Prague, Prachov Rocks, and a part of the family
Ash has been a great addition to my family since the very first time he met them and it's felt for a while now that he's very much part of the furniture with us. But he still had one final hurdle to complete. And I'm delighted to report that Ash has now officially survived his first holiday with the Littlehales! Which is just as good really as he had already signed up for a 10 day long haul holiday with us all next year (the man clearly has no fear). To ease him in ever so slightly easier though, it was a city break first! Mum and Dad absolutely love Prague and had already been 3 times before, and I loved it too on my trip there in 2019. So they thought it'd be the perfect destination for our summer city break and they weren't wrong.
After a few pints at the airport, we were Prague bound. Our hotel, the U Prince, was right opposite the astrological clock and we arrived in perfect timing to hear the 6 o'clock bing-bongs. The hotel was gorgeous and really historic-looking, and our view out of the window was insane - we were literally looking right at the clock, the cathedral, and the main square!
Because we'd arrived in the early evening, it was a bit too late to go out and start any major exploring. We decided to stay nice and close and just wander round the main square and the surrounding back streets before stopping off for a giant stein of beer in the sunshine. Because you're not really in Eastern Europe until you've done that right?
We were working to super quick turnaround times that day so after only about 20 minutes in the rooms, we were headed up to the rooftop bar for cocktail hour! I love a rooftop bar (as you should know by now) and it's even handier when it's at your own hotel. The views were gorgeous (naturally) and the drinks were even better.
I always like to eat traditional local cuisine when I go away and Ash is very much on the same page, so he picked a traditional Czech restaurant for the first night (we take it in turns with who decides). The food at Restaurace U Dvou Velbloudu (literally translates as two camels restaurant) was lovely, and it said in the menu that all the recipes are from the family's great-grandfather so that felt like it was just about as traditional as we could get. We then went for a few drinks afterwards, but Prague was a lot weirder with nightlife than I'd remembered. I don't know if it's to try and clean up their stag do image, but they now have quiet hours after 10pm, so all the lovely outdoor seating gets brought in around that time, and so does the atmosphere! We did manage to find a cool bar with a little patio out the back, so we could still sit outside (loopholes for the win) and play some card games. While I may have been disappointed that the nighttime cafe culture disappears, Prague is very cool for how many underground cellar bars it has. We went into an Irish pub and a speakeasy cocktail bar and both were good vibes all round!
We were ready to tackle the city properly the next day! We only had one full day in Prague so we had a jam-packed schedule ahead of us, starting with crossing the river. Obviously we decided to go over the iconic Charles bridge, which was as stunning as I remembered it being.
Once we were across the river, our first stop was paying a visit to the Lennon wall (Aidan initially thought I said it was the Lenin wall). Obviously it's always evolving with new art pieces so it would've been completely different than the last time I saw it, and it was just as pretty!
Our next stop was going up and down the narrowest alley in Prague. It's traffic light controlled and there's actually nothing at the bottom apart from one restaurant so you just queue to walk down, then queue to walk back up. Me and mum thought it was a fun little novelty but we got the sense the boys weren't quite as enamored!
That side of the river was really lovely because it was very easy to get away from the hustle and bustle of Charles bridge, and there were lots of quaint little streets and arty spots. We decided to stop for a coffee in this cute little courtyard for a quick refuel.
The main attraction on that side of the river is the castle and so it was time for us to climb up, up, up. There was a lot of stairs but the effort was worth it because the view from the top was lovely. Prague castle isn't all that beautiful on its own; it's actually quite a plain building and acts more as a wall around the area at the top of the hill. But the whole walled area is also home to a really gorgeous gothic cathedral, so that was lovely to see again.
It was time for lunch and by coincidence, we ended up at one of the places I visited on my last trip! Marina Ristorante was a little Italian place right on the river, so we had gorgeous views as well as lovely food.
After lunch, we went and explored some more of the city, including churches, statues, and the Spanish synogogue. I love the architecture in Prague and how pretty it all is.
Something I didn't see on my last visit to the city was the Rotating Head art piece by David Cerny. He actually has quite a lot of famous pieces in Prague and this was a cool one to see because it puts on a little performance every hour. We were about 20 minutes early to see it so we sat and had a drink at a bar next to it while we waited for it to rotate. It actually keeps going for like 15 minutes, which we weren't bothered to stay and watch - we'd had our fuss with it as soon as it had turned all the way around.
We were in the new town by this point, so lots of high street shops and food spots. We walked down the main street, Václavské nám, and went and nosied at the National Museum. It was a beautiful building but that whole area was under construction so kind of dampened our enjoyment of it unfortunately. Some enjoyment that wasn't dampened at all was Ash and this tornado potato - he was on a mission to try all the local specials and look how happy with himself he looks!
Our main reason for visiting the new town was to go to this very exciting and quirky railway cafe. All the food and drinks are literally delivered to your table via tiny train set! I say 'tiny train set' but it was actually quite an elaborate set up, and they even had screens displaying the arrivals and destinations. It was a very fun spot to get a drink!
After a busy day of sightseeing, we had a more lowkey evening. It was my restaurant choice that night so I picked a cosy little placed called SOVA and the food was amazing!
Because we were leaving Prague that morning, we decided to end on a high (quite literally) and went for breakfast at our rooftop bar. We weren't going home though... far from it. Instead, we were hopping in a hire car to explore the Bohemian countryside.
Our destination for the day was the Prachov rocks national park, where we went on a big hike to see all the natural beauty! We decided on the hardest route, the green route, which was about 3.5km so not actually that long, but it was lots of steep inclines and declines, so lots of steps, climbing, and careful footing. Although actually, the most challenging part of the day was figuring out where the route actually started, especially since we were all bickering and disagreeing! The confusing part was that there were other walking routes using the same colours, which weren't actually going into the national park, just various other hiking trails in the surrounding area. Eventually, we found our way using the Prachov rocks tourism website, and actually once we were on the trail it was well signposted and pretty easy to follow. The trail made for a truly beautiful and spectacular walk, and the views were just amazing. There were plenty of people rock climbing there too, which was cool, and we even stopped for a picnic on the way with some focaccia sandwiches we'd bought in Prague.
We were back in the car then to drive to our destination for the night, and we were pretty much in the most northern part of Czechia in an area called Liberec. It wasn't the area we'd gone for though; it was specifically the hotel. Look how cool and quirky the Hotel Jested is! It was originally a TV tower, hotel and restaurant, and so it's right on top of the tallest hill with absolutely insane views of the rolling hills around it. It's decorated in a very space-age kind of way and it felt like a real treat to stay there as they only have like 20 rooms.
Naturally, we wanted to make the most of the views while it was still light so we headed outside to the little kiosk bar. It was notably colder than it had felt in Prague because of how high up and windy it was! But the aperol spritz took the chill away.
We honestly couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. Just look what a stunning sunset we got! It was so warm and vibrant and we had the world's most scenic cocktail hour in the hotel bar. I went for a negroni sbagliato and it's safe to say that neither Aidan or Ash were impressed (babies).
Mum and dad had actually stayed in his hotel before (hence knowing it was cool and wanting to bring us) and they said from memory, the restaurant was very relaxed and almost canteen-esque. Well, they've seemingly stepped up their game since mum and dad last visited because the food was incredible and almost fine dining standards. Still using some classic Czech ingredients and styles but with a very elevated flair, this was honestly one of the best meals ever. Because it's somewhat of a destination restaurant, it was also very quiet so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Which is probably just as well because we certainly know how to bring the British ruckus (and drinking levels)!
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