← All articles · Czechia · 21 March 2015

Prague

Prague in March 2015: chocolate-filled trdelnik by the Old Town, a witch outside a marionette shop, and a serious tasting dinner plated like art.

Prague in March 2015 sorted itself into small rituals: pastry on the street, puppets in doorways, and one properly serious dinner to close it out.

Street level

You smell the trdelnik stands before you see them. The cake comes off a rotating spit, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and if you have any sense you ask for the chocolate inside.

Inga smiling with a chocolate-filled trdelnik chimney cake wrapped in a napkin on a Prague street, arched stone facades behind — A chocolate-filled trdelnik, still warm. It did not survive the next five minutes.

Inga standing beside a life-size witch marionette in the arched doorway of a Prague puppet shop with a Loutky Marionettes sign — Making a friend outside a marionette shop. The sign promises everything is handmade by Czech craftsmen; the witch declined to comment.

The serious dinner

One night we swapped street food for a tasting menu, the kind of room where the plates arrive looking too composed to eat. We ate them anyway.

A sculpted white bowl holding a fine dining course scattered with orange roe, golden crumb and tiny herb leaves — Orange roe, golden crumb, herbs placed with tweezers. You photograph it first. Everyone does.

Two glazed cubes of braised beef in dark sauce beside a sweep of puree, crumbs and pea shoots on a white plate — Two perfect cubes of braised beef. Conversation paused for a while.

Dileep in a striped shirt lifting a fork over a plated tasting course in a smart Prague restaurant — Dileep taking the assignment seriously.

Prague also handed us the day trip we still talk about: the bone church and miners' cathedral of Kutná Hora, an hour to the east.

More from March 2015: the rest of the camera roll

The same March 2015 trip, the bigger cameras. Between the pastry and the tasting menu we did the full circuit: bridge, castle, clock, church, and a couple of experiments in Czech liquid culture.

Inga touching the polished bronze relief on the plinth of the St John of Nepomuk statue on Charles Bridge, the Vltava river and red roofs behind — Rubbing the bronze plaque under St John of Nepomuk on Charles Bridge. A million hands before ours had already polished it to gold.

The south face of St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle with its clock tower, golden window grille and gilded Last Judgment mosaic — St Vitus Cathedral from the castle courtyard, all spires, gold and a mosaic Last Judgment catching the sun. Necks were craned.

Inga and Dileep on the castle terrace above the red tiled rooftops of Prague, church domes and towers fading into haze behind — The terrace below the castle, with all of Prague behind us: red tiles, green domes, haze to the horizon.

The medieval astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall in Prague, two ornate dials stacked on the stone tower with figures either side — The astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall: two dials, a crowd of saints and zodiac signs, and a very patient crowd of humans below.

The Infant Jesus of Prague statue in a purple and gold embroidered mantle and crown, framed by a gilded baroque altar — The Infant Jesus of Prague in purple and gold, comfortably the best dressed resident of the city.

Inga and Dileep in front of the Franz Kafka memorial in Prague, a bronze figure of Kafka riding on the shoulders of an empty suit — Franz Kafka riding an empty suit, which after a couple of his books feels entirely reasonable.

The National Museum in Prague floodlit at night above Wenceslas Square, a large portrait banner of Vaclav Havel hung over the entrance — The National Museum floodlit over Wenceslas Square, with Vaclav Havel watching from the banner above the doors.

A cobbled Old Town street in Prague between ornate facades, with sandwich boards advertising Mozart and classical concerts — In the Old Town every second doorway sells you a concert. The sandwich boards promised Mozart and music in the Clementinum.

A soprano in a purple dress singing with string players under the frescoed vault and organ of the Mirror Chapel in the Clementinum, Prague — So we bought the tickets: strings, a soprano in purple, and the frescoed ceiling of the Clementinum chapel to stare into.

Inga and Dileep in two oak hot tubs in a brick-walled beer spa, each tub with its own pair of beer taps and full glasses — The beer spa: two oak tubs, brick walls, and a personal pair of taps within reach of each tub. Science has no notes.

A Czech pub starter on a wooden board: a preserving jar of pate under a layer of fat, bread slices, pickled cabbage slaw and mustard — A starter served in a preserving jar under its own layer of fat, with bread, pickled cabbage and mustard. It did not last.

Dileep drinking from an enormous balloon wine glass by candlelight in a cosy Prague tavern — And to finish, a wine glass roughly the size of a goldfish bowl. Dileep rose to the occasion.

Inga in front of a glass case holding shelves of skulls at a museum in Prague — Our last day, 21 March 2015: one more wall of skulls, this time at a museum in Prague. The city has a theme.