I apologize ahead of time for the overtly cheesy title. There was this one hostel we came across called the “Czech Inn” and thought that that was just about the most clever thing ever.
Anyways…
Until we ended our bus journey in Prague, I had never really had a moment in Europe where I thought “Wow, we are really in a different land.” In my first minutes in the city/country, I had this feeling it was something completely different than anywhere in Germany or Austria or Spain or Italy or anywhere else I’ve been to in western Europe.
But then I came to find out that it was mainly just in language, money, and food…
Neither of us knew a single word of Czech going into it and I don’t think we know a single word now even. Despite having spent 4 days there.
We would always just give a nervous, wide-eyed look when we needed something at a restaurant or walked into a store, not even knowing the proper way of greeting someone…I know, I know. This is terrible travel etiquette on our part, but thankfully we never had a problem with finding English speakers.
The Czech Koruna provided us with the favorable exchange rate of 1USD=20CZK and 1EUR=28CZK (the best one we found was the bus station at over 28; the worst one was a club at 22.5!!!). So this was about 4EUR/100CZK. I, having clearly not been in a math class in far too long, kept optimistically dividing by 2 instead of 4 and thinking/saying, “Look! This is only 50, aka 1 euro” or “Wow. This big meal only set me back 4 euros.”
Granted, the prices were very reasonable, especially for a capital city and for a city as touristy as Prague. Even for 8 euros, that meal was a fantastic bargain.
Prices in the capital, as expected, were more expensive than the smaller towns I visited or the roadside stop we made on our bus trip…THAT was CHEAP!!! I got a big bowl of soup, breads, juice, and cake for 3 euros something (they accepted euros there, so I know I’m not screwing up the math this time.)
Speaking of food, the food of the Czech Republic was glorious. Not to mention cheap.
Knedliky (dumplings). Guláš (goulash, although technically more Hungarian than Czech). Svičková (this sounds bizarre but became one of my favorite dishes. Basically ever. It’s roast beef sirloin in a cream sauce topped with sweetened whipped cream and cranberries. The whipped cream seemed weird to me to eat with the meat, so I saved it for a dessert!). Česneková polévka (garlic soup). Beer (Pilsner Urquell, Kozel…you name it, Czech breweries deliver).
My favorite, though, was the brilliant pastry entitled Trdelník (we called this one turtleneck, not being sure if that was the correct pronunciation or not). This thing got to me as badly as the sugar waffles in Belgium, making me try one from every new stand I came across. Having at least 2 a day.
Basically, it’s a long snake of dough wrapped around this metal rolling-pin thing that is then rotated over open flames. Once fully cooked, it is rolled in a topping of cinnamon, sugar, and chopped walnuts (usually), knocked off of the pin, and doused in more of the sugar mixture to coat the inside.
Overall, it does look like a turtleneck, so I think our “translation” fit.
Seriously, if I haven’t convinced you enough already, Czech food is superb.
After getting to know the city/country more than just the very initial sighting when we got to the bus station, I found that the Czech Republic really isn’t that different from Germany or Austria. They have a diet heavy on meat, breads, and beer, and the architecture is “European” (although that’s really not a type of architectural style).
Truth be told, I mainly did this post to show you some of the amazing food I ate. And the money is fun too, because it makes you feel like you’re rich!
Until next time.
Into Uncertainty 