" magnet collector (I love to collect magnets with cities' names on them) so I got two (one for Prague & one for Carlovy Vary) to add to my growing fridge magnets collection:

Let's Talk About The Food (Prague)

Before flying out to Prague, I had heard from a good number of people who had previously been, that the food was no good. So let’s talk about the food…

On the first night, we had dinner at Uno Mediterranean Restaurant & Bar (located on the last level of Palladium Shopping Mall). I wanted to try out a traditional Czech meal so I ordered the beef Goulash, which is served with potato pancakes and red onions. I have to admit, it was quite good (a lot better than I expected)! We even ended up having dinner here again on our last night, where I had a fresh greek salad, mixed with balkan cheese, lettuce, cucumber, red onion, peppers, olives, tomatoes and olive oil. And as a main course, Gnocchi pasta, served with salmon, spinach and creamy sauce which was also delicious!

But as a Burger Addict, Burgers is what I was really into trying out! So on our first full day after the walking tour, we found ourselves back at Old Town Square, where the first food place to catch my eye was Meet Burger. And it was hands-down, the best burger I had in Prague, let alone in a very long time. What I loved most about this place was that their buns and sauces are homemade. And the meat, which I ordered medium-well, was just delicious! Oh, and another cool thing that I (being a banker) liked about the place was that they have a wall filled with bank notes from around the world where visitors sign and pin bank notes (of course in small denominations) from their country on the wall:

On the second day after coming downhill from Prague Castle, we decided to check out the eateries on Kampa Island in Mala Strana. The first place we came across was called U Zlatych Nuzek, which is actually a Hotel/Restaurant. I definitely wouldn’t classify it as a burger place, but a burger is what I ordered. 

On the third day, I wanted to go for Joy Burger Bar And Grill, which is located close to Powder Tower. It was quite packed at the time, but we managed to find a small table in the corner to chow. Their burgers were also good but out of the three burgers that I  had tried in those four days, I have to give Meet Burger the crown. Nonetheless, here’s my Joy Burger: 

As for the desserts, one of their most famous delectables in Prague is The Strudel. Though it’s sold in many spots across the city, one of the best places to try it at is Good Food Coffee & Bakery, located at Karlova 8 (not far from Charles Bridge). I’d been passing by the place almost every afternoon and seeing the long lineup outside the shop, I had to finally stop and check out what all the fuss was about. So on the last day, I got in line. Boy, was it worth the wait! I had this Chimney Strudel which is filled with warm molten apple, walnuts, raisins, and topped with soft ice-cream (or whipped cream, your choice). A must try in Prague!

The Vltava River (Prague)

One of the most beautiful things you can do in Prague is take a boat cruise along the Vltava River (the longest river in the Czech Republic) at around sunset. There are many companies that offer rides for lunch or dinner, but even our hotel concierge suggested skipping the food and going along just to enjoy the scenery. Indeed, it was magical…

At sunset, which was close to 6:30pm in late March, you begin to visibly see the skies changing colour. The birds & ducks start making those deep quacking sounds, & flying across the river, as Prague Castle lights up from the distance…

Another delight that can be found along the river bank is a small stretch of a pebbled beach ground that many people have come to know as “Swan River”. It’s an area that’s usually filled with a flock of swans that waddle around the Vltava, and visitors can feed them as they’ve grown quite accustomed to human interactions... 

The John Lennon Wall (Prague)

After crossing Charles Bridge from Old Town to Lesser Town, if you take your 1st Left & then Left again, you come across one of Prague's iconic gems: The John Lennon Peace Wall (located at Velkopřevorské náměstí, Malá Strana):

This famous wall first started collecting John Lennon & The Beatles’ inspired graffiti in the 1980s, as a symbol of Peace & Love, which it still stands for today. Everyday, new drawings and lyrics are added to the wall by its many visitors, constantly changing visuals.  

& To add to the ambiance, we came across a street musician singing and playing his guitar to The Beatles' “Let It Be”. I took this video of him and shared it on Instagram, where I later received a comment from one of his fans that he was actually a rising Czech musical artist, by the name of Thom Artway. I looked him up online and he appears to have some good music. You can check out his official page here.