Post by Silly Yak on Feb 14, 2011 8:52:22 GMT
Prague
Had great time in Prague, weather hot and sunny, architecture and art galleries/museums remarkable.
We had runabout tickets (available for the excellent public transport system - tram, Metro, buses 1/or 3/ or 7 days at hotel or ticket machines, validate ticket by date stamp once -on first journey).
If you want a taxi (eg for airport with heavy luggage) ask hotel reception to book it for you & you pay them & get token to give taxi driver.
Took rice cakes, DS sweet breakfast rolls (eaten straight from bag, did not need refreshing, kept well), Nairns rough oatcakes, M&S individual mini hard cheeses, DS vanilla wafers, Bakers Delight individually sealed ginger cakes, Glutano choc break bars and long life soy desserts as well as own small jar of Marmite and Marmite Walkers crisps.
All eaten for packed lunches or breakfast/snacks.
Took travel kettle in case I needed GF pot meal but this wasn't necessary -however it was invaluable for tea-making after all that walking (there was no kettle provided in hotel room for hot drinks).
Saw Prague castle (really a whole small town of different buildings/museums with gardens on the hillside), Old Town, Square, Museum of Decorative Arts (view of Jewish Cemetery from windows), Toy Museum (with special Barbie Doll exhibition, didn’t know she was originally Czech), Mucha Gallery, River Vltava trip, Charles Bridge (by day & night) and The Museum of Communism, where, in the Interrogation Room, even the black cup and saucer looks sinister and the unanswered telephone rings....
There is so much more to see and do in Prague (concerts, theatre, puppet shows, more buildings) we have already decided to go back.
May and September are said to be best months , certainly early May 2003 was hot & sunny, more like a good English Summer than Spring.
We went with Easy Jet (booked on internet) so I had my own food for the flights as no meals are provided.
Originally our B&B Hotel was Apollo (through Easy Jet site, also booked on internet) but due to mix up on their part we were upgraded (with free taxi and bottle of Czech champagne) to Mucha (4 stars) which had posh en suite and TV with CNN etc & was closer to the centre.
Reception people at hotel all spoke good English (as did many people in Prague centre bars/restaurants/ museums etc) but nobody knew what Coeliac Disease or gluten free was and I didn‘t see even rice cakes in the supermarkets. I was told I could have an omelette for evening meal in hotel, with salad or plain vegetables but, as their ‘ordinary’ food didn’t seem so great we only had breakfast there.
Breakfast was OK-buffet style - including (tinned) fruit salad, (not very nice but drinkable) fruit juices, real coffee, individual wrapped butter, jam, honey, so I took in my own rice/oat cakes & sweet rolls & used my Marmite & their butter & honey etc. For breakfast there were also cold hard boiled eggs in shells so these were sometimes appropriated for picnic lunch. What looked like cold cooked bacon was on offer & also thin slices of Edam-type cheese.
Czech plain & fruit yogurts were also available & said to be good by the non-coeliac in the party but I was unsure re gluten status so abstained.
I ate out vegetarian GF every night & never had bad reaction.
Places were:
Taj Mahal Indian restaurant, Stretova 10 , Praha 2. Metro station Museum, Tram 11, www.tajmahal.cz where I had usual veggie curry/byrianee & no naan etc but had kulfi for pudding.
Meat curry etc also available.
English-speaking (as well as 4 other languages) waiter understood about CD & gluten after I explained & he checked with kitchen.
FX Cafe IP Pavlova Belehradska 120 which is vegetarian but the hot meals could not be guaranteed gluten free by the English-speaking waitress so I had large mixed salad with chick peas, Edam cheese & hard boiled eggs with olive oil and fresh lemon slices brought to table for me to use as dressing plus hot plain boiled rice .
Elsewhere I just had for main course mixed salad (dressing was apple or wine vinegar brought to table) and eg Buffalo cheese (which was like Feta) or Edam & I ate my rice cakes with it. Also went to Pakistani Restaurant (not sure where) & had sort of veggie byrianee with various vegetarian GF dishes - dhal, bindi etc. The veggie meal was good but meat one was not.
We found Country Life restaurant (as on Czech CD website- coeliac.cz/en/ ) but it closes at 5 pm & we arrived later so couldn’t eat there.
The next time I think it would be best self-catering- taking GF rolls & rice/oatcakes- the supermarkets seem to have most ordinary things you would expect in a small one here but no gluten free at all that I could see.
The Czech CD website has info re buying GF in Prague but I didn't need it.
Some hotels seem to have self-catering as well as usual rooms and Easy Jet advertise Praguer.com (Peter or Kate) on 00420) 608 200 912 for apartments.
There is a Tesco at Narodni Trida Metro, upstairs is like a department store but there is a food part in the basement, it was so crowded we didn’t go in so don’t know what that is like.
Lots of beers there, of course, but vino by the glass was always good, nice to sit outside a bar & watch the world go by.
Guides Lonely Planet & Globetrotter with separate map (Messenger & Lee) were useful. Also hotels have good leaflet ‘Through Prague’ showing transport routes & ticket information.
The effects of August 2002 floods are not evident and the section of Metro affected re-opened in January 2003.
I took a phrase book with my veggie and GF translations glued into it everywhere but usually English-speaking waiting staff understood after I explained in English (but watch out as eg soy sauce may be used in stir fry dishes which may not then be GF).
