A Prague Seven Stroll

The thing about Prague is that you can stroll out your front door every day for a year and still find yourself in a new crevice of the city each time. After 3.5 years of living here, I'm gobsmacked by the newness of it all, in a place that is so old and storied.

Last weekend, what started out as a trip to a clothing sale at a retro cinema in Prague 7 turned into an afternoon wander to a somber WWII landmark, a children's theatre and an eco-fashion market. 

"All walking is a discovery. On foot we take time to see things whole."

- Hal Borland

Bio Oko is one of my favorite places - an independent movie theater that allows dogs, has beach chairs and schedules special matinees for parents with babies/small children. Pal Scotswoman and I met there for a vintage clothing market that ended up being more like 3-year-old H&M stuff, but it was fun.

From biooko.cz

From there we strolled East and Scotswoman suggested we stop by Prague's dilapidated Bubny station. You'd never know it, but this is where tens of thousands of Prague's Jews were deported to Nazi camps. Scotswoman has been in close contact with an organisation called Memorial Shoah Praha o.p.s. who is set to reconstruct the station into the "Bubny Memorial of Silence." I'm incredulous that I've lived so close to this place and only recently found out about it's significance; I'm looking forward to seeing the memorial evolve.

We continued East to the colorful Holešovice outdoor marketplace, where you can buy anything from knock-off purses to nunchucks. Housed in one of its warehouses is the Mint Design and Fashion Market; we popped in for a browse.

From mintmarket.cz

Parched from our perusing, we found Jatka 78 nearby for a beverage and rest. It's a multifunctional theater and cafe space that specializes in circus and alternative performance. That day, there was a children's show on. We didn't see it, but we did see the hordes of littles taking laps around the cafe before it started.

Our final stop was due North a touch, at the cafe-cum-threads store Vnitroblock. It was hosting a sustainable fashion event  and it was packed, but Scotswoman found a pair of boots she's been talking about buying every since.

And then it was back home to a big dinner party that BW had been cooking for friends. Vegan Mexican was on the menu and it was the perfect antidote for tired gams after a perfect Prague 7 day.

From Scotswoman

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Five-sense Saturday: New nephew edition

The shift from Spring to Summer was packed with enough things to knock our senses right out. Here are some of our oblíbené (favorites):

HEARD:

...Don Giovanni, Mozart's masterpiece, at the Estates Theatre. I'm not one to run the opera - and this one is 3 hours long - but I enjoyed it with girlfriends. The costumes and visuals were stunning; they very much complemented the music.

-from Narodni Divadlo

...a very charismatic (and very pregnant) gal belting out Edith Piaf at Prague's annual French Market. She had a simply incredible voice.

TASTED:

...a lavender crepe from the Dejvické farmers' market. It's laced with lavender syrup, sprinkled with crushed lavender and topped with lavender merengue. 

...the stellar steak tartar at Lokal Stromovka, a Czech chain perched on the edge of our favorite park. BW swears it's the best in Prague. Like all good Czechs, you eat it piled on a piece of fried bread that's been rubbed with a garlic bulb.

SMELLED:

...lots of musty vintage things on board the floating flea market parked at Naplavka on Saturday mornings. No purchases this time, but I did once score an epic leather fanny pack.

...the many bonfires of Čarodějnice, the holiday that burns the winter witches (i.e. piles of wood) to usher in Spring every April 30. On Kampa Island, the burnings were accompanied by fire-dancers.

TOUCHED:

...a generous helping of hail - I'm glad we don't have a car here in Prague, because I imagine dealing with car insurance would've been a nightmare.

...an awful lot of Prague pavement with the pup; we are usually back in the U.S. in the summertime, but not this year. This has given us the chance to play Magellan and explore many corners of the city we love.

SAW:

... The new Viggo Mortensen film "Captain Fantastic" at our favorite movie theatre, the retro Bio Oko - it allows dogs. And has beach chairs. And if you're lucky, you'll run into a block party outside, like the one below.

...our brand-new nephew! Ok, so it has been over FaceTime, but we are thankful for this mode of communication and have logged many sessions trying to get the little guy from Tacoma, WA, to smile. We are so thrilled about this little man and the health and happiness of his mom and dad, too. Definitely the best part of this year :) 

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