| Author | Message | ||
     kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 292 Registered: 05-2005 |
Im going to Prague in a few weeks time and I wondered if any of you well travelled folks have been to this fine city. if you have, are there any places i should visit that are not likely to be listed in the tourist guff? whats the beer like, and are there any good record shops? | ||
| Mark Tuffield Member Username: Mark_t Post Number: 36 Registered: 05-2005 |
I’ve been a number of times Kevin as I have some Czech friends. If you are only on a short stay I would recommend the AA Citybreak guide with its fold out map and top 25 places to visit. It also has some “off the beaten track” suggestions too; the map is very handy for my favourite pastime of pottering around and getting lost in the city. The Metro, buses, trams and trains are cheap and great fun for getting around, if not overly user friendly to first timers, though instructions in English are now more common then in the early ‘90s when I first went. I can’t recommend any record shops, only ever been in one on Vaclav (Wenceslas) Square, (n.b taxis and shops there are v. expensive - avoid using/buying if possible). The beer is very, very strong, be warned and it is the real home of lager despite what some US and European manufacturers might claim ! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 300 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cheers Mark for the info, I'll track down the AA Guide. I'm really looking forward to visiting yet another great European city.Been to Barcelona, Seville, Venice, and Dublin in the last few years, so this is another one to score off the list. Vaclav Square is presumably named after Vaclev Havel, a key figure in the Revolution of the late 60s? He is probably the only political leader who is reknowned for his public devotion to The Velvet Underground  | ||
| Mark Tuffield Member Username: Mark_t Post Number: 37 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nice thought but alas no, Vaclav is the Czech for Wenceslas, he of the Christmas Carol fame. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 310 Registered: 05-2005 |
Oh well ,it was a nice thought mark. still,the statemennt about mr havel still stands though. sure beats tony blair and his love of genesis. who does bush like - lynard skynard i wager? or zz top? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 285 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bush, believe it or not, loves My Sharona by The Knack. I'm not presenting this in mitigation, just as a somewhat interesting fact. I just took my daughter to see Ice Age 2 earlier and there was a very interesting line in it where the sabre tooth tiger is saying to the sloth "you will sink, just like a rock," but he very cleary pronounces is as "you will sink, just like Iraq". I wonder if that was how the writers wrote it or just how Denis Leary interpreted it. Has anyone else seen the movie (only those with young kids I guess, it's hardly one to go to on your own!) and noticed that? | ||
| Rob Robinson Member Username: Rsub8 Post Number: 58 Registered: 05-2005 |
Pádraig: that's an interesting observation. However, surely you're aware that there is a major contingent of the denizens of the States that pronounces the country "eye - rack?" Thereby nullifying the irony ;( | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 291 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes Rob, I know a lot of Yanks mispronounce it, but that's the whole point. Leary did not say eye-rack, he said I-rack. So it would not have caused Disney, or whoever made it, palpitations for how it played in the heartland US audience. Or maybe the studio censors did not even notice. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 6 Registered: 06-2005 |
Kevin, it's a very beautiful city, save your first crossing of the Charles bridge for night time, it's fairytale like with it's lanterns, dark statues and the castle on the hill in the distance. The Jewish quarter and Communist Museum are well worth visiting. There is a listings section on http://www.praguepost.com/index.php you may be lucky enough to find a decent show on your visit. There is a story in David Nichols book of The Go-Betweens playing a show there before the Velvet Revolution, a whistle stop visit, without amplification I think, maybe Robert Vickers remembers? The beers are top notch, naturally brewed, no chemicals, reduced hangovers! Favourite bars were Chapeau Rouge and Marquis de Sade. Didn't see many record shops, there was one called Radhost Fx where I picked up Raw Power and Snow Job by Jackfrost, there is a veggie restaraunt attached to Radhost, we ate there but I'm the son of a butcher and I missed my flesh! I didn't find the food great on the whole and can't reccommend a restaraunt to you, it was only so-so no matter where we ate. Pork goulash and dumplings washed down by dark U Flecku beer at their own brewery maybe..great soakage! Cafe Slovakia near the Frank Gehrey's Freddie and Ginger building for pastries and the house special Absenthe Coffee, some great artwork in there too, enjoy. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 315 Registered: 05-2005 |
thanks peter ,lots of intersting tips there. absenthe coffee, the mind boggles! |