Eating and Drinking Your Way Through the City Of Prague

Crazes and fads come and go but the food is something that is directly attached to a culture's history. In fact, food is often what defines an entire culture.

The city itself is beautiful, with old meeting new in an array of amazing architecture and design. Like every global city, you will always find something familiar to tickle your taste buds. If it something like pizza or McDonald's you are after then you will find it. Over the past few decades the city of Prague has seen more western influence than it did during the Cold War. Although western culture was initially seen as a sign of progression and freedom, there is still a strong Czech culture which is unique in every respect. More recently, the Czech culture has become cool again.

Even though you will be able to find western-style food in Prague, the point of a holiday is to try something new and the best way to do this is to get immersed in the culture is through your stomach. If you are looking to lose weight, then Prague is not the place for you. One thing about the locals is that they love their meat and vegetarians are looked at with strangely. In fact, the idea of a plate of vegetables stops with a side order of potato. This, of course, is traditional Czech cuisine. With the influx of tourists the restaurants and pubs have had to alter their offerings slightly and now offer their patrons a healthier alternative to just meat.

As far as the pubs and bars go, this is also a big part of the Czech culture. They are by no means raging alcoholics, but the average Czech enjoys one or two after dinner. Spirits are not dirt-cheap, so if you are on a tighter budget then you could stick to beer. Czech beer is quite good and complements Czech cuisine really well.

If you stay in a hotel you will find the menus to be quite like hotels in other global cities maybe with a slight Czech influence. If, however, you wish to stay in a self-catering apartment then you can take the opportunity to try out your own version of a Prague menu. The markets are vibrant and you will pick up fresh ingredients and meats to cook at your leisure. You can also pick up a bottle of wine or a pack of beers and this should complement your meal. After dinner you can head down to one of the pubs. Although you will find Irish and American style bars, you should rather go and hang out with the locals in a local style pub. The locals are friendly and you will gain a lot more out of your holiday this way.