Planning trip to Prague; looking for tips...

[mad dawg]

My wife and I want to visit Prague later in the year, and since I know a few of you out there have travelled there over the past year or two, I was hoping to ask for advice in planning our trip, such as...

Up and coming builders that I might want to consider ordering a mandolin from before my trip, or while there.

Places to stay (we tend to favor B&B's, small inns, etc.).

Recommended restaurants and cafes.

Favorite museums.

Do they have a festival season?

The local music and pub scene.

How common is English spoken there, and what other non-local languages do multi-lingual locals tend to know?

Any other tips or advise you have to make our trip more enjoyable.


Thank you,
Jim

[Dan Adams]

I'm jealous! I was thinking about a trip to our nation's capitol, then I discovered you can travel to Prague for less. All I would need would be a thousand in cash in pocket, and begin the search for Czech luthiers. By the way, if you find a 'Fisch' mandolin, buy it and bring it back. Mine is a great instrument!

Have Fun! Dan

[mandroid]

The builders section on the site here, sorts by country.
http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin....d=Czech (http://www.mandolincafe.com/cgi-bin/builders/searchdb.cgi?uid=default&view_records=1&keyword=Czech)

immerse. pivo is beer

[Christopher Howard-Williams]

Before going to Prague I went to the Czech Bluegrass Music Association website (in English) and found a link to a couple of guys.
I emailed and got detailed replies from both of them of concerts on while I was around and how to get there. I met one of the guys and it was great.

http://bacr.czechweb.cz/english.php

Prague is beautiful and there is thriving and excellent Bluegrass scene. Enjoy.

[Christopher Howard-Williams]

Just for other general info, you can do most of the historic part of the city on foot. The trams are easy. We actually stayed in the Ibis hotel as we had freebies (modern and cheap - not typical at all, but functional).
There is a great beer-cellar that is about 800 years old (true!) - it should be in any guide book and is worth a visit. The beer is great - real Budweiser!!
There are plenty of restaurants around the main square where you can sample local dishes (not to be done twice a day!!) in a nice environment.
It's a good place to buy glass and there are some nice painting galleries with some good affordable pictures.
There are plenty of Bluegrass and affiliated festivals throughout the summer. It is basically Europe's answer to Kentucky when it come to Bluegrass ;)

[adgefan]

An "up and coming builder" you might want to check out is Vojtech Pecený. I have one of his F5s and I love it to bits.

He has a website, but as I don't speak Czech I have no idea what it says :

http://vojtechpeceny.com/

[danb]

Hey Jim,

Try the absinthe and try to hook up with Jiri Lebeda http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Alekos]

Hi Jim,

although I don't live directly in Prague, I was there few times. Here are some tips and recommendations -

All informations you need (accomodations, etc..), you can about Prague you can find there. (http://www.prague.cz)

I think you won't have problem make oneself understood while speaking English. Many people also can speak German, French or Russian..

Local pubs and music scene are really wealthy. Don't forget to visit the National Theatre too.

Regarding Vojtech Peceny - this is very talented luthier (see the attached photo), now very popular for example in UK. I've speeked with him few times. He lives near Prague..

You also can visit Mr. Capek, but I'm recommending to phone him first, in order to arrange a meeting.

In case of any problems drop me a message..

regards,
Alex

[Klaus Wutscher]

Prague is great just be carefull when you are in the old town- some places are into a massive tourist rip-off .Also, discuss the price at first when using a cab- otherwise they give you a ride through the outskirts which could easily amount to a 80 + fee (once a cab driver asked € 120.- for a ride of ten minutes cause he used the "shortcut" on the freway- he didn´t get it but that was a fuss I could easily do without) Of course, there is a great jazz scene in prague and some really nice clubs- you will have a great time there

[mad dawg]

Thank you for all of your feedback, but we just learned that we will be adopting a baby on October 18, so we've postponed Prague as we need to shift our vacation (& mandolin http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif ) funds this year over to the baby's room (and to the baby's clothes, the baby's stroller, the baby's toys, the baby's diapers...).

