Off To Prague: A Story In Photos (Episode 2)

Last fall, Dave and I took a holiday to Prague and fell madly in love with everything about it. So we’re going back! And we’re leaving in three short days. I never got around to posting photos after our trip last year, so here are some of our 2010 adventures.

Today, I’m sharing some food photos from our favorite restaurants, as well as a few snaps that capture the magic of Prague for me. And if you missed it, yesterday, I posted pics of some sightseeing and outdoor highlights.

At home, I’m always a girl with a plan and a schedule. My mornings are carefully calibrated so I can workout, pack my food for the day, transform myself from sweaty wreck to well-dressed girl, and get to work on time. It’s not easy nor fun, and I suspect it’s not really my natural state of being. For now, it’s a necessary evil.

In Prague, I wandered and allowed myself to wonder, “What’s up those stairs?” then walked up those stairs to see. We got lost in twisty-turny streets, and had nod-and-point conversations with people because our Czech and their English just couldn’t do the job.

I love this photo because it looks the way a dark street in Prague can feel: mysterious, magical, maybe a little sinister, but exhilarating.

And this makes me smile every time: the fiddler who serenaded us as we walked up the hill to the castle one afternoon.

The Ristorante Giovanni is literally about five steps from our front door, and unbeknownst to use, we saw it in a movie just before we went to Prague. It felt like a magic trick when we arrived and found ourselves in the exact spot of a pivotal scene in the movie. Then we ate there. Seemed like good luck! (That’s flaming Sambucca. Delish!)

On a quiet, romantic stroll through Mala Strana, Dave and I found the legendary Lennon Wall and added our own graffiti.

Dave wrote, “And with a love like that, you know you can’t be sad.”

We also strolled along some slightly spooky streets that were shiny from a little rain. The white statue bathed in light nearly gave me a heart attack. It was that deliciously scary tickle of a roller coaster ride or a gotcha! moment from a scary movie.

One day, we encountered a light-hearted mystery. On the parapet of a bridge, an abandoned Walkman with a cassette inside!

I tried to listen to it… but the batteries were dead. It could have been the greatest mix tape EVER, but I had to let it go.

This next photo captures the wonderful collision of romance and food. We had a very elegant, over the top dinner at Kampa Park. Our table was right on the river – we could look out the window to the water just below us – with the bridge in the background. We ate duck and foie gras, plus vanilla ravioli for dessert. Amazing. Added bonus: my dinner date is very easy on the eyes.

And now I’m just going to unabashedly show you food and drink pictures. They’re mostly not paleo; we will all survive. (Please keep in mind I ate things that looked like this almost every day, too.)

This is the pork with prunes at our favorite traditional Czech restaurant: Restaurace U Knihovny. We ate there about five times. That is also where we were introduced to honey cake. I will spare you the photo; it’s too deliciously painful and forbidden.

And this is me, enjoying my first shot of the herbal liquor Becherovka. It’s flavored with anise seed, cinnamon, and 32 other herbs so it is totally my kind of thing. I heard that the elderly drink a shot in the morning to “settle their stomachs.” I want to do that so much.

Just to make it fair, here’s a picture of Dave enjoying something intoxicating at the Batalion, a comics museum and bar decorated with giant comics panels. The TVs mounted near the ceiling played video from a death metal concert. It was damn near perfect in its wackitude.

At the exact opposite end of the spectrum, we had several memorable, relaxing meals at the Cafe Savory and could not get enough of the airy, comfortable, elegant space. The French breakfast and Prague ham were sublime.

And this is what I’m most happily anticipating. THIS is the very first food we ate when we arrived in Prague last year, and it will be the very first food we eat when we arrive again this year. This, dear friends, is a roasted pork knuckle whose tenderness and rich flavor could make one weep. Food love courtesy of the Restaurace U Provaznice.

We took photos of everything we ate and drank, but I’ll stop here… this brings us to the end of our brief tour, but I promise to come home with new material for November.

The end.