Great city, wonderful atmosphere, reasonable prices.
Had great time in Prague, weather hot and sunny, architecture and art galleries/museums remarkable.
We had runabout tickets (available for the excellent public transport system - tram, Metro, buses 1/or 3/ or 7 days at hotel or ticket machines, validate ticket by date stamp once -on first journey).
If you want a taxi (eg for airport with heavy luggage) ask hotel reception to book it for you & you pay them & get token to give taxi driver.
Took rice cakes, DS sweet breakfast rolls (eaten straight from bag, did not need refreshing, kept well), Nairns rough oatcakes, M&S individual mini hard cheeses, DS vanilla wafers, Bakers Delight individually sealed ginger cakes, Glutano choc break bars and long life soy desserts as well as own small jar of Marmite and Marmite Walkers crisps.
All eaten for packed lunches or breakfast/snacks.
Took travel kettle in case I needed GF pot meal but this wasn't necessary -however it was invaluable for tea-making after all that walking (there was no kettle provided in hotel room for hot drinks).
Saw Prague castle (really a whole small town of different buildings/museums with gardens on the hillside), Old Town, Square, Museum of Decorative Arts (view of Jewish Cemetery from windows), Toy Museum (with special Barbie Doll exhibition, didn’t know she was originally Czech), Mucha Gallery, River Vltava trip, Charles Bridge (by day & night) and The Museum of Communism, where, in the Interrogation Room, even the black cup and saucer looks sinister and the unanswered telephone rings....
There is so much more to see and do in Prague (concerts, theatre, puppet shows, more buildings) we have already decided to go back.
May and September are said to be best months , certainly early May 2003 was hot & sunny, more like a good English Summer than Spring.
We went with Easy Jet (booked on internet) so I had my own food for the flights as no meals are provided.
Originally our B&B Hotel was Apollo (through Easy Jet site, also booked on internet) but due to mix up on their part we were upgraded (with free taxi and bottle of Czech champagne) to Mucha (4 stars) which had posh en suite and TV with CNN etc & was closer to the centre.
Reception people at hotel all spoke good English (as did many people in Prague centre bars/restaurants/ museums etc) but nobody knew what Coeliac Disease or gluten free was and I didn‘t see even rice cakes in the supermarkets. I was told I could have an omelette for evening meal in hotel, with salad or plain vegetables but, as their ‘ordinary’ food didn’t seem so great we only had breakfast there.
Breakfast was OK-buffet style - including (tinned) fruit salad, (not very nice but drinkable) fruit juices, real coffee, individual wrapped butter, jam, honey, so I took in my own rice/oat cakes & sweet rolls & used my Marmite & their butter & honey etc. For breakfast there were also cold hard boiled eggs in shells so these were sometimes appropriated for picnic lunch. What looked like cold cooked bacon was on offer & also thin slices of Edam-type cheese.
Czech plain & fruit yogurts were also available & said to be good by the non-coeliac in the party but I was unsure re gluten status so abstained.
I ate out vegetarian GF every night & never had bad reaction.
Places were:
Taj Mahal Indian restaurant, Stretova 10 , Praha 2. Metro station Museum, Tram 11, www.tajmahal.cz where I had usual veggie curry/byrianee & no naan etc but had kulfi for pudding.
Meat curry etc also available.
English-speaking (as well as 4 other languages) waiter understood about CD & gluten after I explained & he checked with kitchen.
FX Cafe IP Pavlova Belehradska 120 which is vegetarian but the hot meals could not be guaranteed gluten free by the English-speaking waitress so I had large mixed salad with chick peas, Edam cheese & hard boiled eggs with olive oil and fresh lemon slices brought to table for me to use as dressing plus hot plain boiled rice .
Elsewhere I just had for main course mixed salad (dressing was apple or wine vinegar brought to table) and eg Buffalo cheese (which was like Feta) or Edam & I ate my rice cakes with it. Also went to Pakistani Restaurant (not sure where) & had sort of veggie byrianee with various vegetarian GF dishes - dhal, bindi etc. The veggie meal was good but meat one was not.
We found Country Life restaurant (as on Czech CD website- coeliac.cz/en/ ) but it closes at 5 pm & we arrived later so couldn’t eat there.
The next time I think it would be best self-catering- taking GF rolls & rice/oatcakes- the supermarkets seem to have most ordinary things you would expect in a small one here but no gluten free at all that I could see.
The Czech CD website has info re buying GF in Prague but I didn't need it.
Some hotels seem to have self-catering as well as usual rooms and Easy Jet advertise Praguer.com (Peter or Kate) on 00420) 608 200 912 for apartments.
There is a Tesco at Narodni Trida Metro, upstairs is like a department store but there is a food part in the basement, it was so crowded we didn’t go in so don’t know what that is like.
Lots of beers there, of course, but vino by the glass was always good, nice to sit outside a bar & watch the world go by.
Guides Lonely Planet & Globetrotter with separate map (Messenger & Lee) were useful. Also hotels have good leaflet ‘Through Prague’ showing transport routes & ticket information.
The effects of August 2002 floods are not evident and the section of Metro affected re-opened in January 2003.
I took a phrase book with my veggie and GF translations glued into it everywhere but usually English-speaking waiting staff understood after I explained in English (but watch out as eg soy sauce may be used in stir fry dishes which may not then be GF).
Great city, wonderful atmosphere, reasonable prices.