Where do we live? We've nested on the edge of Prague's Vinohrady neighborhood, named for the fact it was blanketed by the vineyards of King Charles IV in the 14th century. You can get there in just a couple of tram or metro stops from all of the major tourist sites.
Its hallmark is its grand architecture and it's known as an expat hotspot, but the only time we really notice English is outside of Western entities like Starbucks or at events like World Cup festivities. Anyhow, the 'hood is a superb summertime hangout, and here are our most recent 3 reasons:
World Cup mania is in full-swing, meaning that Vinohrady's Riegerovy Sady beer garden, with its two big projection screens, is packed to the gills. So much so that our Scottish friend about went mental on the people who'd stand smack in front of our table, blocking the view: "Big mahn in tha gleen shehrt- out ma way ya tossehr!" This is one place where you can find dozens of languages being spoken as people from all over the planet come to cheer on their teams.
Patios are sprouting outside of cafés and restaurants, which are plentiful. We recently found A+ spring rolls and pho in Vinohrady, at Ha Noi. Authentic Vietnamese food is something we've really missed since leaving the U.S. and this does a decent job of filling the void.
Finally, it seems that festivals are always popping up in this area. Here's a Taste of Slovenia event we stumbled upon on a cool summer evening in Jiřího z Poděbrad Square. We collected a pile of info about traveling there; Ljubljana is high on our list.
Ahhh...summer... This post is part of the #SundayTraveler blog linkup hosted by PackMeTo.com!