[Jim MacDaniel]

<bump>
We will finally be getting to Prague this autumn (as well as to Vienna); does anyone have any additional advice on events, sights, museums, luthiers, etc., to visit while there? This will be Jen's and my last vacation as a couple before we start travelling with little Aidan in tow, so we plan to totally immerse ourselves in Prague while there, and are looking forward to all that Prague has to offer.

I haven't worked out the details yet, but I don't think we'll be renting a car; that said, I am particularly interested if there are any Prague-based luthiers that I can visit. I see in the builders db that Prucha is in Prague, but a few Czech luthiers in the db have no address nor city listed, including Lebeda, whose J5 is major eye-candy to me.

Also, do you have any similar advice to offer while we are in Vienna?

Thanks in advance on helping make this our last great hurrah, before we start travelling family-style (which BTW I am looking forward to -- but I will miss our old impulse-driven method of travelling, and doing whatever comes to mind when we wake up each morning http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif )

[aphillips]

Prague is a beautiful city! My best and most important piece of advice is to make sure you get up at the crack of dawn at least one of the mornings you're there and head right into old town and the Charles bridge. There will be very few people out and about and it is quite breath-taking at that time. Make sure you check out the Charles bridge at this time too or you will never see it without hordes of other tourists. Have fun! Oh and do some research on the tram system before you go - it's pretty simple and convenient once you get the hang of it.

[niaflsbob]

the closest i've ever gotten to prague is my capek a-5. don't know if you'll play any mandos there you might play but maybe you could give us a " sampling diary''.
i have a feeling we will be surprised at the quality and quantity of fine luthiers over there. at any rate have a wonderful trip. drink a pils for us all.

[Geoff]

While in Prague you will no doubt cross the bridges a few times over the river. When I was there, there always seemed to be several bands playing on them. There were definitely some very interesting styles of music with cool instrumentation. I remember specifically this old man with a hurdy-gurdy and the most haunting and grating voice singing with a group one day. He was a little scary but the musci was mesmerizing. All the groups seemed to be either jazz or some variation of old european folk. I don't specifically remember seeing mandolin players but Im sure there are some.

[Paul Kotapish]

I was in Prague this summer for a little family gathering and loved it there. I didn't have a chance to visit any luthiers or hear much music, but I was delighted to spend hours rambling through the gorgeous streets at all hours of the day and night. We had a lot of very good traditional Czech meals there in a variety of different restaurants. There were several in underground caverns that were great, and a couple of nice places along the river near old town. My favorite was the basement restaurant in the Obecní dům, the fabulous art nouveau Municipal House near the Powder Gate. Here is a link to their English homepage. (http://www.obecnidum.cz/web/en/homepage) The food wasn't spectacular, but it was good and traditional, there was plenty of it, and the surroundings were amazing. There's a famous watering hole down there, too, called the "Ameriky Bar."

I love the posters and Jugendstile art-nouveau designs of Alphons Mucha, so a trip to the Mucha museum (http://www.mucha.cz/index.phtml?S=home&Lang=EN) was a must for me. I can't prove it, but as far as I'm concerned, Orville Gibson got his inspiration for the F style from the curvaceous art-nouveau style.

A trip through the Prague Castle (http://www.hrad.cz/en/prazsky_hrad/navsteva_hradu.shtml) and St. Vitus cathedral is worth the time, and then ramble on foot down to old town and the park along the river. Lots of fun places to hang, drink a beer, and people watch. Be alert for teams of pickpockets posing as fellow tourists in all of the public squares and on the Charles Bridge. Very sneaky.

We heard a lot of good street music by very accomplished bands in the public squares near tourist gathering places--real performers with good chops.

The Jewish Cemetery and museum is also interesting.

Check (or is it Czech?) out the amazing hand-carved marionettes around town.

Have fun. It's a wonderful city, and I'm looking forward to getting back there soon.

[barry k]

I was in Prague in August of 2004. It was one of the most beautiful European citys I have even been in. Ditto for all the sites and builders mentioned, but I would like to add that even though you probably know this, be aware of the US dollar to Euro Dollar conversion. Our dollar is very weak compared to their money, almost as bad as going to the UK. Also, the drivers are CRAZY !!! at the airport i saw 3 different fist fights, and they were all cabbys lol.

