Prague: Is This Europe's Most Beautiful City?

Prague. Probably the closest thing Europe has to a real-life fairy tale. Over a thousand years of history, leaving behind a city of grand gothic architecture and an impossibly well-preserved medieval center. It's stunningly beautiful, and millions and millions and millions agree. Spend enough time in the old town of the city and it can start to feel like it's frozen in time. Step outside it, though, and things start to change. Prague is constantly evolving. Old industrial neighborhoods finding new life as creative districts, a deep food culture getting a modern makeover, and decades of immigration adding unexpected layers. Prague's fairy tale quality makes it easy to love, but it's just one part that makes it interesting. That one puts hair on your chest. Hi from Old Town Square in Prague. This is probably as fairy tale Europe as you can possibly get. I feel like I am stepping right into the pages of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Prague is one of the most visited cities in Europe, and you can see we're a little bit off a peak season, but it is still incredibly crowded, and this takes away the charm of the center in some small ways. We passed a Starbucks and Hooters. There's a lot of tacky souvenir shops, but it really is still so beautiful, and there's just so much history here. Old Town Square dates back to the 10th century, so at that point this was already a settlement, and this square was a marketplace, so merchants from all over the region came here to do business. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Prague went through a golden age that corresponded with the rise to power of King Charles IV. He was the king of Bohemia and eventually the Holy Roman Emperor, and he made Prague a cultural and political center in central Europe, and this is where a lot of the opulent gothic architecture that Prague is really famous for came to be. A lot of the facades on these buildings, however, are a lot newer. They're from the 16th to the 18th century in the Neo-Renaissance and Baroque style, so you have a lot of layers of history here, and it's just really cool to think about how you're walking on streets that have been walked on for well over a thousand years. Behind me is the famous astronomical clock, and at the top of the hour there is a show that happens, which is why there's a huge crowd gathered around us, and it's a very fascinating piece of technology because it can tell the position of the sun, moon, and stars as well as the time, and it reflects the medieval understanding of the universe. So you can see the earth is at the center of the clock because at the time they thought the earth was the center of the universe. There's a fun urban legend that the city actually blinded the creator of the clock upon its completion, so he couldn't build another clock as beautiful. Fortunately, that is probably not true, but interesting myth. It's a fun little show, very quick. So the 12 apostles rotate at the top of the clock, and then there's little figurines that represent different ideas or vices, like a skeleton figurine that represents death. Then the rooster comes out at the top, and the clock chimes the hour, and that's it, and everyone disperses. We're here in Prague shooting our video, and I'm using my DJI Osmo Pocket 3, which is a camera that I've been using for over a year now in all different scenarios around the world, and I love it, so I'm very grateful that they're sponsoring today's video. And if you're a creator, this is a super reliable and easy to use camera, pretty much zero experience necessary. The Pocket 3 films in 4k 10-bit quality, which is the same as the cinema camera we use, so you know you'll always have beautiful footage. I personally love using it to vlog because with the built-in gimbal, the footage comes out smooth and stable, so I can walk and talk without worrying about how the footage is going to turn out. Plus, because of its size, it's just a little bit more discreet than a huge camera setup, so when I'm in a public place like this, I can feel just a little less self-conscious. And because it's so compact, I can easily pull it out whenever something interesting happens, and capture those in-the-moment reactions and observations that I feel have made our videos feel a lot more personal. But it's not just a vlogging camera. We've used it kayaking in Antarctica, exploring cities, pretty much capturing cinematic b-roll anywhere in the world. Something creators have to deal with these days is shooting content in both vertical and horizontal formats, which, I'm going to be honest, can be quite the pain. But with the Pocket 3, you can really quickly switch settings, so right now I can shoot horizontal for my YouTube video, and then easily grab vertical footage for short-form videos using the same camera. With the Pocket 3 Creator Combo, you get a DJI Mic 2, which is a professional wireless microphone that we've actually been using on our channel for years. You'll always get crisp, high-quality audio, which is almost as important