Our pilgrimage to Czech wine country nearly made us late for our set. The tour manager in me was panicked when we were set back even further after being pulled over by the police on our way into the college town of Olomouc. Luckily, Carlos had learned enough Czech to say that we didn’t speak Czech and had all of the official papers (rental car, international driving permit, passports). We still have no idea what was going on, but they were staked out on the road leading into town. They were polite and let us go after viewing all of our documents. We made it in time to set up at a rapid pace, sell a few copies of our LP, and perform our set, which included a ghost sighting.

But let’s get back to the wine!

We began our Czech wine tasting in Prague at a wine bar called Vinograf, where Jan Culík schooled us on Czech wines. I am a (very particular) red wine drinker and was able to learn about a grape I’d never heard of, Frankovka. Frankovka satisfied my taste for a dry red, where I can almost taste the terroir. I really loved the vibe at Vinograf. It was intimate and warm, not touristy at all, and felt like a local secret. Carlos had stumbled upon it earlier in the day while looking for a market. He brought back two bottles of wine and said if we had time we should stop in for a drink later. I’m glad we did because it kicked off our desire to make a stop in the heart of wine country. While at Vinograf we also enjoyed a local cheese plate and an authentic bramboráky (savory potato pancake).

The other establishment that lit our wine country fire was CODA restaurant in Prague. The sommelier at CODA was kind enough to give us the name of a winemaker in the village of Mikulov. Unfortunately, by the time we made it to the village the sun was beginning its slow decent for the day and we had just enough time to find a place to eat as I photographed the gorgeous buildings.

So, we made it to our destination, but didn’t have enough time to partake in the ritual of wine tasting at a proper Czech winery. I think this sort of pilgrimage tends to need a different pace than touring allows. Next time!

We settled in on our night off with a bottle of Czech Cabernet Sauvignon. We got this one at a gas station and it was good!

Apparently I have a nose for Michelin approved restaurants. Too bad I nearly fell asleep in my delicious 3-course meal.

Carlos and I were wandering around the maze of streets in Old Town Prague trying to stay awake long enough to get our jet-lag under control. I really wanted a glass of wine and as we rounded a corner, it was as if the universe lit up and spoke to us when we saw the sign for Le Terroir. In my foggy mind, I thought, “terrain, earth, wine vines!”, so we entered the door hoping to spend about half an hour with a good glass of wine.

What we didn’t realize was I had led us to a restaurant with Bib Gourmand status. We had heard of the Michelin star rating system, but didn’t know what Bib Gourmand was and that it’s quite a rarity in Prague. Exhausted and somewhat hungry, we decided to stay. We were led to a beautiful underground wine cellar turned restaurant. Unfortunately, I only have a couple of photos from my phone of the interior because we had just arrived and wanted to get our bearings before carrying around cameras.

Diners can choose from a 3, 4, 5, or 6 course meal and the menu changes about every four weeks. They use seasonal ingredients and everything we had was super fresh. We were a bit worried with our limited diets of no dairy and only seafood that the staff may be frustrated, but it was quite the opposite. They saw it as a challenge and created a special 3-course meal for us featuring a beautiful salad, sea bream, and a scallop dish that blew my mind. I don’t usually like scallops, but the dish they created was divine.

(photo credit: Carlos Jackson)

A few days later, we stumbled upon the restaurant again and considered a second round before taking off for the Czech countryside. Sadly, they were closed.

Upon exiting the plane in Prague, Czech Republic, I could feel I was in for something special. The first thing I noticed was their recycling system, which seemed more progressive and logical than any airport I’ve been through in the United States.

Luckily, we had several days to explore the city and recover from jet lag before we had to pick up our music equipment and rental car. Having used VRBO for seven years, I rented us (my husband/bandmate and I) a flat in the Malá Strana neighborhood. I chose it based on the location and it seemed to have everything we needed – kitchen, washing machine, bathroom, bed. For the first time in my experience with VRBO, I rented a place in which the owner opted out of reviews. Big mistake. The apartment seemed fine when we arrived, bleary eyed from the transcontinental flight, but unfortunately the bed was one of the worst I’ve ever slept on.

VRBO recently merged with Home Away and added additional insurance, available for purchase. With so many positive VRBO experiences under our belts, we did not purchase the additional insurance and we paid for the balance of our rental in cash when we arrived. I only lasted a few nights on that bed, with very little sleep, before looking for an alternative. Financially, this was frustrating, but Prague was so lovely, we just felt lucky to be there and did our best to find a solution. We found an amazing boutique hotel that felt like a 1960s art gallery. They were kind enough to let us test out the bed. I was sore and we had weeks of gigs coming up, so I threw down the credit card.

The Czech Republic is quite affordable when compared to Western Europe and in the states, this hotel would have cost three times as much. It was a great treat. I finally slept well and we had a fantastic room to entertain our French friends in after our Prague performance, since they had driven all the way from Paris to see us play.

We had one of the larger rooms in the hotel since that was all they had left. There was a nice sitting area, mini bar, and desk with laptop provided. The shower and toilet were in two different spaces, separated by a hallway with a small balcony. Each bathroom featured Mickey Mouse pop art on the walls.

We took breakfast on the rooftop patio one morning and enjoyed a great view of Petrin Hill featuring Lookout Tower, Prague’s Eiffel Tower.

Design Hotel Sax features a great collection of vintage toys by designer Libuše Niklová, two Picasso drawings, incredible furniture from the 1950s-1970s, and a plethora of Cécka.

This is a window treatment using Cécka.

The C’s ended up in dumps until discovered by children. Young people then began collecting Cécka and wore them as necklaces or bracelets and even played games with them. Some children used them as currency to trade for the more desirable, or more rare C’s. Cécka played an important role in the lives of many children who were the last generation to experience the communist regime. In 2008, musician Michal David released an homage to the plastic phenomenon in the form of an electronic pop song.