Prague: June 2019
A water cannon salute and a tiny welcoming party in traditional Czech dress greeted the inaugural EWR-PRG flight, along with a gaggle of reporters on the tarmac. An excruciatingly slow passport control line, then a very efficient bus and tram ride into Prague.
Old town Prague is very walkable and quite pretty; dropped bags at the hotel and had a delicious lunch of soft shell crab buns and duck/lobster dumpling noodle soup at Sansho. The street market at the heart of Old Town provided a tasty venison sausage as well; some random exploring before continuing the day with a food tour.
Martin from Taste of Prague did an excellent job showing off Prague's food scene, starting with a traditional beer hall, Lokal, and quickly diving into the growing farm-to-table freshness emerging in Prague's haute cuisine. Nase mato did a delicious rendition of the ever-popular beef tartare, while Eska blew us all away with their burnt fingerling potatoes. Sansho's pork belly also earned a stop, while a local wine bar was unfortunately forgettable.
Wrapped up the day with a climb up to the Charles Bridge's observation deck, which, while packed with tourists, was worth the view. Prague's astronomical clock-3rd oldest in the world, and the oldest still operating- plus the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn and the Powder Tower all emphasized the history in abundance in Old Town Prague.