• Černá Madonna
  • The Black Madonna is a café/restaurant with an Art Deco, mid century modern interior. Right below the Grand Orient Café, while equally as charming, a little more crowded, probably because it’s on the ground level, and just off the Old Town Square. I came here with a sweet tooth and ordered crepes with plum jam and sambuka (holy moly that is some strong liquor, my 1st sip was eye watering lol.)
  • The one cultural difference between the states and Europe I’m still getting used to is paying for tap water in resturants. As I metioned above, I ordered sweet crepes and sambuka, so you know I’m gunna need some WATER. I reluctantly ordered a glass, and I literally watched my waiter grab a small glass, turn on the faucet, and continue to pour me a glass of tap water, fully knowing that it would appear on my bill.
• Al Karim
  • Indian restaurant two blocks away from the J building. You have to follow arrows to a basement, definitely a little spooky, but once you enter, there is a small buffet that changes everyday. You pay by weight, admittedly I don’t know how much per what they charge, but I got a tray with rice, naan, curried vegetables, and chicken tikka masala for about $5. Not really much to write about atmosphere, a little cavernous, seeing that we are in a basement. The food is good, really tastes like someone’s Grama is back there cooking it. Great spot for low key comfort food! Naan could be better and the food gets cold quickly, probably because of the metal trays.
• Bistro 8
  • Located in Praha 7, the newly acclaimed hipster part of town, Bistro 8 is a cozy and hip place to have a chill solo lunch, or to bring parties of 3 max. Katka, my Czech teacher introduced us to this spot as one of her favorite cafés. It’s very rustic/modern chic. White tiles with white, black color lock walls, few green plants (which I see a lot actually, I think Prague in general is really down with plants) and classic rock playing in the background definitely attest to the neighborhoods hipster vibe. I ordered a raspberry lemonade and breakfast BLT, before even eating, beautiful. Tastes even beautiful-er (a word? It should be.) Definitely one of the best things I’ve had in Prague so far.
  • You’ll notice in the picture below, Bistro 8 has water pitchers at each table! I love not paying for tap water!

• Comebuy
  • Comebuy is a cute bubble tea place located right next to the J Building. If you plan to come often enough (I sure as hell do) pick up a stamp card, after your 10th visit, you can claim 1 free drink, up to 109 Kc of course. Casual atmoshpere, like anyother bubble tea spot, however they do not offer any food items, but have an extensive selection of bubbles, jellies and puddings you can add to customize your tea.
  • The people who work here are very nice, honestly though, it reminds me of how pathetic it is to only know one language. While I waited for my tea, I heard the cashier speak English, Czech, and Vietnamese, with three different customers, whithin the span of 10 minutes! As I travel around Prague, I’m sure I’ll see this in the other countries I visit, I lowkey get more envious of people who are able to speak more than one language fluently! It’s absolutly facinating and extremly impressive and helpful.
• Lokál
  • I believe Lokál is a chain, but like, not a crap american chain. What im trying to say is that though there are multiple location in Prague, Lokal uses local ingrediants and you can definantly taste the difference . I went to the location at Douhááá, which I guess is the “longest” location it’s the span of one block. You walk into the bar and have to walk straight in (like you know what your doing *confidence is key*) and wait to be seated. I dined alone, so I was sat at a community table. Lokál is large party friendly, in fact I’m sure it’s a better experience with more people. I ordered the beef cheek goulash and a Pilsner, and it came very quickly. I’ve only had goulash and dumplings once before on this trip and wasn’t impressed, but holy moly I was really happy with this serving. Though not traditional Czech, but typical Czech, I think goulash is Hungarian in origin, but I digress. Halfway through my meal one of the waiters asked me if like more sauce, like I’d say no, I didn’t even know that was an option! Great open atmoshpere, but again, better in a group.
• Havelská Koruna
  • Buffet style dinning, once you walk in someone hands you a ticket, which is then used the fill out what you order. There is a station for salads and breads, soups and entrees. I ordered (Fried cheese, tasted like a dryer mozzarella stick) beef goulash, potatoes, and of course a Pilsner. It’s an inexpensive restaurant, I paid around $10 USD for my meal. No real ambiance, I’d say it’s a place for a good, cheap meal.
• The Saturday Farmers Market
  • The Saturday farmers market is, you guessed it, every Saturday! Kinda like a mini Smorgasberg (a food festival) a walk-way along the river is crowded with food vendors selling sweets, coffees, fresh produce and meats, mulled wines, beers, and savory food.

