NoJennyNo: Warm Seaon Activities in Prague

So happy to say these words: back home in Prague!

Although it's only for a short while in between travels, I'm always looking forward to being back in this city. It's a romantic little area filled with beautiful architecture, friendly locals, and plenty of activities to keep boredom at bay.

For those who plan to visit, I always get asked for advice on things to do. If they're first timers I'll just direct them to the nearest tour guide office**. Once they've gotten the basic tutorial of Prague down - Charles Bridge, Old Town, St. Vitus Cathedral - I'll prepare them for a blend of local and touristy activities. Here are my top 5 favorite newly discovered activities to enjoy.

**Living in DC and being the go-to tour guide for your relatives and family friends since age of 12 will make you sick of anything tourist related!

Charles Bridge (Inside the Tower)

I don't find the bridge particularly interesting. Aside from the lovely river view and a mix of artists selling their crafts on the bridge, I find the tower only mildly impressive and bridge itself too crowded.

Crowd during the day!

Being a tourist myself.

I avoided this tourist hotspot for as long as I could.
That is, until I discovered that there was an entire museum and staircase all the way to the top I didn't know about inside the tower.

It's windy and narrow - not the best combination if there are huge open windows on one side.

If anyone wondered what the inside of the tower looked like

The reason why I climbed a claustrophobia-inducing set of stairs and risked falling off from the top of the tower was this view. You can't get a better view than this.

Bridge, river, castle in the horizon

The Bohemian Prague Old Town

Prague Zoo
I've heard great things about this zoo. It's spacious, so many species, beautiful landscape, etc. The only thing that stopped me was the outdoor exhibitions aside from polar bears would mostly be closed off during colder months. Now that I finally was able to be in the city during summer, I made this visit a priority in my list of things to do in Prague.

What I didn't know was that this zoo was considered top 10 in the world in many magazines and travel review websites, boasting 140 acres of space housing 4000+ animals of ~650 species. The breeding programs and conservation programs are widely known to be some of the best in the industry.

Inside one of the fishing bird enclosures - they eat live fish constantly!

These emus were busy eating...dirt

What a fancy turkey

He kept following me

Inside parrot enclosure

Reindeer

The zoo itself is massive with trains and rides and many exhibitions including tigers, elephants, aquariums, you name it.

That said, most animals seemed quite happy with plenty of space to share with their little herds. They had more relaxation/green area away from the bustling crowd than other zoos I've been to. A lot of flying bird exhibitions didn't even have nets - the birds didn't want to leave their little fence. Like these elephants:

Giraffes with their own safari

Pokemon-like aardvark knocked out complete with snoring and mouth open like she's drunk

This curious big bird ran over from other side to peck at my camera

My anaconda don't want known unless...

Sleepy cats!

This pair of herons have their own pond in their exhibition. Even without enclosures they didn't want to leave.

Chimps sleeping

Some other animals, however, showed anxiety. It was to be expected in a zoo where it's near impossible to mimic territory and excitement of their natural environment, but I guess that's the price you pay for being protected from poachers and other dangers.

The hawk enclosure was so small it was more like a cage, he could barely open his wings.

Bored leopard didn't move from this spot

1 hour later, same spot, except just lying down

This lone lion was just walking back and forth the same spot

He just looks up and walks that same area where now he's made a tread mark

All in all, if you like animals, go visit.

National Theatre
There are actually a lot of National Theatres in Prague that have operas, ballet and other artistic performances held in buildings. This one built in 1862 is the most well known, with heavy Paris Opera resemblance.

The new addition to the National Theatre is New Stage built in 1983 just next to the oldest theatre building. The all-glass modern building hosts a few ballet performances which I attended. The performances are comparable to those you see in Paris at fraction of the price. I highly recommend it if you're into artistic performances.

Indoor

No photos of inside the stages allowed, so here I am

Farmer's Market
There are a few farmer's markets that pop up when the weather is warm. The Czech seem to be really into locally grown fresh foods; wild fruit trees and shrubs grow freely on the roads, free for anyone to eat as well as many locals enjoying wild mushroom hunting on the weekends. Most houses in Czech have a garden and even apartments will sometimes come with a winter garden.

That being said, this market in Prague 2 by the river is one of the more known markets. Locals congregate over fresh veggies, fruits, flowers, as well as locally produced wines, oils, and jams. Plenty of food vendors tempt shoppers with freshly baked goods and musicians perform.

The only downside is this location closes quite early, around 2pm. Others open until 6pm or later.

Even swans come to enjoy the market

Lost in the crowd

Local oils produced from various grains

Oil made on the spot

Various dried fruits

Pickled things! The vendor is of French heritage with recipes passed down.

Fishermen with live trout - they kill and fillet to order for freshness.

Picking out red berries

Many women actually bought flowers just to carry around.

Botanical Garden of Charles University
Come spring and everyone flocks to the nearest gardens for some sun and relaxation. The flowers come and go from spring to fall, but early summer seems to have the most colorful full blooms.

There are many gardens, mostly part of a park or castles. But this particular one is more dedicated to research and conservation which also happened to be free to enter and seemed to have nearly no visitors! Talk about good value.

They seem to be getting their money from the government as well as entrance fee to their more selective exhibitions. But even those only cost around $1 to enter, like this cactus exhibition.