Thursday, July 28, 2011

CZECH REPUBLIC

(does not include Prague)

BOHEMIA (includes Adršpach, Broumovsko & Český Krumlov)
Bars & Nightclubs
Barborska Cocktail Bar – 35 Barborska (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-605-039-697; barborska.wz.cz; more 20th than 16th Century; back patio, under thatched bamboo cover, draws young crowd on weekends; choice cocktails, from classics like mai tai to Czech-influenced originals, like Kondelnik (spiced rum, pineapple, citrus fruits, and nutmeg).

Hotels
Hotel Opat – 138 Husova (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-327-536-900; hotelopat.cz; modern amenities and comfort in historic building from Middle Ages.
Hotel Ruze – 154 Horni (Český Krumlov); 011-385-380-772-100; hotelruze.cz; city itself is UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hotel U Hrncire – 24 Barborska (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-327-512-113; hoteluhrncire.cz; modest small rooms above popular restaurant; rooms include breakfast.

Restaurants
Dacicky – 8 Rakova (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-327-512-248; dacicky.com; delicious takes on traditional food; named for town’s most famous womanizer; try game meatloaf or wild boar goulash with gingerbread dumplings (both hearty and unexpectedly subtle); medieval style: long wooden tables surrounded by fantastical woodcarvings of jesters and knights, chandelier made of wooden mermaids.
U Hrncire – 24 Barborska (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-327-512-113; hoteluhrncire.cz; popular, traditional restaurant, where you can enjoy Czech dishes with names like Devil’s Secret and Mr. Ladja’s Meat of 3 Colors on veranda overlooking wooded vista.
V Ruthardce – 15 Dacickeho Square (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-739-013-510; v-ruthardce.cz; romantic view from courtyard; famous for “mead.

Sights & Sites
Adršpach-Teplice Rocks – Broumovsko (near Adršpach & Teplice nad Metují); 011-385-420-491-586-012 (Information, Townhall Adršpach); skaly-adrspach.cz/en; unusual sandstone formations covering 17 km².
Central Bohemian Gallery (GASK) – 51-53 Barborska (Kutna Hora); 011-385-420-725-607-388; gask.cz; in former Jesuit College; 20th Century central and eastern European avant-garde art; artists like Frantisek Kupka and Milan Knizak; pieces include Organ Grinder, stirring Cubist painting by Czech artist and writer Josef Capek, who invented word “robot,” introduced into literature by his more famous brother, Karel.
Český Krumlov – ckrumlov.info/docs/en/kaktualita.xml; castle & town construction begun in late 13th Century at ford in Vltava River; UNESCO World Heritage site; notable sites include Český Krumlov Castle, Church of St. Vitus (Kostel Sv. Víta), Gothic church dating back to 15th Century with frescoes from same period; has museum dedicated to painter Egon Schiele, who lived here; about 6 miles from Krumlov is one of Bohemia’s oldest monasteries, Zlatá Koruna, and about 19 miles away is Hluboka Castle; close to Šumava National Park, Czech Republic’s largest national park.



MORAVIA (includes Brno, Kromeriz, Lednice-Valtice, Ostrava & Mikulov)
Brno
Bakeries, Coffee, Ice Cream, Juice & Teas
Avia Cafe – 590/1 Botanicka (in Czechoslovak Hussite church’s cellar); 011-385-420-739-822-215; aviacafe.cz; coffee.
Zemanova Kavarna – 6 Jezuitska; 011-385-420-542-218-096; coffeehouse designed by Josef Kranz in 1927-1929; blood-red floors and deep azure walls; drunkenly swerving staircase; beautiful wooden deck outside under sprawling chestnut trees.
Bars & Nightclubs
Zemanova Kavarna – 6 Jezuitska; 011-385-420-542-218-096; coffeehouse designed by Josef Kranz in 1927-1929; beautiful wooden deck outside under sprawling chestnut trees; upstairs lounge and downstairs barroom.
Hotels
Avion Hotel – 150/20 Ceska; 011-385-420-542-215-280; avion-hotel.cz; not great; 9-story modernist building designed by architect Bohuslav Fuchs, who designed many of Brno’s charismatic modernist buildings.
Restaurants
Avia Cafe – 590/1 Botanicka (in Czechoslovak Hussite church’s cellar); 011-385-420-739-822-215; aviacafe.cz; Mediterranean food.
Zemanova Kavarna – 6 Jezuitska; 011-385-420-542-218-096; coffeehouse designed by Josef Kranz in 1927-1929; great food, hearty, plain, and simple.
Sights & Sites
Agudas Achim – 13 Skoepka; 011-385-420-544-509-651 (synagogue is open for visits by organised visitor groups upon prior appointment by phone); jewishbrno.eu; only operating Moravian synagogue; example functionalist architecture exterior (by architect Otto Eisler in 1934) belies classical interior.
Botanical Garden of Faculty of Science, Masaryk University – 2 Kotlarska; 011-385-420-549-497-772; sci.muni.cz/bot_zahr; outdoor collections include Linne system sample (unique in Czech Republic); greenhouse collections divide into tropical plants, ferns and cycads, palms, cactuses and succulents, pinguins, and orchids.
Czechoslovak Hussite Church – 590/1 Botanicka; 011-385-420-541-212-173; ccshbrno.cz; monolithic modernist structure built by Jan Visek in 1929.
MZLU Botanical Gardens & Arboretum – 1 Zemedelska; 011-385-420-545-131-111; arboretum.mendelu.cz/en; over 5K wood species taxons, 2K perennials and alpine plants, growing on more than 10 hectares; greenhouse area houses more than 2K orchid collection.
Villa Tugendhat – 237/45 Cernopolni; 011-385-420-515-511-015; tugendhat.eu/en; Mies van der Rohe’s 1930 masterpiece, recently restored.

