Intentionally Lost

Our one free Friday! Waiting for Julie to wake up, I headed to the farmers market for a THIRD DAY IN A ROW to look for a stand I saw my first day in Prague (it was a Friday, so maybe they are only there once a week, idk). Too bad that it was Slovenia day in a rotating international market series. Ugh…Still, it was cool to see! I then met Julie at Secret of Raw - yup I live there now, sorry Grins -for lunch and we planned the rest of our day in Mala Strana, which is the part of Old Town on the other side of the river near the Castle. Lesson of the day: There are positives to veering from the plan. Skipping out on the places we had originally planned to go, we instead made our way to the area of town we wanted to be and decided to just look around and see what Mala Strana had to offer. We found a wonderful street nearby that had a BEAUTIFUL hotel, one of the prettiest I had ever seen, and took time to look around at the architecture and decorating.

A hidden garden cafe
in Mala Strana

Heading down the hill, we found a small café run by an old Czech woman who must have converted the first floor of her house for the public. With a pink, white, and black color scheme, a small garden, flowers everywhere, and the smell of chorcolate croissants, this is definitely somewhere I will be returning. Continuing our path, we found a truly Czech liquor bar, boasting hundreds of types in a dark room with large furs covering wooden benches and tables that felt like it was out of a time mach

ine. Lastly, we stopped in a South African wine bar with interesting décor where we chatted with a bartender about the area and swore we would come back again! I definitely want to come back and try at least one of these places, but it was nice to find some hidden gems in a different area of Prague!

Old school bar @ The Aquarius

One interesting thing that stuck out to me today was how much I love discovering new places and finding situations that match them. To have a certain mood, type of food, entertainment event, or the like and then have an idea for the PERFECT place to go literally gives me butterflies. I have turned into such a little planning nerd! Still, there is something about discovering these hidden gems in Prague that has completely made my experience. I am starting to realize that this is probably one of the things I enjoy most in life, and it would be awesome if “Tour Guide of the World” was a real career. However, it is something to keep in mind that above all things, I am the happiest when I am finding unique spaces and then telling others about them. I cannot WAIT to make a full list of all of the things I have found abroad.

The oddity that is Luka Lu

That night, I headed back to Mala Strana (and a little past it) to meet Nicole and Amanda for dinner at Maly Buddah. We had some great Asian food and tea which was perfect for the rather cool night. Heading down the hill in search of dessert, I found myself in the same area I had been with Julie! It is odd to see things in pieces and have them slowly come together, but it is nice to know I am getting a better feel for the city as a whole. Strolling down Ujzed, we stopped in Luka Lu because of the oddest decorations I have ever seen. This restaurant honestly looks like someone put glue on everything in a garage sale and then a tornado came through. Only pictures can describe. Here, I learned that I do not like Panecotta and that this part of town is pretty freakin cool. I am happy to have another area of Prague I am excited to CZECH out (Really still not that sorry about continuing that)