Prague is a breathtaking city.

Married two days’ prior, exhausted but high on life, we flew into this magical land of age-old architecture and colorful urban parks in the peak of autumn.

I had hoped to learn a bit of Czech before our travel, but really just mastered a few key German phrases and didn’t quite make it to Czech. For that I felt immensely guilty, dreading being one of those Americans who assumes everyone abroad speaks English.

But they did, for the most part, at least those in our generation. Folks our age learned English in school, but those a bit older learned Russian. (So, besides the time we tried to purchase antiseptic ointment, we got by just fine.)

From the airport, seemingly atop a mountain, we drive down the windy roads, by parks and colorful trees, looking down into the valley of the city. Friends have told me for years to go, and it did not disappoint. Even the driver constantly switching between her driving glasses and reading glasses (for the GPS) could not distract me from the views.

So simple, slow and stress-free, our week in Prague was. The trams were always on time and took you anywhere in the city. The pubs dotted the streets, every few yards the friendly Pilsner Urquell logo.

We would walk in, pick whichever table we’d like, say “pivo prosím” and hold up two fingers. Sometimes they would ask short or tall (only lunch), or dark or light, but typically it was assumed (tall, light). Within a short moment, the beer would appear, thick head and the foam dripping down the sides from when it was not carefully set onto the table.

And to two people who live where puritan blue laws still dominate (for example, happy hour is unlawful, and if you want a beer at a festival you have to go stand in a corner; you can’t walk around with your beer), we could visit a variety of outdoor breweries, enjoying the scenery while we drank our $2 (or less) pint.

Just a quick reflection, as I head to my overcrowded bar with overpriced beer in the frigid New England winter. 🙂

We visited pubs often, typically as a rest stop amidst our sightseeing, or for a lunch break, or even if we just needed a toilet. The culture was so friendly, and relaxed.

Really, this post serves as a prologue to a few various reflections I want to make regarding Prague, and, in particular, Prague’s friendly drinking culture. I will share about the outdoors, and the colors of Autumn, the open parks, the pub crawls we completed and the bars we came upon by accident, the amazing food, and the food that was just really fucking good, instead of amazing. I might analyze the three or four meals at which I enjoyed Svíčková, my favorite Czech meal.

Prague Lez-Travel Rating:

Two rainbows. Though, our experience did vary based on location we were in. We did a beer crawl in the Vinohrady neighborhood, a younger, hip, and not too touristy area, which probably would have earned three rainbows. In general, we’ll go with two. The only funny looks we got were, I believe, from other tourists (of course from the guy in the Bama hoodie), but we didn’t see much example of gay pride or gay culture.