[Griffis]

I was there for several weeks in late 2003 and we stayed at a place called the Hotel Andale that was very nice and had a great restaurant.

My biggest recommendation is to get out of Prague and visit Cesky Krumlov, about an hour away from there.

Prague is a marvelous city, but Cesky Krumlov was really a jewel.

[Dagger Gordon]

Been a few years since I was there, so I forget the names of most of the places, but some of my favourite memories were listening to an early evening organ recital in the big church near the river (opposite side from main square) which has the fantastic frescos, going to a puppet show (you may laugh, but it's one of the things Prague is famous for), eating in an extraordinary art deco place which I think used to be the municipal building (food wasn't great there actually! - check it out in a Rough Guide book or whatever you get in the States) and really just being there.
By all means arrange to see one or two of the mandolin makers, but I assume that you get to hear quite a lot of bluegrass at home and my advice would be to allow yourself to absorb what Prague has to offer. Listen to the local musicians in the street like Geoff and Paul did and have a lovely time.

PS We found it was quite a good idea to do a bus tour early on to get our bearings. That will probably involve doing the tourist sights like Prague Castle which are well worth seeing.

[Jim MacDaniel]

OK, we are leaving for Praha this Wednesday, and we've booked tickets for Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre, which I am looking forward to -- and not just for its mandolin content -- but I suspect given its history this may be the Prague equivalent to seeing La Quattro Stagione at La Pietà. For those of you who know Prague or have visited there recently, are there any other "must see" Prague experiences to recommend, or perhaps other performances scheduled this November that are not a definitive Prague experience, but interesting nonetheless?

We are also planning a day trip to Český Krumlov, but at this time the rest of our stay in Prague is an open book -- which is typically fine since we are not fond of vacationing on a schedule -- but do you have any other last minute suggestions for things to do and see -- musical and otherwise -- in and near Prague? (Of course including but not limited to music stores with a mandolin selection. ;) )

BTW, we will be visiting Vienna after leaving Prague, so any Wein-based tips are also welcome.

[jasona]

I was in Prague and Vienna last summer, and a couple of the highlights for me were the Musha Museum (for the Art Deco theatre posters featuring Sarah Bernhart) in Prague, and the Leopold Museum in Vienna (for the Klimts and Successionist paintings). The open air market in old Prague is well worth a stroll too.

Enjoy your trip!

[Mike Bunting]

Bon voyage, sounds like a great time coming up. I'm dying to get back to Europe.

[Doug Hoople]

Music, music, music. Both are great music towns.

The Czechs are unsurpassed at rendering the music of their own great composers, so a trip to the symphony for anything by the likes of Dvorak, Smetana or Martinu should be well worth it.

For a particularly Viennese treat, try to make it to the Augustinerkirche (just down the street from the Hofburg) for the Sunday morning mass. Great choral music in a small setting, with organ and, most Sundays, a small string ensemble. Ravishingly beautiful on a good week, and that's almost every week at the Augustinerkirche.

Otherwise, if you always thought Mozart was just a little on the boring side (many do), you should take in any performance of any local ensemble playing Mozart (except for the big touristy Kleine Nachtmusik garden concerts, that is). The Viennese have Mozart in their bones like bluegrass musicians have Bill Monroe in theirs, and even amateur performances of Mozart in Vienna surpass fine professional performances around the world. The Viennese know and love their Mozart, and it's sublime in their hands.

One other very big longshot. Carlo Aonzo and Beppe Gambatta have been known to show up in Vienna on occasion, and usually play in a small restaurant that specializes in Ligurian cuisine (Carlo's home cooking). Not likely that he'll be there, but keep your eyes out!

In Vienna, the paper to pick up for around-town listings is 'Der Falter.' It's a lot like the Village Voice used to be in New York, very artsy-fartsy (which I personally regard as a good thing!), but by far the most comprehensive listings of cultural goings-on.