Prague Blague

Final Post/Best of Prague

2009-01-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

For my final post, I thought I would do a summary of my favorites from my time in Prague. I had a pretty amazing experience, and I wish good times to anyone who visits Prague after having read my blague. (this is from a vegetarian student's perspective, so everything is fairly reasonable unless I say otherwise and has vegetarian options and the nightlife, etc. was enjoyed by a 20 year old, not that there's an age cap or anything, but . . .)

Restaurants:

~Lehka Hlava

Borsov 280/2

Praha 1

+420 222 220 665

Lehka Hlava is probably my favorite restaurant. For inexpensive prices, they create really tasty and creative vegetarian cuisine. Not many restaurants in Prague have truly created their own personality, usually just poorly appropriating 'popular' types of cuisine, design, service, etc., but LH does a really great job creating their own niche in Prague's culinary scene. The restaurant is kind of cool looking (they had different artists design the different rooms) and definitely off the beaten path, in a back alley yet still in the heart of the city. Make reservations on the weekend, because it is not uncommon for the place to be fully booked on a Friday or Saturday night. Also, once a month they do a brunch that also fills up quickly. The one time I tried to go the brunch, we were turned away because it was overcrowded.

~Cafe Louvre

Narodni 22

Praha 1

+420 224 930 949

This place is reasonably priced and has good, basic international food with a couple of vegetarian options. It's an old Prague establishment or so they claim. The main dining room upstairs is really pretty. They have billiards in the back and a nice cafe with wireless to study in downstairs. Also, they pride themselves on their thick hot chocolate, which isn't my thing, but go for it. I like the vegitarian wraps. It's also right next to Tesco, which is a popular all-around shopping spot for those living in Prague.

~Veg Food

Londynska 35

Praha 2

+420 721 255 253

I love this place. Maybe it's because it was close to where I was living in Vinohrady and just kind of lovable for reasons I'll tell you in a sec, but I recommend it, especially if it's close by and if you're vegan or vegitarian. There's nothing that really makes the place stand out, except that it probably has the biggest selection of fake meat dishes in Prague. The food is pretty good, and they offer a huge amount of various vegetarian Asian dishes. The servers are really nice especially if you go frequently, and I think my favorite aspect of the place is that there's a huge portrait to

~ Banditos

Melounova 1654

Praha 2

+420 224 941 096

So Banditos isn't the best Mexican food on the planet or even close, but it's decent and kinda fun and kinda what you have to deal with when you are in central/eastern Europe. But they usually play some hip music and keep cattle skulls on the wall and nachos in yo belly, so give it a shot. They have these funky veggie burgers too that are like spinach patties, you can get them with a ton of toppings, so test it if your looking for a veggie burger. . . they're decent.

Sahara Cafe

Namesti Miru 6

Praha 2

+420 222 514 987

This place is a little more expensive than most Czech restaurants, which tend to very inexpensive, but the food here is very good. It is located on the north side of Namesti Miru. The cuisine is mostly Mediterranean, and definitely worth a visit if you come to Prague. The interior is chic and meditative. Go for a special occasion; it's nice.

~ Country Life

Jungmannova 1

Praha 1

+420 224 247 280

This place is just south of Old Town Square and a great spot for a quick, healthy, cheap lunch. It's a vegan buffet that usually features some really good items. Everyone that works there seems to be really friendly and the place is very low-key and cute with wood furniture, etc. (it's like a lot of vegan places in the states). Some of my favorite items were the pizza, which I'm not really sure what they put on it but its fantastic, the chilli, and the to-go sandwiches, which I would get between classes. The sandwiches were about 40 kc when I was there, which is about 2 dollars. It's also a nice place for vegetarians/vegans to try some of the traditional Czech dishes that typically are all meat and dairy (like soy meat goulash and roasted pumpkin with soy cheese).

~ Beas

Tynska 19

Praha 1

+420 777 165 478

Beas is a casual Indian vegetarian restaurant with tasty cafeteria-style combination plates. It is located on Tynska, which runs right behind the Tyn church in Old Town Square. They have good curry and soups and other healthy Indian cuisine items.

