Prague

Prague is the 5th most visited European city. It is beautiful. The bridges, the water, the architecture and most important the city has a lively hum. We did a lot of walking and one of my favorite things are the sidewalks. I don’t know when they were laid but the black and white stone detail is so beautiful. The cost to do that today would be exorbitant.

We arrived a bit later than planned due to the fog but got going the minute we arrived at the hotel. Fred had found an artist this summer, Anna Hulacova, and contacted her gallery in Prague and made a date to see her work in person when we visited. Our first stop was Martin’s Bistro which is in the same neighborhood as the gallery. A neighborhood spot that I wish was in my neighborhood in NYC! A menu that changes daily. We had the Chicken Marengo.

And the Marinated Chicken Leg with roasted vegetables. Both of them were so good. Through out the trip our lunch spots have hit the high notes.

We strolled around the neighborhood after lunch seeking out a bakery for dessert.

This building is almost equivalent to the D&D building in NYC. Much more intimate.

It was time to go to Hunt Kastner. The gallerist, Kacha Kastner, has been in Prague for 20 years. She has family there and is part Czech although spent some of her earlier years including college in the states. She has her finger on the pulse of the art world in Prague seeing the work of all the graduates at the Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1799 that offers 12 master degree programs, giving one lucky graduate a space to show their thesis each year.

We spent sometime seeing lots of Anna’s work including some artists Kacha represents. She made an introduction for us to get a tour of the Trade Fair Palace. More on that tomorrow.

As we left, we walked over to the Jewish Cemetery down the street that Kacha recommended we see.

No tourists there, just a part of life in Prague reminding everyone of the past.

The cemetery sits near the base of the Zizkov Television Tower. The David Cerny sculptures crawling up the tower turn a reality of something we need into something fun.

We went back to the hotel and rested up before dinner. Dinner was at Kuchyn located in this square and on a clear night or day you can see all of Prague.

We loved this place. The woman who runs it knows how to get shit done. We decided that taking her back and putting her in start-up land would be amazing! You sit down, order your drink, and your appetizers. Fred had delicious sweet beets with goat cheese.

I had chicken liver.

Then when you are ready to eat, you go to the stove and choose. You could have a little of everything or just what you want. The pots are beautiful, the concept of community is so smart and more than likely it keeps the overhead down too. It was wonderful.

Chicken Paprika and a bit of Goulash. One more day left on the trip.