spring prague staycation

our spring

prázdniny

(holidays) last week were so nice! after recovering from brno, we had some great days at home (i actually had a few lessons) and finally had time to do around-the-house stuff and some social visits before heading to prague for a day or two. the reason i was so excited to go there was to stay in the gorgeous nicholas hotel which happens to be in our old hood of malá strana (i can highly recommend it if you’re looking for somewhere a bit nicer in this area, also equipped with kitchenette).

but before we checked in… a bit of shopping. alex’s birthday is coming up very soon and i got him some czech-made leather boots from zlin company playbag, which has a showroom in žižkov. playbag’s goods are so beautiful! if you are looking for quality, czech-made clothing, shoes, and other leather goods like wallets at pretty reasonable prices, playbag’s your place. i would definitely go back.

(can i talk for a second about the area of žižkov right around jzp and how unexpectedly beautiful it is? who knew.)

we tried the new taiwanese place hoja (was just okay, is pretty new and still working out the kinks) located west of jiřího z poděbrad square, or as us foreigners affectionately call it, “jzp”. will i ever stop calling it “jay zee pee” now that i can pretty much pronounce

jiřího z poděbrad? jury’s out; we may never know.

i picked up some LUSH goodies at palladium before hopping over to the other side of the river to check in. now, can i just say: is there anything cooler (or weirder) than staying at a hotel in your old neighborhood back when you were broke as a joke? i had a similar experience when i stayed at seattle’s grand hyatt (in the executive suite, for real) located in the same building as the cafe i used to work in. maybe i’ve made it?

alex had a cold so we just took it easy with some mexican food, going to the alchemist pub (above) that i’ve alllllways wanted to go to right around the corner from our old apartment (but i ordered a beer – so boring, considering they offer “magical potions”!), and some očko. our hotel tradition.
as we walked the chilly way home across the charles bridge, the freezing rain started turning to snow. i was explaining to alex that the charles bridge is like one of my “seven chakrah places”. you know – there are supposed to be seven points on the earth where certain energies are strongest? for me personally, one of them is on that bridge. the happy always goes to eleven.

we awoke the next morning to a light blanket of snow over malá strana. the wind was absolutely biting, so we stayed in had our cozy breakfast until we couldn’t stay in any longer. 

then it was out, in search of coffee, to one of my favorite cafes: novy svět. it happens to be located on novy svět lane (in the hradčany district), one of the best places in prague in my opinion. not every cafe is a “must go back to”, but novy svět

always is. it doesn’t hurt that it’s absolutely adorable, has a balcony overlooking an overgrown garden, and serves delicious doubleshot coffee.

not shown: wandering around after that in sub-zero (celcius) temperatures, a poorly husband, a wet and dirty ferdinand who had had quite enough of the city at that point. time to go home and get some sleep!

i really hope we’ve seen all the snow we’re going to see this year. we have pulled a one-eighty on our plans for easter weekend after all of these recent city trips making us weary for the country, we’re now headed once again to soak in some nature in the heart of šumava (bohemian) forest, as we are wont to do during easter time. i have to say that deeply and truly, when i picture a perfect easter, i think always of being high in the šumava hills. a good seasonal meal, a great hike, some mazanec and green beer… what could be better?

happy spring! i hope to come at you before easter with another post, so we’ll just see how that goes exactly.

ps, you might like novy svět & the stag moat or a tree blooms in žižkov.