~ Noi

Ujezd 19

Praha 1

+420 257 311 411

Noi is the best Thai place that I could find. It's pretty reasonable, usually less than 10 dollars for a dish, and it's good as well. The interior looks like it could be a transplant of a NYC thai restaurant. My friend had the green curry with tofu and it was really good. I usually stick to pad thai, which became a comfort food for me. Overall a good bet and just across the river in Malastrana. The 22 stops right in front of it.

~ Radost FX

Belehradska 120

Praha 2

+420 603 193 711

I personally think Radost FX is overrated. The times I went there, I felt that the food was over-priced for Prague and mediocre, and the service is always terribly slow. The reason I put it on this list is because people rave about the Sunday brunch. Unfortunately, I missed it, but I guess I'd suggest giving it a try if you're in Prague. It's vegetarian The restaurant is 'cool' looking and tends to attract the hipper Czech scene. Downstairs is a popular club that I don't feel bad calling Euro trash. But for that, Thursdays have no cover (the other nights have a lamely expensive cover), and some nights have a fun theme; I went to some indie techno party that had fun music. Otherwise, just know that it's talked about a lot, but kinda ehh.

~ Pizza Grosetto

Francouzska 2

Prague 2

+420 224 252 778

Right on Namesti Miru and thus close to those living in Vinohrady, Pizza Grosetto is a good bet for an authentic example of the ultimate American staple that is so difficult to come upon in Prague. The only place where I really enjoyed the pizza! Other than that, it's pretty much an average Italian restaurant.

Sightseeing:

for this category, I'm just making a checklist of my favorite spots that may not be the most obvious. Of course, St. Vitus Cathedral and Old Town Square are worth the visit, but I'm going to suggest a few that might not be the first in a guidebook.

Belvedere Palace - Right outside of the Prague Castle on its North East corner is this small, but beautiful Renaissance structure. It is surrounded by gardens, so in the fall it was incredibly magical. Walk west through the sculpture gardens to find the -

Ball Game Pavilion - Another Renaissance structure. This one features amazing sgraffito designs on the outside.

Courtyards of the Wallenstein Palace - Although they open the Baroque palace to the public on the weekend (it now houses the Czech senate), the true beauty of this structure is its courtyards, which are open only during warmer months. With fountains, a grotto, sculptures, and peacocks, this place isn't to be missed. The palace was built by Albrecht Wenzel von Wallenstein, a douchy military guy back in the day, who built sculptures of Hercules and other heros in his likeness . . . lame, but worth going to laugh at.

St. Nicholas Church - A really lavish Baroque church. Too much for my taste, but a really great monument from the period.

Veletrzni Palac - Look at my last post; it's an early 20th century building that houses a large collection of mostly 20th century Czech art and design.

Gardens Below Prague Castle - On the South side of the castles are beautiful gardens that are only open in the warmer months. They have amazing views of the city. It's a small fee to enter, but worth it.

Royal Palace - In the Prague Castle, go check this place out. It has some amazing ribbed vaulting by Gothic Architect Peter Parler. So look up!

Vlatava Islands - A great, quiet place to get beautiful views of the city along with some solace.

Monument to the Victims of Communism - A small, but moving monument in Mala Strana.

Kovarovic Villa - Guide books will tell you to visit the House of the Black Madonna in Old Town for a good example of Czech Cubist architecture, but I think this building by Josef Chochol takes the prize. It's close to Vysehrad, and I think really worth visiting.

Kampa Musem - A cool contemporary museum in Mala Strana right on the Vlatava. It houses an interesting collection featuring lots of Czech artists.

Mucha Museum - Check out the art nouveau work by famous Czech artist Alfons Mucha.

Havlickovy Park - This park in vinohrady offers beautiful views out of the city, a small vineyard, and an interesting building whose function and history I do not know. There is a small restaurant/bar in the middle of the vineyard that is worth watching the sun set from.

Vysehrad - Though no longer the powerful castle it used to be (once rivaling the now Prague Castle), the remains of this fortress offer an interesting and slightly strange setting. A Romanesque rotunda still stands amid mostly park area. A Gothic Cathedral, tennis courts, and some of fantastic views up and down the Vlatava make this a nice place to spend the afternoon. Bring a picnic!

Grocery Shopping:

~Tesco

Narodni 26

Praha 1

+420 222 003 111

Tesco is a huge everything-store with one of the largest grocery stores in the Prague in the basement. For any kind of American product, this is the best place to look. Also, the first floor has office supplies, toiletries, some electronics, etc. The third floor (I think) has home supplies. It's your Czech Walmart or Target or whatever.