Kromeriz
Hotels
Cerny Orel – 24 Velke Namesti; 011-385-420-5-7333-2769; cerny-orel.eu; name means “Black Eagle”; combination hotel and microbrewery.
Restaurants
Cerny Orel – 24 Velke Namesti; 011-385-420-5-7333-2769; cerny-orel.eu; name means “Black Eagle”; combination hotel and microbrewery; offers among best meals in Moravia; newly decorated.
Sights & Sites
Kromeriz Castle – 1 Snemovni Namesti; 011-385-5-7350-2011; zamek-kromeriz.cz; museum quality art collection (oil paintings), including works by Lucas Cranach’s (“Elder”) Beheading of John Baptist, Titian’s Flaying of Marsyas, and Jan van Kessel’s Still Life with Lemon.

Lednice-Valtice (includes Hlohovec u Breclavi)
Hotels
Hranicni Zamecek – 16 Hlohovec (Hlohovec u Breclavi); 011-385-420-5-1925-4354; hranicnizamecek.cz; overlooks lake between Lednice and Valtice, within walking distance of several “follies”; former Liechtenstein chateau; newer building is motel-like so make sure not to stay in rooms there.
Restaurants
Keltkska Restaurace Avalon – 46 Pricni (Valtice); 011-385-420-5-1935-2252; lovely neighborhood spot on small street that runs off main square’s right-hand side; Keltkska means “Celtic”; mostly usual chicken, pork, and steaks, albeit done with care and flavor; real draws here are tiny garden on warm night and in-house tearoom on chilly evening.
Sights & Sites
Januv Hrad – 1 Lock (Lednice); 011-385-420-5-1935-5134; januv-hrad.cz; faux castle ruin worth special trip; built for Prince Alois I von Liechtenstein.
Lednice Chateau – Zamek 1 (Lednice); 011-385-420-5-1934-0128; zamek-lednice.com; must-see if in area; dining room resplendent with blue-and-green silk wall coverings embossed with Moravian; grounds have 200’ minaret and massive greenhouse filled with exotic flora; make sure to see Temple of 3 Graces, somewhere on grounds.
Valtice Castle – 1 Zamek (Valtice); 011-385-420-5-1935-2423; jizni-morava.cz; dates back to 12th Century; houses Czech Republic National Wine Center; make sure to walk grounds and see Belvedere and Temple of Diana (also known as Rendezvous).

Mikulov
Hotels
Hotel Templ – 50 Husova; 011-385-420-5-1932-3095; templ.cz; charming guest rooms in beautifully restored building in former Jewish quarter.
Restaurants
Eat Art Gallery – 1 Kapucinska; 011-385-420-5-1951-2768; eatartgallery.eu; perfectly replicated English tearoom on little back street; surprisingly good meals, such as stewed chicken and vegetables with couscous; also, Czech classics.
Petit Cafe – 27 Namesti; 011-385-420-7-3337-8264; great crepes and local wines in cool, coffeehouse atmosphere off main square; try palacinky (crepe) and local wine, veltlinske zelene.
Sights & Sites
Mikulov Castle – 1 Namesti; 011-385-420-5-1951-0855; mikulov.cz; former Dietrichstein ancestral seat; dominates skyline.
Mikulov Regional Museum – 1 Zamek; 011-385-420-5-1930-9019; rmm.cz.

Ostrava
Bars & Nightclubs
Dublin Pub – 9 Stodolni; 011-420-73-111-2724; stodolni.cz/klub/Dublin.
Sights & Sites
Michal Mine – 95/413 Ceskoslovenske Armady; 011-420-5-9623-1160; dulmichal.cz; former mine now open for tours, with museum and art-installation area.
Stodolni Street – dozens of bars and restaurants.
Vitkovice Steel & Ironworks – 24/83 Ruska; 011-420-5-9595-2570; vitkovice.cz; industrial-era “castle,” with soaring towers and subtle Art Nouveau details; open for tours.



ŠPINDLERUV MLYN (where Czech author Franz Kafka lived when writing Castle (Das Schloss))
Hotels
Resort Sv. Frantisek – 109 Spindleruv Mlyn (Krkonose National Park); 011-420-4-9952-3329; erlebachovabouda.cz/index.

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