Praha 7 Prague – All our local tips

I suppose not everyone is familiar with this type of venue – a tearoom is a spot where you can get (besides tea of course) shisha (hookah), coffee, variety of oriental sweets and snacks and also some “normal” food and beverages (including beer as this is Czech Republic). Tearooms are quite frequent in Prague, many people go there instead of pubs or cafés.

I think here pubs are great places to go out with friends but sometimes they just feel too noisy, smoky or they simply don’t match my contemplative mood, that’s when I go to Basama. It’s a great place to talk, think, read, write, meet up or just listen to the music or other people’s talks. I must say the music here really fits my taste even though the genre range can be surprising. I remember hearing experimental jazz as well as Audio Bullys.

The tearoom is run by an elderly pair, they’re both very nice and friendly. All in all I would mark the service A+. WiFi Internet is available. On the menu you can find 90 different kinds of tea and more than 20 different flavors of hookah tobacco. As for the prices, tea costs from 30 to 80 CZK and hookah 90 CZK + 5 CZK for a charcoal.

You can find more pictures here. The website is unfortunately in Czech only.

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Basama | Coffee & tea | Le Touareg tea CZK 49.00
Sochařská 8 | Praha 7 | +420604666767
Tue – Sun 16:00 – 22:00

This tearoom is very dear to me. Perhaps also because I had the possibility to work there and get to know the person who runs the place.

I like it mainly because its atmosphere, the tone of the colors the walls are painted with and the style in which the tearoom is furnished. And of course, not to be missed! It is situated in the tower. So after two cups of the finest tea it is hard to say if it is the height of the mysterious tower or the tea that you are feeling.

The tearoom also serves as a library so you can enjoy your tea with some of the books they offer (some of them are in English). Every Saturday there is a drum session that anybody can join.

The Tearoom in the Tower also has really good prices compared to other tearooms in Prague. So if you don’t mind going a little out of the city center, you will not be disappointed.

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Čajovna ve Věži | Art & culture, Coffee & tea, Music | Pot of Tea CZK 60
Na Výšinách 1 | Praha 7
Summer 17:00 – 23:00 daily | Winter 16:00 – 22:00 daily

Get swallowed by a living mechanical organism, moving in the rhythm of ska-punk-rockabilly-techno-drone-dnb-jungle-hip hop-chill out.

Buy a drink in one the bars and then sit down. I tell you – that’s the best position to admire a fan made of scrap iron and car-exhaust pipes. Lights above the tables consisting of gearboxes, drain pipes and kinetic sculptures of many kinds. All polished and mounted with care, animated with extreme effort and unlimited imagination.

Cross club is truly one of the most original Prague clubs. Gives enough space for whatever I feel like doing. Two stages, a theater and two to three bars are open for all kinds of concerts, poetry readings, exhibitions, and I shall not forget to mention the Ghettolledge – a street university.

Be sure that by your next visit there something will have changed – because the world behind the looking glass is never the same, including the numerous corridors that made you feel like you were lost in the rabbit hole the very first time you entered.

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Cross club | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Theaters | Ticket from CZK 100
Plynární 23 | Praha 7
From 16:00 (until the barman is in sleep) daily

Finally, after spending six months in Brussels, the famous piece of art „Entropa” is in Prague! You can find it in DOX – gallery of modern art, in Holešovice (where there’s obviously a lot more to see than Entropa, but more about that later ). I guess that most of you have already heard at least something about it but if you haven’t, let me tell you the story.

Entropa is a sculpture created by a famous and great artist David Černý in honour of the Czech EU presidency. The creation itself, was a mystification – as Mr. Černý said that it is a common work of artists from all 27 countries of the EU. That later turned out to be a lie, but it was too late to cancel the project. And so Entropa was successfully installed in Brussels in January 2009.

This piece of art has caused a lot of controversy. It is a 16 x 16 meter plastic, showing the EU countries in a very satiric way. Each country is symbolised by some of its stereotypes, for instance Slovakia looks like a Hungarian sausage, France is covered by a sheet with the word „Gréve” (strike). Bulgaria, shown as a construction of Turkish toilets, even brought up an official protest and was dispatched later on (but is back on today).

The whole Entropa is very colourful and I could probably spent hours enjoying just the sight of it. However, many people dislike it and think that it is a humiliation of European nations. Go see it yourself and have your say – the exhibition is prolonged until the end of April, 2010!

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Entropa at DOX | Art & culture | Entry CZK 180
Osadní 739 | Praha 7
Wed – Fri 11:00 – 19:00, Sat – Mon 10:00 – 18:00

Communist regimes in Europe (and not only there) have left many visible traces. One of the ways of reminding people of the power Communist Party had and at the same time expressing the loyalty to the USSR was building megalomanic monuments.

Prague was no exception and the construction of Stalin’s monument began in 1949. It was unveiled on May 1st, 1955 (more than 2 years after Stalin’s death!). For more information, see  the Wikipedia article. The huge statue which was the world’s largest representation of Stalin was removed in 1962 within the process of de-Stalinisation. Its site wasn’t of any use until 1991 when the controversial metronome was erected.

Local people refer to this place simply as “Stalin” or “Letná” which is the part of Prague where it’s located. The monument consisted not only of the statue but also quite extensive paved area. It was unused and quite deserted until it became popular among street skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX riders and now it’s one of the most famous places for this kind of activities at least in the whole of Europe. I spent there many days destroying my joints as well…

Now that my skateboard rests somewhere deep in the closet I still like to go there. The site of the metronome offers great view of Prague. Also the area of the monument is surrounded by a large park ideal for walks, picnics or “normal” sport activities.

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Former Stalin’s monument | Relaxing | Free
Letenské sady | Praha 7
24 hours daily

La Fabrika has shone like the Bethlehem star in the field of art for a couple of years now. A free space for art that is contemporary but comprehensible for a broader public.

La Fabrika does not have a static group of artists, so it is truly a „free space”, as it calls itself. I love to go there see some dance, La Putyka for instance last time (which is brilliant, but – to enjoy it in its fullness is better to be able to understand Czech – or have some Czech companion, who can translate some of the songs).

Or I also remember the festival of modern classical music, Contempuls, which was perfect – from free wine on the bar till the last note of the evening. There are also all kinds of visual art and other multimedia events. The scope of La Fabrika is really broad and always interesting.

Want to know what’s up tonight? Check the La Fabrika news!

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La Fabrika | Art & culture, Music, Theaters, Festivals & events
Komunardů 30 | Praha 7
depends on given programme

The royal park aka Stromovka (strom means tree) is a a large English style park with long history. It was probably founded around 1268 by the king Přemysl Otakar II. When it was opened to public few centuries later, it became a popular spot for Prague citizens.

Nowadays Stromovka is one of the most popular parks in Prague. In this case, size really matters – although many people goes there, you do not have the feeling that the park is overcrowded. Depending of the season, people are walking dogs and kids, cycling, rollerblading, playing frisbee, having a picnics or chilling out having a nap in the grass (that is my favourite activity there in summer time that I conceal as reading). You can also meet horse riders (there is a riding-hall nearby) and now in winter, lot of people are practising cross country skiing.

For me, the stay in a park is not complete without some refreshments. Unfortunately the famous restaurant Šlechtovka is still far from being be re-opened again (there is a reconstruction). A new restaurant was last year, called Vozovna where you can get something to eat or drink.

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Stromovka | Relaxing | Free
Královská obora | Praha 7
24 hours daily