As I move forward with this whole food blog thing, I find myself slowly becoming the thing I loath: a person who takes pictures of their food before eating it. 

Well if you couldn’t tell by now, this is my 1st blog, and I’m still getting used to the whole responsibility of blogging and coming up with things to blog about.

That being said, I’m going to try to narrow my general topic to something that interests me, and would probably be useful to everyone going into this program. FOOD😋

Since I’ve been in Prague, I’ve been documenting my meals and where I’ve gone, noting things like atmosphere and pricing etc.

Let’s see how this goes…

Maley Buddha- Near the dorms, good Asian fusion restaurant. As far as atmosphere goes, it was very dark, and almost cavernous, but in the best way? I’d highly suggest for a nice dinner, without having to go to far!

Mistral Cafe- Modern atmosphere decent food and prices. I had a spaghetti with red sauce, spinach and a caramelized goat cheese with a glass white wine. It is right across the street from the main building and a great place for a date or to bring visiting friends.

Pho 24- ok so you can’t really find this place on the map, intersection of Vodičkova and Školská, looks like a small bubble tea spot but there is a great restaurant downstairs

Bohemian Bistro- a little out of the way, but a super cute bistro, had a salad with smoked salmon and a poached egg, yummy!

Grand Orient Cafe- oh my god, beyond adorable, low-key great gatsby vibes, I went for coffee and a dessert, but they have a nice breakfast/brunch menu.

One con: cash only 😕

McDonalds- I mean, McDonalds, I think it was cheaper than at home. I got a small Big Mac meal. Lol small actually means small here, not “American small” which is still big.

Kampus Hybernská- super fricken cute, kinda hidden, in affliction with the college, so my wifi connects automatically . Nice sandwiches, coffee, ice cream etc. One con: cash only 😕

KFC- honestly, slaps. Minority differ from American kfc, I didn’t see the usual sides like coleslaw, mash potatoes, or Mac and cheese. More just sandwiches, fingers, and wings.

Origami- Asian fusion restaurant around the corner from the dancing house. Casual atmosphere. I had sushi for the 1st time (in the Prague) here, sad to say under whelming, even sadder to say that avocados, are just not good in Prague 😫

Šlágr- 1st impression, before even getting anything, absolutely adorable, quaint, cute, 1920’s vibe. Gives me Cafe Lalo vibes. Got some chocolate ball, super yummy. We all sat for dessert, but they have a small menu, breakfast mainly quick lunches. Cute place to study.One con: Cash only 😕

Ahh, it’s been a little over a week since my 1st blog post, not going to fall behind on these before classes even start!!

So we are I guess, half way through orientation week, here is a quick synopsis of my 1st week in Prague!

I will be doing this post in 2 parts, mainly because I found myself writing way too much, and then this way i wont feel so behind with my posts 🙂

Sat 25

I began my journey to the Czech Republic, starting with a nearly 7 hour flight to Lisbon, Portugal from Newark, New Jersey. 

This would be my 1st international flight ALONE, however, I was able to get incontact with another ESCES student taking the exact same flights as me! We met at the gate, and quickly became friends! It soon became to board, though SAD we didn’t share an issle, we wished each other a good flight and went on our way!

 All in all, a pretty easy flight, nothing much to report other than TAP Portugal has a pretty decent in-flight dinner, and a good collection of movies to choose from to help the time go by quicker, (I highly recommend the movie “ Yesterday”)

Sun 26

We land in Lisbon, we have an hour to go through customs and find out gate, fortunately this is our only layover. We heard horror stories from other students we spoke to in the Lisbon customs line about missed flights, multiple layovers, cancelled and rescheduled flights, you name it!

The Lisbon to Prague flight was a little less than 2 hours, I slept from the time we were in the sky, until it was time to descend. 

We disembark, head towards the luggage carousel (the trolleys are free!), and search for customs, in doing so, we accidentally end up outside. I guess there is no check point between arriving european flights? 

Unbenounced to us, we arrange for a car to pick us up, using the ever popular, American car service…. Fuber. Apparently it’s illegal here, oops. 

Two things, he picked us up at the departing flights area, how do you pick up a passenger on a departing flight,  and then have a problem with us having luggage, as he picked us up from an international airport. Needless to say he was having the time of his life, trying to explain to two american college students, why he really doesn’t want luggage in the passenger seats.

