Czech Please

This past weekend, some friends and I decided to break our trend of traveling in Western Europe and head to the Czech Republic. Our hostel in Prague was just outside Old Town Square. Believe it or not, Old Town Square and the surrounding Old Town are made up of very old buildings. The architecture here is amazing, dating back to the 13th century. Looking around the square after a tour of the city, I was able to identify many of the buildings. From the center of the square, I could see the gothic Týn Cathedral, the baroque St. Nicholas Church, Old Town Hall, and a medieval astronomical clock. Next to me, in the middle of the square was a statue of Jan Hus, a religious reformer who was burned at the stake in Constantinople. However, after looking through the rest of the Prague blogs, I decided not to write about any of this. Instead, I will focus on the new restaurants and bars that now occupy the majority of these unbelievable buildings.

Don’t get me wrong, the Prague Castle and Charles Bridge are awesome architectural and historical artifacts; but, when I went to Prague, I decided to look for something significant that might be overlooked by most tourists. I found that something in Prague’s unique restaurant, pub, and bar scene.
In a Prague blog made available to us by our very own Tim Montgomery, were a number of suggestions as to where to locate the best food and drink in Prague. As we began hopping from restaurant to restaurant and bar to bar, some common themes began to pop up. First, everything was very cheap. Although New Town is slightly cheaper than Old Town, we were still paying the equivalent of $1.19 for a half liter of beer. That’s less than one euro! The reason for this excellent exchange rate is Prague’s extreme inflation in 1991 and 1993. This inflation was the result of radical government policies designed to provide more control of the economy. The details of these monetary policies and are explained in this article.

To make the awesome exchange rate even better, the quality of food and beer at each of our stops was excellent. I picked up on the fact that many dishes and all of the beer you will find in Prague is part of Czech culture. Pilsner and Budweiser can both have their roots traced back to the Czech Republic, as both were German words for cities there. Today, almost every restaurant and bar has a contract with one of these beers making them readily available. This simple observation is supported by the fact that the Czech Republic consumes more beer per capita than any other country in Europe. Combine one of these beers with a traditional Czech dish like beef and dumplings and you can have an excellent meal for around $5. Just remember, unlike most of Western Europe, gratuity is not included in your bill.

The final theme that I picked up on between the various bars and restaurants were the buildings themselves. Almost every place we visited had some sort of basement sitting area. Sometimes, the entire restaurant would be underground. When I got home and looked for an explanation for this phenomenon, I discovered something very unique to Prague. Prague has always suffered from flooding, with the most recent one occurring in 2002. After constant flooding in the 13th century, the city planners decided upon a clever solution: raise the streets up one floor. Only today is Prague beginning to dig itself out. Underground passages and courtyards are now becoming homes to bars, restaurants, and shops throughout Prague. Descending into these underground areas is like hopping into a time machine. In many of them, the original stone work still lines the walls and the outlines of what were once windows can be spotted if you look carefully. I only wish I had known this before I left Prague so as to have a closer look at these pieces of history.


Tim’s Thoughts:
http://mudecactivities.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/563/

Economy:
http://www.bates.edu/prebuilt/Begg.pdf

Streets Raised:
http://www.timeout.com/prague/features/320/prague-area-guide