Oh, we know, we haven't posted much in the past month or so - this is the high season, which means we have had very little time for anything else but the tours. Anyway, we do have a last-minute tip for travelers who plan to visit Prague this weekend. They involve two of our favorite things: eating and shopping...
Dny Marianne (The Marianne Days)
If you want to shop for fashion or home accessories, you can take advantage of the Marianne Days from Friday, September 7, to Sunday, September 9. What's it all about? Well, it's easy: you buy either the Marianne (fashion and food) magazine, or the Marianne bydleni (home accessories and furniture) magazine and tear out the discount vouchers that are included in there. You'll probably throw away the rest because both these magazines are in Czech only. However, the deal is quite sweet - the magazines cost CZK 65 (EUR 2.5), but you get great discounts for everything from fashion to food to personal care services (massages, cosmetic treatment etc.).
Here's what we recommend (in addition to the global brands like Nike, Adidas, H&M, Guess, Cocinelle etc.):
Ambiente group: The awesome restaurant group (which includes everything from our favorites Cestr, Lokal, PastaCafe, PastaNuova etc.) offers a 20% discount for your bill. Does not apply to the La Degustation Boheme Bourgeois (obviously).
Lavmi: The manufacturer of quirky stationery, wallpapers and home accessories offer a 25% discount on everything.
Potten and Pannen: The seller of higher-end cookware (with brands like Rosenthal, Zwilling knifes, Emile Henry dishes, Kitchen Aid appliances etc.) offers a 25% discount on everything.
Gabina Paralova: Czech fasion designer offers a 25% discount on everything.
Gobi Kasmir: The Czech manufacturer of cashmere sweaters and clothes offers a a 25% discount on everything.
JK Jitka Kudlackova Jewels: The Czech jewelry designer offers a 25% discount on all its products.
Alright, you've done all the shopping and you're hungry. What do you do now? Don't worry - the Marianne Days event coincides with two other events that focus on food - the Foodparade and the Mediterranean Festival at the Kampa park (near the Charles Bridge).
Foodparade(on Satudray and Sunday only)
If you want to venture out of the centre, head over to the beautiful Troja chateau near the Prague ZOO. Although not every restaurants represented at the Foodparade is worthy of our recommendation, there is still a lot to choose from, for instance the butter prawns and sticky toffee pudding by Le Patio, some meat by Maneska, something from Mozaika, great coffee by Doubleshot, pastries by St Tropez patisserie, Czech cider, and much more....
There are two ways to get to the Troja Chateau:
1. The easy and fast way: buy a CZK 32 ticket, take the subway to the Nadrazi Holesovice stop (red line). From there, take the 112 bus, which will take you directly to the ZOO and Troja chateau (it's the last stop of the bus line, takes about 9 minutes to get there from the subway stop).
2. The relaxed, beautiful way: Get to the Nadrazi Holesovice stop, hop in any tram in the direction to the right from the station, and get to the Vystaviste Holesovice stop (it's just one stop). From there, it's less than an hour to get to the zoo through a lovely park across an island in the Vltava river with an equestrian centre. It's definitely worth it if the weather is nice (as it should be). Here's a map:
Show Getting to the zoo via the Stromovka park on a larger map
Mediterranean Market(from Friday to Sunday)
If you feel like staying in the centre, visit the Mediterranean Market at the Kampa park (click the header to visit the site). Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Charles Bridge, the small market will offer lots of Mediterranean tastes and music. We recommend croissants and baguettes by Petite France, cheeses by Fransyr or Cheesy, sausages by Very Good Saucissons, and others. If the weather is nice, get some grub for a picnic in the nearby park!
Enjoy!