Pisek is a quaint little town in South Bohemia, about one hour from Prague by car. There are frequent bus and train connections between the cities, just check www.idos.cz for times.
I canâ??t say that Pisek really bowled me over. Sure itâ??s full of exquisite historical buildings, but the townâ??s real claim to fame is the fact that it is home to the Czech Republicâ??s oldest bridge. Of course Jitka and I walked over the bridge and took a few pictures there, but historical sites, structures and artifacts donâ??t really do anything for me. I suppose I take them for granted, really. Sure, I find that walking over Charles Bridge or through the grounds of Prague Castle can be a trip (especially when theyâ??re tourist-free), but not because of the history â?? the splendour and the majesty of these structures, and the fact that they were practically hand-made, blow me away.
Pisek, like pretty much every Czech town that is not Prague, is not a mind-blowing town. Itâ??s laid-back, chill and friendly. The only thing about Pisek that really amazed me wasnâ??t even Czech, it was the Tandoor Indian restaurant (Heydukova 172). Their CZK 75 lunch menu is insanely generous, offering a choice of 4 meat dishes (on the day Jitka and I went they were all chicken) and something like 6 vegetarian dishes, with a choice of perfectly cooked basmati rice or naan bread. Add huge portions and friendly service, the Tandoor tops everything that Prague has to offer in terms of Indian cuisine. In fact, Iâ??d say itâ??s worth a day trip.
We also discovered the chill and charming U Zeleneho Stromu (At the Green Tree) tea room on Zizkova street (Zizkova 202 to be exact) â?? one of those slightly fleabitten-looking places with a soft-spoken white dread blissed out waiter, second- and third-hand furnishings and decorations, a fragrant blend of tea, incense and apple tobacco with an undercurrent of moldâ?? you know, like a hippy friendâ??s basement. Unfortunately, we didnâ??t really have time to enjoy it to its fullest as we ended up waiting a pretty long time for our granola waiter to serve us and pretty much had to chug our tea.
Time off in Pisek combined with a weekend of World of Warcraft and movies (Gladiator, LOTR – Fellowship of the Ring, Honeymoon in Vegas, Saving Grace, Be Cool) has rendered me pretty lazy. Thereâ??s no way Iâ??m staying in today â?? for the first time in months Iâ??m going to work downtown.
Mar 20, 10:13 (Filed under: Road tripping )
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