My new friend and I spent the afternoon unpacking and napping, around 5, we walked around our new neighborhood in search of a cute place to have dinner, we came upon Malý Buddha, an asian fusion restaurant about a 5 minute walk from the dorms. 

It has a real spooky interior, it feels kind of cavernous and seance-y in all the best ways. 

Mon 27

Having arrived earlier than most of the other students, I didn’t have a roommate until Monday morning, and to my surprise, it was another girl from my home university. 

I really didn’t do much other than sleep and unpack, until it was time for the Meet and Greet at a local café. 

After my 1st Czech meal, Goulash and dumplings with a pint of Pilsner, a group and I wander towards the tram stop, we ride the number 22 tram, 5 stops to Malostranské náměstí and meander the dark streets, until we wind up on Charles Bridge. 

I instantly recognize the bridge’s many statues and tall tower, by this time, it was around 7:30, the bridge wasn’t as crowded as it would be around noon, and the views were spectacular. The lamps created shadows and highlights on each stone statue, and the city lights reflecting off the water created a bright glow around the bridge.

So it’s a week until I start my travels with a nearly 7 hour flight from Newark to Lisbon, an hour layover, and then a 3 and a half hour flight to my final destination, Prague! 

However this isn’t my 1st study abroad experience, the summer of my junior year of high school, a friend and I spent a month in Florence, Italy where we studied at the Florence University of the Arts. 

I took classes like ‘Food and Culture’ and ‘Italian Language’, while seemingly impractical or even a ‘waste of credits’, the time I spent in Italy, immersed in the sights, sounds, and smells were what inspired me to do it all over again. But this time in a new location, with a new language, and new game plan. 

So the reason why we love visa problems (and of course I’m speaking sarcastically) is because visa problems keep you on your toes. It’s not bad enough that I have butterflies about the flight, or that I’m fully realizing that 6 months is a really long time, but complications with a visa application leave you wondering: maybe it was misplaced, maybe they don’t want me in the Czech Republic, they probably think I’m some sort of international spy, or worse, an international student who’s already paid tuition and airfare, trying to study in their country and gain a once in a lifetime experience. 😱

Again it’s week before I embark on a journey that will have a powerful impact on who I am as a new adult and shape the rest of my LIFE,I still don’t have my freaking visa. I know I’ll get it in time, I know everything will work out and be just fine, but there is always a small voice that mocks “but what if it doesn’t.” 

This stupid, small voice in my head is eating me alive, as the days count down, as more and more thing get packed up into luggage, as I say my final fair-wells to family and friends I won’t see until the summer.

Visa problems allows your imagination run wild with all the plausible reasons your visa is taking So. Damn. Long. 

So my 1st blog post was a rant, great 

I was fortunate to have a pretty smooth pre-departure process. I think I could say I started my whole study abroad process my freshman year, and I’m finally going my Junior year! What I mean by that is I began looking into studying abroad as soon as I got admitted into college, before i could even figure out a major, I knew that I would be spending time to study overseas. It was too often that I had heard from family and friends, that their biggest regret in college, was not studying abroad, and I was set on not making it one of mine.

To be honest, prior to considering the Czech Republic as one of my study options, I hadn’t heard too much about it. All I knew was that it is a small, central european country formerly known as Czhekoslovakia. However, the alluring mystery of not being entirely familiar with the Czech Republic (in my mind) was guaranteed to provide me with the perfect new living experience. I would be able to stray from the beaten path and create my own journey, and in doing so, discover a country once unfamiliar to me.

With my mind set on studying in the capital city of Prague, I began the pre-departure process. Luckily, SUNY New Paltz provided me with an efficient and organized platform/database for me to submit all necessary paperwork, gather documents, and keep in contact with my advisor. I was also fortunate to have an advisor who, years prior, had studied at Charles University through the same study abroad program and was able to give me advice, and insight on studying in the Czech Republic. 

The most stressful part of the pre-departure process is definitely the waiting. Waiting for email responses, waiting for your passport to be ready, waiting to register for classes, sometimes, there are moments where there is nothing left to do but wait! Currently I’m waiting for my visa, I know I don’t leave for another month, but being patient is so hard! Especially when all your excitement for months, has been all balled up and ready to explode because I leave in a month!

Oh man, it’s crazy to type all that out, reflecting on my pre-departure process, I can say I’m happy with my decision to study in Prague. I am eager and look forward to meeting new people, tasting new foods, and living in an entirely new country! 

See ya soon!

Sam Duer