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Where to watch ice-hockey championships in Prague?

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Where to watch ice-hockey championships in Prague?

OK, let’s face it. The Ice-Hockey World Championships are really a Tier II championship. It’s a tournament of the best ice-hockey players who play for teams that got kicked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs already. Also, early and mid May is not the time of the year you would associate with ice-hockey - or ice for that matter - but let’s not worry about that. The hockey is still good and the Czechs love the tournament, and this year it is held in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic! 

Where should you watch the games? How should you behave? What to look for? Where to eat? Read on.


Romantic Prague: Kissing in the Petrin park on May 1

Romantic Prague: Kissing in the Petrin park on May 1

The first of May is a very special day in the Czech calendar. You can be sure that certain things will simply happen on the first May day. The Communists will have a rally, again. The few Neo-Nazis and Anarchists we have will try to beat each other somewhere (although that is sooo 90s). And couples in Prague will kiss each other under the blossoming Cherry or Cherry Blossom trees in the Petrin park.


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Prague local favorites: Lokal Hamburk

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Prague local favorites: Lokal Hamburk

When Jan was small, he and his father used to visit the old Hamburk pub for Sunday lunches. It was not a beautiful place back then but then again, no pubs looked really that great in the 1980s under Communist rule. But Jan loved the maritime styling of the pub (referring, along with the pub’s name, to the fact that there was a river port with a direct connection to Hamburg nearby), with a big ship’s wheel under the ceiling as the main light in the room. It was a classic neighborhood pub with “regulars” hanging around the bar. A classic local pub of the Karlin district, a district with a “black soul”, the only “bad neighborhood” in town, a blue-collar worker, industrial neighborhood and a place when Jan’s father used to live.


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Prague local favorites: Botas 66

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Prague local favorites: Botas 66

The guests of our Prague food tours often ask us about souvenirs they should get from Prague. We think you have to be smart when it comes to buying souvenirs anywhere: it has to be something relatively small, something that will survive the journey in your luggage unharmed, and something that has a story behind it you can later tell your friends when you show off what you brought home. Botas 66 sneakers (or trainers for those reading this in the UK) meet all these criteria.


Prague local favorites: Muj salek kavy

Prague local favorites: Muj salek kavy

If we ever move to the Karlin district like we sometimes plan to, we’ll blame it on Muj salek kavy. The flagship cafe of the local Doubleshot coffee roasters single-handidly put Karlin back on the map and helped it turn into Prague’s Williamsburg that it is today. Why? Because the coffee is consistently good, and the place has a really nice, vibrant vibe. Oh, and are we the only ones who have noticed that their takeaway cups match the sizes of their porcelain cups? That is worth applause by itself. We don't want huge paper cuppa filled to the brink! We just want our regular coffee the way we like it! And yes, we're talking to you, the rest of the Prague coffee scene.


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Prague local favorites: Hemingway Bar

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Prague local favorites: Hemingway Bar

We are not uncovering a secret hidden gem here: Hemingway Bar is arguably the most popular bar in town, and also one of the best ones. Getting in past 9pm when the bar stops taking reservations can take some time, but the wait is worth it: the bar is a great place to drink those woes away with class and distinction. (If you can't get in right away, just sign in. There's lots to do in the area.) It is also a fairly adult place that does focus on mixology. If you're in need of a meat market, look elsewhere. Order something from the cocktail menu, get a sample of their wide selection of rums, or just tell the bartenders what you fancy. And then just watch them work. We could do that for hours.


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Prague local favorites: Dish Fine Burger Bistro

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Prague local favorites: Dish Fine Burger Bistro

We love the Dish Fine Burger Bistro, and we visit on the spur of the moment whenever we want to treat ourselves to a great, tasty, juicy burger. You know, the kind of burger that will make you want to cancel your dinner reservations for the month ahead and just come back again and again for seconds and thirds. We never have a reservation so our visits follow the same pattern. We come in, the staff looks at us with that didn’t-we-tell-you-like-the-past-twenty-times-you-should-make-a-reservation-before-you-come kind of face, and then we ģo for a walk around the block because the next table will hopefully be ready in 20 minutes but maybe later, too. Who knows.


Breaking news: Adam of EMA in World Barista Champs Semis!

Breaking news: Adam of EMA in World Barista Champs Semis!

If you have been reading this blog for some time, you may know we love coffee and always are in search of the best coffee in Prague. It is also no secret that one of our ultimate favorites is EMA Espresso Bar. It’s reached the level where we have our mail delivered there, and we lovingly call the bench just left of the entry “our second office”. (The other guests of EMA seem to ignore the fact that we like to sit there, and occupy what naturally belongs to us.)

Needless to say, Adam, the manager and barista of EMA Espresso Bar, is one of our favorite baristas in town. We did love his coffee even when he worked at Cafe Lounge before he transferred to EMA. We did also root for him at the Czech Barista Championships earlier this year, although the finals were heartbreaking: we love Ondra, the barista at Alza cafe who finished second, as much as Adam, but hey - he won another category, so the universe can be at peace.

Anyway, Adam is now competing at the World Barista Championships in Seattle and… he’s progressed to the semifinals! Which means he’s one of the twelve best baristas in the World for this year. We’ve made a deal with Adam before he left and he keeps sending us random pics from his journey, although - quite logically - he is very busy over there in Seattle. Please see some of them in the gallery.


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Prague Drinks Wine Festival 2015

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Prague Drinks Wine Festival 2015

We make a point of having a glass of wine on our tours. We have figured you will have the beer anyway. It’s cheaper than tap water in many restaurants here, and it’s so ubiquitous we would not believe you if you said you did not have one in Prague. But wines? No. Czech wine production is tiny and exports are rare, so most foreign visitors do not associate Prague with wine.

Well, we think that’s a mistake and that’s why we are trying hard to change that perception. Luckily, we are not alone. Far from it. There are other people in Prague working hard on the same thing. Take the good people of Veltlin, the wonderful local wine bar in the heart of the Karlin district. Mr Bogdan Trojak and his colleagues have long focused on the “natural” wines of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. (You can see the Empire painted on the wall that dominates the bar.) 

The very same people have decided this year to organize the second installment of Prague Drinks Wine, a festival of natural wines from the former empire in Prague, to be held on 6 and 7 June. The festival tries to follow on the long-forgotten tradition of meetings of Empire winemakers held before WWI. The festival will host about 50 Central European winemakers offering about 400 samples of wine. 


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