Gridskipper : Prague

We last rounded up grassroots Google Mapping courtesy of the then-new My Maps back at the end of April, when citizen efforts were still pretty thin on the ground. Since then, we've launched our own map-crazed format, and others have followed suit. User-generated maps have exploded, increasing dramatically in...  

One of Prague's most popular expat hives, Fraktal Bar Restaurace in Letna serves authentic Czech cuisine such as the "breakfast enchilada." (They were also one of the first establishments to go along with the smoking ban.) However, if there's one thing every traveler has time to test, it's the quality of the...  

Famously frequented by the likes of Albert Einstein and Franz Kafka, Prague's Cafe Louvre was shut down when the city was run by commies. It's flourishing once again, though its brightened interior seems weirdly jarring for such a Czech institution. The food is nothing special, mixing general cafe classics...  

Prague is a largely unsung capital of new-wave hotel design, especially when it comes to the European minimalism so popular throughout the Continent. Though they have their share of such properties, the Czechs also revere several modern hotels installed in centuries-old historic buildings -- especially...  

The first post on this English-language blog about Prague dining concerns a Greek deli, and it contains this photo of marinated octopus. I have never advocated the consumption of tentacles, and I'm not about to start now, but I felt the photo was worth sharing. Perhaps as a cautionary measure. I mean,...  

Prague gets a good broadside writeup in this week's "36 Hours" column for the New York Times, particularly notable for the newish venues described therein. One of these is the Blind Eye bar in Zizkov, a speakeasy gone legit. Their specialty cocktail -- "20 ounces of vodka, gin, tequila and white rum" -- has...  

Berlin, Kiev, Phnom Penh, Krakow and Belgrade have all laid claim as the "next Prague." But Prague isn't fading into obsolescence yet. As far as Prague's concerned, the rest are just poseurs. Prague is the old Prague. Prague is the now Prague and Prague is the new Prague. In fact, right now, the arts and...  

In this week's NYT travel section Stuart Emmrich visits Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. He writes, "[A]fter a few days in this city, you notice that Phnom Penh has something of a "next Prague" vibe about it -- a place where many young people from around the world, heady with excitement and the thrill of the...  

Forbes came out with their list of the best new bid'ness hotels for 2006 last week, and there were some surprises. Actually, that's a lie. Few things about business hotels are surprising, unless you count the inclusion the James Hotel in Chicago on the list, as business travelers are undoubtedly huge fans of...  

Prague. The people are gorgeous, the buildings are amazing, and the exchange rate lets you live like royalty. Example: on the West side of Wenceslas Square there's this way upscale Asian fusion restaurant named Hot. They've got a quite comfortable patio, while the inside is this expansive, modernistic room....  

It's nice to know cockrings and breast clamps are nothing new, kind of. Prague's Sex Machine Museum is stuffed with the iron, steel, latex, wood, copper gizmos our species have felt the need to attach to their erogenous zones. My personal favorite is the hand operated vibrator from early 20th century...  

Such a thoughtful soul as Franz Kafka surely would be chuffed by such a well-executed map of his life by Czech photog Jan Jindra. The project, entitled Journeys of Franz Kafka charts Prague's greatest son's life from moment of birth to moment of death. Included with each site are beautiful b&w Kafka-esque...  

You'd think people might get sick of subjecting Prague to the rampant paronomasia of for which it begs (Czech you later; Czech please, It's A Prague-ative, Prague Rock), but in a recent Telegraph article, Prague becomes the regal "Bohemian Rhapsody" (a pun much used over the years). The article is worth...  

If you could find a good hiding spot (behind a banquet or underneath a table) chances are you'd never have to leave Prague's Radost F/X. During the day, Cafe Radost F/X has some of the best brunch in town and certainly vies for best vegetarian in the former Eastern Bloc. A menu of waffles, salads, homemade...  

Prague's Hotel Neruda is a happy midpoint between Hotel Josef's ubermodern design and the blandish Four Seasons. As noted in a recent Telegraph article, the hotel is housed in a "converted convent that dates from 1348" The 20 room hotel will be doubling in size by March 2007 but hopefully will retain its...  

Each week, a panoply of comments are strewn about our site like so many pieces of driftwood on a sandy beach. And just like driftwood, these mundane strings of words are rendered beautiful through their rough-and-tumble journey through cyberspace. On Fridays, Gridskipper likes to collect these small things...  

The Prague Post recently ran an interesting article on the hard-life of Prague's chefs. Though the city is a bit of a culinary "backwater" (indeed, one chef prefers to travel to London than sample his colleagues' cuisines) due to decades of Communist gruel, there are a few gems. And from whom better to take...