Albert

These supermarkets are throughout the city and offer a decent selection.

Potraviny

This word means convenience store in Czech. Some of these have the best selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. For those in Vinohrady, go to Francouzska street for several great options. They are usually owned by Vietnamese immigrants who aren't always friendly, but deal with it.

Non-Stop Potraviny

Find your closest non-stop potraviny. There are only a few late night food places in Prague (I'll list them below), so check out where your closest potraviny is so you can hit that up on your way home from a bar. Also, try the Kolonada Czech Spa circular wafer cookies. They are fantastique!

Thai's Asian Food Shop

Francouzka 66

Praha 10

Although I've yet to buy anything here, this hole-in-the-wall spot offers all the ingredients needed for making Asian dishes. None of which are in typical Czech grocery stores. Tofu, spices, frozen shrimp, etc.

The Italian Deli on Americka

Praha 2

I don't remember the exact name, but the deli is about a block of two south of Namesti Miru on Americka and has a really nice cheese selection among other Italian delicacies. Good cheese is kind of hard to find because most grocery stores offer some flavorless rubbery Czech cheese. Go here for parmesan or mozzarella or whatever cheese you can't find elsewhere.

Nightlife:

~Blind Eye

Vlkova 26

Praha 3

In Zizkov, this bar attracts a fun, young, hip, and largely ex-patriate crowd. Thursdays are Indy Night and are really great. Fun music, you'll be able to sing to every song. This might be my favorite bar in Prague.

~ Bukowski's

Borivojova 86

Praha 3

This cocktail bar is around the corner from Blind Eye. I never made it hear, but it always looked cool when I walked by. Try it for me.

~Club Roxy

Dlouha 22

Prague 1

+420 224 826 296

For the ultimate Euro clubbing experience come to Club Roxy. It has been around for a long time and is a pretty legit place. It plays mostly house music (which isn't my thing, but if you're into it, Prague offers lots of options). My first experience here was one of my first nights in Prague, and I walked in and it was dark and there was a ton of smoke from smoke machines and colored lights and lots of people moving freely to electronic music, it pretty much fit my expectations of Czech nightlife to a cue.

Chapeau Rouge

Jakubska 647

Prague 1

Located just behind the Tyn church in Old Town Square, this three story bar is very popular among internationals and always packed (at least the top bar). I feel like I ended up here at least once a weekend. The top floor is a typical bar, where people just drink and socialize, the next floor down has more of a dance club feel, and the bottom floor has a more indy dance floor I think and another bar. The bottom floor is usually less packed because it's a little hard to find the staircase and people usually stop at one of the upper floors. Drugs of all kinds are sold here.

~Harley's Bar

Dlouha 18

Praha 1

+420 227 195 195

When you get nostalgic for the good old US of A, head here. Playing largely classic rock with fun old-time music videos playing on the wall, Harley's is usually a good ol' time. My friend Menaka usually found herself in the dj booth taking over. It's pretty chill, but also a little more expensive then most Czech bars.

Late Night Food:

~Falafel Stand on Na Mustku just North of Wenceslas Square

Praha 1

For 24 hour mediocre falafel sandwiches. (Sadly I went during the day a lot as well . . . there aren't too many falafel options in Praha.

~ Stands in Wenceslas Square

Praha 1

The stands which sprinkle WS offer huge, nasty-looking sausages (well to me, I guess meat eaters might love them) and smazeny syr or fried cheese sandwiches, which are delishhh at 4 in the morning. I usually order mine with ketchup and tartar sauce. I'm well aware that this is really embarrassing.

Mcdonald's

Figure out where they're located yourself. I'm not going to help anyone with this one.

OK, so I got kind of tired doing this, but I hope I didn't miss anything too important. Enjoy your stay! Drink a lot of Becherovka (the popular Czech spiced alcohol) and beer (Kozel Cerny seemed to be one of the most delicious and Branik is the best deal) and enjoy all the sights of Prague!

I'm going to be corny and include one of the most commonly used quote about Prague:

"Prague never lets you go . . . this dear little mother has sharp claws."

