Prague Part 2: Running Tour, Jewish Quarter, Wenceslas Square and Beer Spa!
(Read about day 1)
We woke up early the next day to take a running tour of Prague with a company called Go! Running Tours. I cannot recommend them enough! I’ve been running quite a bit lately, and between Crossfit and running Charlie was also in pretty good shape, so we opted for a 10K distance. Go! offers runs of all distance for those of any running ability — the only restriction is young runners must be accompanied by an adult.
We absolutely adored our run with Radim! As you can see from the Strava map above, we covered most of the city- we started by our hotel, ran through Old Town Square and north across the river, up to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, then back down, across the Charles Bridge, and back towards our hotel. It was so fun to see all of the highlights that we’d be hitting in detail the next day, early in the morning and before most of the tourists were out and about. It was the emptiest I think anyone could ever see the Charles Bridge- there were a few pedestrians here and there, and a couple taking some wedding photos, but otherwise, it was quite quiet. Along the way, Radim shared interesting tidbits about the architecture and history of the buildings we passed, pointing out features to look for.
We returned to the hotel for a shower and breakfast, and then we headed out into the Prague Jewish Quarter. The area, which is completely walled in, is one of the better preserved historic Jewish areas in Europe because it was spared destruction by the Nazis in World War II — Adolf Hitler had planned to use the Prague Jewish ghetto as a museum to an “extinct race.” Morbid and terrifying, but also important to historical preservation as the neighborhood was mostly untouched.
Prague’s Jewish Quarter was settled as early as the 10th century, and while it slowly shrank over time, it still contains six synagogues, the cemetery and a handful of other important buildings. The Jewish Museum also sits within the walls, an important collection of artifacts gathered from all over the world. I haven’t toured many of Europe’s Jewish cultural sights, but I found this particularly impactful because of its preservation through World War II and the history of the buildings.
From the Jewish Quarter, we walked down to the Charles Bridge and followed the river all the way to the Dancing House (which I honestly found underwhelming!) and then stopped for lunch at U Fleků, a microbrewery and restaurant that was founded in 1499 and claims to be the oldest brewery in the Prague. We ate outside in a beer garden and enjoyed some traditional Czech food along with our beer. U Fleků brews only one beer, a very dark lager, and it’s only available in their own brewpub!
After we finished our lunch, we stopped at the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral, which was one of the most interesting sites we visited in Prague because I had no idea it existed. Here’s the scoop on the importance of this site:
In 1942, during World War II, the cathedral was the scene of the last stand of a number of Czech and Slovak patriots who, in Operation Anthropoid, had assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazi SS Obergruppenführer and General of Police. Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld was in command of the German troops that stormed the church on 18 June 1942. After a fierce gun battle, two of the Czechoslovaks were killed and the rest committed suicide to avoid capture. There is a museum in the church crypt dedicated to them as national heroes. -Wikipedia
We then walked over to Wenceslas Square with plans to go into the Czech National Museum, but unfortunately, the main part of the museum was closed! The Square actually is a very long road with shops on either side and reminded me very much of the Champs-Élysées in Paris. We just took a stroll, Charlie popped into a shop to purchase a Czech hockey jersey (and actually found an Atlanta Thrashers pin, which was so exciting since the team was sold to Winnipeg!) and then headed back to the Town Square area for Charlie’s Favorite part of the trip: the Beer Spa!
We did a ton of research before our trip into exactly which beer spa we wanted to experience in Prague. There are many, with lots of different price points, but we asked for recommendations from friends and ultimately settled on Beer Spa Bernard. We liked that you could opt in for snacks, and their focus on the quality of the beer; not only that you soaked in but also that you drank. An added bonus was the jacuzzi-side taps so we (read: Charlie) could refill as needed.
The Beer Spa Bernard was a really fun experience — we spent 30 minutes soaking and then another 30 minutes on these amazing heated mattresses, stuffed with hay, just relaxing. As an even bigger bonus, we were gifted a few bottles of beer to take home with us, which we brought along to France after we left Prague 2 days later!
