NoJennyNo: December Holidays in Prague

December in Prague is one of my favorite times of the year. It's not yet full winter so the weather is mild, Christmas market is in full swing, and the hearty Czech cuisine was created for this season.

The only downside may be the earlier sunsets, 4pm at its earliest. But the city has created a beautiful night scenery to compensate.

Once you've walked along the Vltava River on a clear night, you'll realize long walks on the beach are overrated.

Charles Bridge

Castle at night

Old Town Square

Christmas Tree

I spent my birthday here as well. I didn't plan anything, so the boyfriend booked a dinner with a couple friends that were spending time at our place. We booked Spices, a restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Prague I've been wanting to try. It was a quiet night out but the meal was amazing and we got drunk off of the wine tasting.

The decor is pristine and modern, with lots of marble and soft lighting that I love. The menu is Asian, with variations of Thai, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, and Korean tapas-style dishes. We shared a lot of plates and most were tasty. They were mostly authentic but in a more upscale presentation with higher quality ingredients.

Foie gras spring rolls and Thai crab cakes

Thai curry and Korean bulgogi

Birthday cake

Almond cake, pistachio tiramisu, ice cream.

Prior to the New Year's Eve celebration, we took some of our friends out to yet another upscale Asian cuisine. Similar to the Spices, Sasazu offers upscale Asian cuisine as well. But it's located next to the Sasazu Club and offers a completely different atmosphere. It's more young and trendy with loud music and even louder decor. It's completely orange from ceiling to floor with oversized lanterns hanging over the diners. There are masseuses walking about offering quick shoulder massages to the clients too exhausted from conversing over cocktails and cigarettes.

The menu here is more extensive than Spices and can be overwhelming. It took us a while to choose what to order. The dishes a bit more fusion but they are all very good.

Sasazu rolls

Beef salad was very tasty

Salmon tartare

One of the duck dishes

Indian chicken

The entire dessert menu. My favorite was the sesame creme brulee and coconut ice cream!

Karlovy Vary or Carlsbad

Of the many spa towns in Czech Republic, this is the most famous one. It's located just 90 minutes away from Prague. It's so notorious there are many cities in the world named after this town. The popularity began from famous visitors like Beethoven and Wolfgang, to more recently feature of the Grandhotel Pupp in the movie Casino Royale.

I booked a private tour for my boyfriend's family and my mom. The tour began at the Hotel Pupp with the background history on how the town was founded as we walked along the river.

Then we visited one of the thermal springs that offers the hottest natural water fountains, at 75C (168F). Each spring water has a placard that indicates what temperature the water is. As a reference, you get second degree burns at 55C (133F). Human skin is destroyed on contact with any temperatures 72C (162F) or higher.

Fittingly enough, the spa town was founded by a king when he lost his hunting dog that had died by swimming in the hot mineral water.

Aside from sitting in a tub for a spa treatment, one of the big attractions is drinking water directly from the source. You can purchase a special porcelain drinking cup to collect the hot mineral water and have a taste. It's like drinking very hot salty-stoney tea. In face, there's so much mineral in the water that many of the hot water sprouts in town is completely calcified.

The very first hot spring

Unfortunately it was quite cold and drizzly, with most shops closed for the holidays. We were able to appreciate the buildings, buy some street paintings, and tastes the famous spa wafers made with the Karlovy Vary mineral waters.

There were a few interesting exhibitions as well, like this sand king. It's remained in tact despite kids running way too close around it.

We headed back to Prague after a long day of tour. Then I realized after days of preparing food and eating Asian cuisine, my mom hasn't tasted any Czech food yet. With her peculiar tastebuds - I will try anything whereas she only eats select things - I was a bit hesitant. But a dinner at Mlynec never disappointed anyone.

It boasts the best Charles Bridge view in town, but in reality, the restaurant sits just beneath the bridge itself. Yes, location wise it's the closest to the bridge, but you only get a section of the bricks as your view even if you sit ON the window. The food, service, and atmosphere does make up for it though.

There are various menus and a la carte of modern Czech, European, and fusion dishes of the two.