- Franz Kafka

Museum Trip

2009-01-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some last pictures from a trip to the Veletrzni Palac in Holesovice, Prague 7. The constructivist structure was built in the 1920s, very progressive for the time. Although its kind of dull and lame-looking now, the supremo of modernist architecture Le Corbusier even gave it a shout-out back in the day.

I went with my friend Jorge, who's taking a looking at the building . . .

It houses a collection of Czech Cubist furniture and architectural design, one of the Czech land's greatest idiosyncratic embellishments on modern art. Here's Jorge with a cubist couch:

It also has some Czech Expressionism. Here is a Filla self-portrait that I wrote my final Czech Art and Architecture paper on, regarding the early creation of Bohemian identities in self-portraits. The employment of a cigarette as a symbol of marginal identity hasn't changed much . . .

Thanksgiving in Hungary

2008-12-04T08:54:00.001-08:00

Old friends and new friends met up in Budapest for Thanksgiving, much like the original celebration between pilgrims and Indians. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Below: Elle and Nathalie, my old friend from high school, and Jorge, my friend from prague, and Matt, Elle and Nathalie's friend from Claremont Mckenna. Thanks to Elle's dad and step-mom, we had a very comfortable apartment to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (except there was no turkey, but 3/5 of us wouldn't eat it anyways). I was lazy and didn't take many pics, so I designated who the pictures were taken by.

the pictures below are Jorge's. Budapest was somewhat similar to Prague, except much of the city was destroyed in WW2, so much of the architecture is either neo- or from a more contemporary style. This shot was taken while crossing the Chain Bridge. The Danube was quite atmospheric in the fog and mist.

and this is the chain bridge, the oldest bridge in the city, below

we walked around the castle walls in buda. poor elle was quite sick all weekend : (

picture by Matt

picture by Jorge

you just barely make out the parliament building in the background of this one:

picture by Jorge

picture by Matt

It rained and was freezing . . . we didn't get very good weather.

picture by Jorge

Jorge and I saw Aida at the national theater for a record setting $1.5.

Overall, a very nice weekend. Just like the pilgrims and Indians we got along splendidly (but hopefully none of us will get massacred and removed from our homes and treated like sh*t like those from the original story)

Boogie Woogie

2008-11-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

Oh look, sometimes we boogie woogie in the Czech lands . . .

First Snow

2008-11-22T13:45:00.001-08:00

It's snowing outside and very cold, so I'm going to bundle up in my blanket and watch Mulholland Dr. What a Saturday night . . .

The Czech Tale of Lisa

2008-11-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, little Lisa traveled all the way to eastern Europe from her comfy flat in lovely London. And look who she found . . .

her fun friend jolly Jake. I thought I could do this but I obviously suck, so -

oh, i had one for this, but she and Jake were barely together for long. We had drinks with some of my friends . . .

some of whom got a little silly

Then we toured the city.

What more could a girl want than mulled wine and Gothic architecture?!

Well, Baroque too, I guess . . .

We wandered the streets. I had forgotten how much of a fairytale landscape Prague can be.

Then, we had some good meals. Write this down, people going to Prague: Lehka Hlava. It rocks; really good, inexpensive, fresh food in a cool, yet low-key setting. Also very close to sight seeing.

The End (no one hire me to write children's books)

Fall Break in Berlin

2008-11-09T09:45:00.000-08:00

This post is quite overdue, but here it is . . . pictures from my fall break in Berlin. Berlin is awesome; I think my favorite city so far. History lingers in every corner, whether it be a vestige of Prussian prosperity, the horrifying events of WWII, or its central position in the Cold War. But history is really only one point of interest here. No other European city seems to be as much of a manifestation of 21st century culture. Unlike little Praha over here which seems to live in the shadow of its much more glorious past, Berlin has clearly propelled itself beyond its historical bounds. This can clearly be seen in the architecture, with its many innovative and truly unique buildings (versus prague, say, which generally rejects modern architecture, with the exception of one interesting Frank Gehry building, in an attempt to hold onto a perceived notion of a national identity based in the past).

In Berlin, contemporary art galleries permeate numerous neighborhoods and rival the fantastic older collections in some of the world's greatest museums. The nightlife is very young as many creative young people flock to the region, and the population is quite culturally diverse with a large Turkish population. The people seemed friendly and genuine and usually very interesting to talk to. Although anti-semitism still plagues a small group of Berliners, it is a very progressive city (its mayor is openly gay). So here are a few pics, I reserved quite a few because I just had far too many (its a very photogenic city) . . .

examples of the contemporary architecture . . .

