How to Make Berlin Look Expensive

Go to Prague!

Prague was one of the city's I felt like I missed while studying abroad in London.  I know you can only do so much in one semester, but it was one of the places I had hoped to get to, but didn't.  It was far and expensive to get there.

From Berlin, however, it is a different story.  It is four and a half hours away by car.  You can take a bus for 40 euros round trip.  On the bus you also get water, a snack, and wifi.  And you only need to be there 30 minutes before you leave.  You also get to see the country side between here and there, which looks a lot like Pennsylvania until you get into the Czech Republic.  So many benefits over flying.

When people talk about Prague they mention four things:  the beer, how pretty it is, how much they loved it, and that you must go.  Beyond that, I never had any idea what you would do there.  In other cities people talk about what things you do there, the Louvre, The Tower of London, the beach, the Kremlin.  It's always been odd that Prague doesn't have this, but only until you go.

Prague has many things to do.  The Prague Castle, which is still a working government building, but also has a number of museums that take about two days to go through.  The Charles Bridge with great views of the city.  The oldest working Astronomical Clock is there with a tower you can go up to view the city.  There are other museums, an opera house, marionette shows, and the largest night club in Eastern Europe.

But really it has this amazing sense of place that is hard to describe.  It really comes down to:  "It is beautiful, you must go!"  The city is one of the oldest in the area that has not had to be fully reconstructed due to war.  It is a place to wander aimlessly through the streets to see the architecture and the views of the city.

There are many wonderful cafes, restaurants, beer halls where you can sit and eat great food, great beer, and watch your surroundings.  Eating and drinking give you a sense of the Czech Republic : the hospitality and also something that represents no-nonsense.  Apparently many of the traditional Czech foods have been lost in time to communism, so much of the food is similar to most of Eastern Europe:  Goulash (which isn't really a stew, but more meat in gravy with dumplings to sop up the gravy), sausage, pork, and lots of potatoes.  If you stay away from the main touristy streets, you can also eat a full hot meal with meat and potatoes for about 5 euros.  The street food is fabulous as well!

Potatoes, Cabbage, and Pork

Fried Cheese with buttery potatoes with slab of butter.

Goulash

The Oldest

The Newest

And the beer is amazing.  Not only does it taste great, for the most part the beer costs about 1.50 euros.  Beer is usually the cheapest drink per volume you can get in Berlin, but it is still more than this!  Most places in Prague only sell two types:  light (not actually light but a pilsner) or dark.  The oldest beer hall in Prague, U Fleku only had one kind of beer.  What made this great was that when you sat down you were given a beer.  When your glass was empty they offered you another.  No need for language issues here, although really most people spoke English quite well.  We took a beer tour, which took us to the oldest microbrewery in Prague, the newest, and the most popular.  The tour was great because you had a half liter of beer at each place and you learned about the microbrewery and also about brewing beer.  We met some fun people on the tour as well.  A group of us went out after the tour to a bar called Propaganda.  It had a campy communist theme,which was hilarious to a group of American tourists.  (And one of the guys who worked there comes from the town we just moved from in the US!)

While in Prague, you must try Budweiser.  It is a traditional Czech beer that is not related to the American beer of the same name.  In fact they are in legal battles over the name.  It also comes in light or dark as seen below. 

 
Our last day in Prague was a rainy day.  We had seem most of the things we wanted and really only had half a day before we caught the bus.  We did some shopping as we had noticed that we could buy cheap shoes and I really needed some.  I bought two pairs of mary janes and one pair of winter boots for a total of 45 euros!

If you are looking to move to Europe but don't know where, think about Prague.  It is beautiful.  They speak English.  The food and beer is good.  Things are cheaper than in most of Europe.  And it is still an international city where there are many things going on.  I personally am not ready to move again, but it crossed my mind while we were there.  And if you aren't looking to move, at least go for a visit.  It is well worth the trip.