If you want to visit a place with beautiful buildings and architecture, where everything looks old if not downright medieval, visit Prague. While it also has a really touristy vibe in places, this was definitely a cool place.

The train ride from Plzen was only about an hour and when we got to town, we had to wait for our airbnb guy. I don’t know what it is about over there but the hosts always seem to want to meet you to let you in. Have we not heard of keyless entry, folks? While we waited for the guy, we went to U Fleku, which is apparently the oldest brewery there. The beer was fantastic! I mean, probably the best dark beer I have ever had. Ash had a goulash and I had a bread and cheese plate. I wasn’t even hungry but didn’t want to pass up good food. Finally, the host messaged us and we walked around the corner to meet him. He was an American, funny enough, who had been living there for 30 years. The place we stayed was nice but also, a little unnerving. He’d built a loft for the bed, since there were insanely high ceilings, but the stairs were very shallow so it was hard going up and down, especially at night!

Anyway, since we arrived on a Sunday, we walked a good distance to a bar Ash had found, known for a loyal group of ex-pats who watch football. When we arrived, everyone there was American and Eagles fans, for some reason. It wasn’t the best environment but at least we got to see 4 different games. They didn’t have food, which kind of sucked, but we managed. As an aside, with all the walking we did, the weird time difference, and some days when we couldn’t get a second meal, I came home weighing the same as before, which is just surprising!

Monday was explore the city day, Charles bridge included, and then tour the Pilsner Urquell facility there. Their tour was pretty cool; a mixture of info along with interactive stuff and some AI nightmares but hey, still cool. It included a couple tastings, as well as gave you two free beers. We went to a couple other breweries, passed by the Franz Kafka statue that rotates every 15 minutes, then to an Irish pub. That was, surprisingly, the first burger we had. They have burger and fry places everywhere! To be honest, that one was pretty subpar. But we were hungry so, there ya go. We ended up walking pretty far to a bar Ash found that people on Reddit had recommended and I am glad we did because they had a beer there called Radegast (as in, the brown wizard from Lord of the Rings!) but the reason it was cool for us is, as brewers, we follow the BJCP guidelines for what a beer style should be like. In their book, there are known commercial examples that fit the style perfectly. Radegast was one for Czech premium pale lagers (specifically, Radegast Ryze hořká 12) and you definitely cannot find that here!

On our way home we stopped into this really big arcade that our airbnb host recommended. What a tourist trap! Funny thing is that when we told him we went to U Fleku to eat, he said that was a trap. And yet, he sent us to this BS arcade!

On our final day there, we were for sure just burned out. The only thing left to see was the castle and church, St. Vitus. Prague is broken up into Old Town, where we stayed, and New Town, where the old kings lived, high on a mountain. The walk was over a mile and the stairs were super steep. But it was a good thing to do. We opted for a Mexican place with a good rating instead of one that came Reddit recommended and that was a mistake; it was just ok. Oh well. We went back to the airbnb to rest a bit, not even wanting to go back out. But we did and headed to the Story of Prague museum, just before the gates to New Town. I would say it was worth it. We never did get a trdelnik, a chimney cone ice cream, but we wanted to. We were just always full. I will say, we found an Italian place that evening that seemed non-touristy, and it was very good. I had carbonara, something my mom makes often, and Ash had pizza. It was good and a nice way to end the night. We only had one beer that entire day!

Our flight was scheduled for 11 am but the info all said to be there 3 hours early. We managed to get there a little before 8 am after a long uber ride. The Prague airport is weird too. Once we got our tickets and passports checked, that is where they let you go and buy food and drink. However, you don’t do security until you enter your gate area so once in, there is no leaving for stuff. Knowing we were in for another long flight, we had beer and some breakfast at a Pilsner Urquell restaurant before security and then boarded. That plane had slightly more room, thankfully, but my sinuses were killing me the whole time! Originally, we had a short flight to Amsterdam which then went straight to Atlanta but instead, we got routed to NY. I believe we got in around 3 but had a layover. Our next flight was supposed to be almost 3 hours but we somehow got to Atlanta in a little under 2!

Knowing it would be a late flight, we already had a place booked 20 minutes out of town. We were so tired at this point and were about to just go get the rental car and go when we made a pretty dumb error: we went to international baggage claim. We weren’t sure, as we took one International and one domestic flight. Sigh. When we realized that was wrong, I took a shuttle back to domestic and Ash, to the rental car area. Luckily, the shuttle dropped me off right at baggage claim and ours was still there. Whew!

A quick drive and we found our place, immediately crashing. And due to that, we both woke around 4:45, which meant we were home sweet home a little before 9 am.