Wednesday 21 November 2012

Great Places to Check out: During the Course

Each course I receive questions about getting acclimated to life in Prague, you know, questions like "where can I work out, I miss the gym!" Or "where can I buy a good pair of shoes" or "I want to try some Czech food, where should I go?"  

So I’ve included a few places/things to check out to make sure that you enjoy your stay in Prague both during and after the course. I know you’ll be very busy during the course, but I just wanted to send this out so you can reference it. I’ve also included a list of recommended places around here to study and get work done. For a lot of these things, you can get a real feel for the local culture and don't even need to leave your home base of Prague 9!

Weekend Trips

A popular weekend destination is Kutna Hora: http://www.kutnahora.cz/ - known for the famous “Bone Church” – courses often take a weekend trip there.
Karlstejn Castle makes for a good day trip  http://www.hradkarlstejn.cz/

Dresden is only 2 hours away as well, so if you're ahead of the game in your lesson planning and assignments, its easy to catch a bus there!

Gyms – I’m a big fitness enthusiast, and these are the places I’ve joined since living here

Hara Gym - http://www.hara-gym.cz/ - right across the street – sometimes dubbed by TEFL students as “The Monster Gym” – quite affordable
SC Palmovka (the cheapest, but it also feels like I'm working out inside of a day care center) - http://scpalmovka.cz/
Hit Fitness Flora (the best I've been to but also the most expensive at 1020 CZK per month) - http://www.hitfit.cz/

Prague Racing circuit - http://www.runczech.com/index.php/cs/home_page - some great, scenic races here!


Good local restaurants

Restaurace Cortez – right next door – has some good Czech food, cheap beers, and a cheap lunch menu. Our August course even referred to Cortez as "the office" since they've planned so many lessons and collaborated so much here

Restaurant behind the school – not sure what it’s called, but it’s very affordable, and very Czech, and right behind the school

Restaurace Klid – this was a favorite of the October course. http://www.klidpopraci.cz/ - just make a right out of the school, keep walking until you reach the trams, and then take a left. It will be on the right hand side after about a 3 minute walk

The “Pizza Place” – each class loves going to the “Pizza Place” or also sometimes called “The Italian Place” by classes. Go to the tram tracks, make a right near the Raiffeisenbank, and you’ll see it and some other places on your left hand side. 

 About a 5 minute walk from the school. The food isn't bad, and they have a variety of beer including two of my favorite: Staropramen Nefiltrovany and Velvet. And for those of you who enjoy beer that tastes like fruit and sunblock, they also have Hoegarden on tap!
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Useful sites:
www.dpp.cz – my number one site for getting around in Prague. So helpful!
cvmkr.com – custom CV’s that you can get creative with

Malls:
Novy Smichov Mall – Yellow line to Andel - They have a good sporting goods store here
Palac Flora – Yellow line to Mustek, and then transfer to the green line (Flora)
Galerie Fenix – right here in Vysocany! Just make a right out of the school and you’ll see it on the left hand side
Arkady Pankrac (has a good grocery store here) – Yellow line to Florenc, and then transfer to the red line (Pankrac). You can knock out your jeans, shoes, and grocery shopping in one convenient trip!
Harfa Galerie – Yellow line metro to Ceskomoravska stop 

-Justin, TEFL Worldwide Prague