Mies Van Der Rohe's building for the Neue Nationalgalerie . . .

The hub of contemporary Berlin, Potsdamer Platz, was destoryed in WWII and then lay desolate during the cold war, butttt now!

my mom is like soo heep (hip with German accent)

we went to the Pfaueninsel, Peacock Island, where the Prussian kings summered and played

the off-duty peacocks
the pocket-sized palace
back to the city, an interesting apartment complex . . .

and, of course, I wouldn't feel like I actually went to Berlin without a picture of the potentially most famous historical 20th c. icon to prove it (even though its kind of a lame pic)

another not so fun reminder of the past at the Topography of Terror -
back to the present, moma and i visited the turkish market in Kreuzberg, which was packed with people and interesting goodies

We sampled turkish delight, some dried fruits, those honey covered pastry things which are delicious, etc. This cute couple performed on one side of the market for a congregation of kool kids who were jus chillin:

Daniel Libeskind's architecturally-interesting and informative Jewish museum, within which the architecture represented the experience of the Jewish people in Germany (the Holocaust, emigration from Germany, and the continuity with German history):

a rando piece of interesting architecture:

These next few are from the Pergamon Museum, which houses the Pergamon Alter:

And here I am for Halloween in a rather odd pic with a large Playmobile figure. I put some goblin-like face paint on. Most people in Berlin, however, didn't participate in the festivities of Halloween, so I probably just looked like I had some pretty severe skin problems. Meagan didn't dress up, but Ben featured a lovely mix of Peruvian and Estonian textiles.

Parents in Prague

2008-10-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

oh look! the family's back together again. . .

the week before last, andy, vickie, and jakers had a nice time explorin praha. i showed the fam all my stopping grounds and painted a nice picture of life in prague for them. here we all are in the courtyards of the beautiful wallenstein palace in mala strana (prague 1).

there were peacocks on the run. we had quite the discussion about albino ones. . . (is it a white peacock or an albino peacock? we will never know, i mean we could do a quick google search, but that would ruin our fun garden party game)

aww

so after complaining extensively to them about how bad the food in prague is, moma lazere here finds herself completely disagreeing with my stance. give that woman meat and potatoes and dark beer off the tap any day (and weiner schnitzel (but that relates to my next post)).

at the memorial to the victims of communism, you know juz seein the sights. and that grim look on papas face is due to the financial news : (

and we got to enjoy prague in full blown autumn. it was quite beautiful.

Recently Learned Czech

2008-10-10T12:51:00.001-07:00

Fart = Prd

Paree

2008-10-09T11:51:00.001-07:00

So this last weekend, I was in Paris for the first time and undoubtedly not the last time. The indulgent food, resplendent architecture, fashionable people, and cool nightlife make it quite the locay. I stayed with my friend Nathalie from high school at her home-stay, just outside the city center.

Her host family was a very nice: the dad was a photographer and the mom ran a nursing home. She bought us croissants in the morn.

shoutout to elle too! sip that coffee, g

Paree!

The Tuilleries . . . tres jolie

La LouvRA (how I pronounce the famous museum's name with my fantastic French accent)

Musee D'Orsay

We had tea and hot chocolate at Angelina, the famous teahouse across from the Tuilleries.

Macaroons

Le Cite of Lights

Our friends' apartment in the 1st arrondissement by the louvre. To say I am a little jealous is an understatement.

Shireen, Marina, and Allie Pickett just came back from Octoberfest in Munich and were hardly in the condition to be photographed. So, I'll put one up of Shireen hehe

But "It Couple" Sean and Jane are always down for a photo.

So I didn't have my camera for much of the trip; most of the pics were from Versailles . . .

But it is quite picturesque, a great example of over-the-top France

Aw, the three lil poopers reveling at Versailles

As if Versailles isn't extravagant enough, Jeff Koons sculptures graced many of the rooms.

I'm sure Louis XIV would greatly enjoy an oversized, metalic balloon animal in his living room.

The notorious hall of mirrors

And this was Nathalie's bedroom in Malakoff . . .

More Koons . . .

It was la vie en rose

Kutna Hora

2008-10-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

So last weekend, I went on a trip to Kutna Hora, a small town about an hour outside of Prague. It's a charming medieval town with twisting cobble stone streets enclosed by colorful facades of row buildings. In its prime, the town was home to a silver mine, which made it very wealthy. We got to go on a tour of the mines, which were about 30 m underground. . . very spooky. But, the first picture below surprisingly has nothing to do with the mine, but rather the interior of one of Kutna Hora's churches. The church was built in the 15th century as an ossuary, and later, the bones in the church were used to decorate it . . . creepy and morbid. I guess the chandelier in the middle of the church includes every bone in the human body!

My first bird spotting for dad! Can you classify it?

evil laugh*

now the cutsie shiz . . . aw we all love Europe. Espresso in a street cafe, anyone?

These next few are from the main church in the town, St. Barbara Church. It's a lovely gothic structure as you can see . . .

Look at those flying buttresses! Whoever called them the dark ages?

Fabu rib-vaulting

Art Mill

2008-09-22T04:36:00.001-07:00

A weekend of farming, campfires, yoga, horseback riding, sustainable living and art in South Bohemia

bunny coops (we didn't get to kill/skin a rabbit, though it was on the itinerary)

my friend Katherine with one of many kittens from the mill

some of our paintings

Czech RA, Lenka

some fresh tea on the right, brewed from the herbs in the garden

Flicka, the crazy dog

Barbara Benish, artist/mill owner . . . from the oc!

Getting out of Prague for the weekend was quite nice, and there was no better place to go to than here. The scenic location, delicious and extremely fresh food, mini kittens everywhere, and wonderful hospitality made for quite the inspiring and relaxing weekend.

My Hood

2008-09-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

Some photos from my neighborhood, Vinohrady, on a kind of grey day. . .

Machova is my street

where I get my daily produce (the fruits and vegetables often still have dirt on them and go bad in a day or two . . . I take this as a good sign; I can trust my potraviny for freshness and no preservatives)

these next few are from the park by me, Havlickovy Sady

in the park is this vineyard. vinohrady, the name of the district was originally all vineyards (like 200 years ago), and the word vinohrady itself means vineyard. I'm going back to that pavilion tonight for some Burcak, which is a Czech specialty: a young wine, only available in early fall, that supposedly has an apple cider taste.

these are from my messy pad.

from the courtyard behind my building

from the balcony on the top floor

Reed! my roomate

Some of My Spots and Art Exhibit NYC

2008-09-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

The weather here is changing very quickly; the temperature is already in the 50s and 60s, and some leaves are starting to change to their autumn colors. And I am starting to feel very much adjusted to my new home. With the help of some exploration and the English psychologist I'm interning for, I have found some good spots that are making their way into my weekly rounds:

Thai's Asian Food Shop - Although I've yet to buy anything here, this hole-in-the-wall spot offers all the ingredients needed for making Asian dishes. None of which are in typical Czech grocery stores. Tofu, spices, frozen shrimp, etc.

Francouzka 66, Praha 10

Sahara Cafe - a little more expensive than most Czech restaurants, which tend to very inexpensive, but the food here is very good. The cuisine is mostly Mediterranean, and definitely worth a visit if you come to Prague.

Namesti Miru 6, Praha 2

Country Life - a vegan buffet in old town. This place offers many simple, healthy options and is often quite good. I really like when they have vegetarian versions of tradition eastern European dishes, such as the soy meat goulash.

Melantrichova 15, Praha 1

Musso Patisserie - a cute spot owned by a French couple (quite possibly the nicest people in hospitality positions I've met, definitely not displaying the typical czech coldness). They have some of the best pastries (macaroons, tarte tatin, etc.) I've had in Prague, a town filled with many bakery shops, pecivo in czech.

Italska 212, Praha 2

Shakespeare and Sons - a really cool little English book store and cafe in one of the hilly cobble stone streets of Prague 10. The spot is kind of a romanticized dark, older European bookstore; like, I usually go for a cognac and a fine cigar and to discuss Greek philosophy.

Krymska 12, Prague 10

Harley's Bar - although a little more expensive (actually a lot, but still, we're talking about 3 dollar beers) than the average czech bar, this lively spot always offers American music, which is refreshing to hear when you a little drunk (for some reason, a lot of younger czech people seem to like heavy metal and intense house music, which, at least for me, makes quite a few places unpleasant). And, of course, the VH1 classic music videos playing on the wall are always a stitch. Old Prince videos rock. It also attracts an international crowd; we made a Chilean friend, Jaun Pablo, last night (who convinced us, embarrassingly easily at 4 am, to stop at Mickey D's after).

Dlouha 18, Praha 1

For those in New York, I came across an article in the New York Times today about an exhibit in NYC at Aperture Gallery on Josef Koudelka, a wonderful photographer who documented the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968 after the period of much political and cultural progression called the Prague Spring. Here are some of the images on view:

Invasion 68 Prague

Josef Koudelka

Aperture Gallery

547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor

Greetings from Prague

2008-09-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

So, for whomever my audience for this ends up being, hello. I've completed my first week at NYU in Prague. The city is very beautiful, a powerful tribute to many different architectural styles and a rich, remarkable history.

I guess I should start off with one cultural idea that nicely describes the contemporary czechs, pivo, which means beer in Czech. Pilsner advertisements conceal sides of buildings, other beer signs jut out of buildings, signaling the large number of small neighborhood bars. It is not uncommon here to have beer with lunch, a couple after work, then with dinner (in case you couldn't guess, the beer here is very good). To accompany this liquid treasure is a very healthy, nutritious national diet of potato or bread dumplings, creme sauce, pork, beef, and of course, the favorite vegetarian option, smazeny syr or fried cheese. Luckily, people here are starting to catch onto the international organic movement and have adopted more healthy alternatives. Grocery stores now offers "bio" products which are all organic. Numerous vegetarian restaurants (not offering such items as smazeny syr) now dot the city. Of course, cigarettes are very popular and smoked in restaurants, bars, malls, surgery rooms at hospital (jk I don't know that and hopefully won't find out).

With the help of two hour language classes everyday this week, I've learned enough Czech to get around. Here's some samples of the consonant-heavy, mouthful of words we learned:

dobry den - good day

na shledanou - good bye

jedna, dva, tri, ctyri - 1, 2, 3, 4

dekuji - thank you

prosim - please

jak se jmenujete? - what is your name?

heres a doozy: strc prst skrz krk - put your finger through your throat (kind of a czech tongue-twister)

Prague is a fairly small city, especially in comparison to New York. It has three subway lines, and a very convenient tram system (nowhere really takes more than 30 minutes to get to). I'm living in the Vinohrady district, which is in Prague 2. It's tree-lined streets, fin-de-siecle architecture, and proximity to old town make it a very popular residential area.

Czechs are generally nice to tourists; they tend to take pride in their history and culture and want others to experience it. However, they also tend to not be particularly friendly. They are generally reserved and highly dislike loud voices in public (hence, they do get annoyed at us American college students). This is probably one of the vestiges of their somewhat recent communist past. There's also a tendency to stare here on public transportation and sometimes in parks and other public spaces. My Czech teacher assured us that they weren't spiteful or pugnacious glares, but rather curious observations of those around. Whereas in America, we would most likely divert our eyes or smile when a stranger catches you staring, here it's a cultural norm to keep on lookin'.

Some fun fashion trends that I guess are unfortunately popular in Eastern Europe are a form of the mullet on both men and women and pretty bad red hair dye jobs on women. And tevas reign the footwear department.

Well, I guess I'll load some pictures from a lil trip across the Vlatava River on the Charles Bridge to Mala Strana, the neighborhood south of the Prague Castle and the Kampa Musuem, the biggest modern art museum in prague.

A Distant View of the Prague Castle From the Charles Bridge

One of Many Beautiful Statues on the Charles Bridge

A Very Moving Monument to the Victims of Communism in Prague

From An Exhibit From a Contemporary Artist Group at the Museum Kampa (with a view of old town in the background)

A Rather Disturbing Installation at the Museum Kampa (this nation went through a lot of sh*t)

Once a monument to Czechoslovakia's liberation by the Soviet in 1945, this tank stood menacingly in a prominent square. In 1991 (two years after the end of Soviet-led occupation of Prague), artist David Cerny painted the monument pink one night. . . F U Soviets, now we're going to party!