as the image quality. Honestly, I cannot say enough good things about this little camera. If you want to capture your everyday moments, check out the DJI Osmo Pocket 3. I'll drop the link in my description box below. This is the historic Charles Bridge. Construction for it began in 1357 during Prague's Golden Age. King Charles IV was the ruler at the time, and under him the city was booming as an imperial capital, so they needed a grand connection between Old Town and the Prague Castle and other areas of the city. So this beauty was built, and now it's one of the most iconic landmarks in the city. The architecture of the bridge is very opulent, which makes sense considering its royal roots. It's built in a classic gothic style, which you can really see in the main gate to the entry of the bridge. And they actually used to do royal processions here, so Bohemian kings would cross on their way to the Prague Castle where they would attend their coronations. Now the bridge itself was built in the 1300s, but there's about 30 statues and sculpture groups on the bridge. These came a little bit later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, and they are in the baroque style, not gothic. For over a thousand years, Prague has been a center of culture and power in Central Europe, though those centuries weren't always stable. After Prague's Golden Age under Charles IV, religious conflict swept through Bohemia, culminating in the Thirty Years' War. By the 1600s, the city had fallen firmly under Catholic Habsburg rule. Nearly 300 years later, World War I brought the empire crashing down. In 1918, Prague became the capital of a newly independent Czechoslovakia. Within a generation, the city would experience Nazi occupation, followed by more than four decades of communist rule. Prague is now home to around 1.4 million people. And while millions come each year for its medieval streets and architecture, Prague is very much a modern European capital, with a growing tech scene, creative neighborhoods, and some seriously good food. Let the Czech food crawl begin. The Czech Republic is very much a meat, potatoes, and beer type of country, so who are we to resist? We're gonna get the pinnacle of pork today. Pork knuckle. This might be the most glorious pork knuckle that I've ever had the privilege to behold. He is perfectly crispy, and just look at the size of him. Served with just some sauerkraut and some sauces, because why do you need anything else? Like, do you hear that skin? It is so crispy. Oh my god. Figuring out how to handle this thing is a whole task in and of itself. Bon appetit. It is perfect. Best pork knuckle I've ever had, hands down. Look at that, it's just, it's perfection. Got the perfect bite for my man. Yeah, we don't even like pork that much usually, but this is like, next level. Wow, it is next level. Prost! We weren't planning on it, but we were wandering the streets and we met these lovely guys who are here to drink, and we joined them. Prost! So, a win in Rome or a win in the Czech Republic, I suppose. And now we're actually going to take a shot together. All right, prost! Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Oh, that one puts hair on your chest. Oh yeah, that's much nicer. All right, this guy has a mission to beat someone in a street race, so we're gonna run. Where's the shoes? It's very good that I ate a pork knuckle right before this. And the Czech food tour continues. We're at Lokal, which is a modern hospoda, which is a traditional Czech pub. And it's a place where people come to eat, drink some beer, hang out with their friends. It's very informal and very much a part of everyday Czech social life. Beer is of course central to this culture, and beer has been brewed in the Czech Republic for hundreds of years. And taverns have been a part of life for that long as well. But things really changed in 1842 when in the town of Pilsen, a beer called the Pilsner was invented. And it's kind of a medium golden lager. You probably know it, and it's spread all over the world. And here it's probably the most common pour. So we came here, our server asked if we wanted a beer, and it goes without saying that it's a Pilsner. Cheers! I'm not really a huge beer drinker, but it's very much a win-in-roam situation for me. Here you have a pretty traditional Czech plate. You have stewed meat here, in this case it's beef goulash, and it's served with these potato dumplings and white bread. So you know we got beer yellow, cheese yellow, potato yellow, potato dumpling yellow, everything yellow. It's nice, no big flavors, but it's just very comforting, which is characteristic of food in this region. It's heavy, food you want in cold weather. A light Czech snack. Welcome to Little Hanoi! On the outskirts of Prague is Sapa, otherwise known as Little Hanoi. Its roots go back to communist era exchange programs that brought thousands of Vietnamese to Czechoslovakia. After communism fell, many turned to small business and trade, setting up shop in Sapa, now the heart of Prague's Vietnamese community, and a side of the city most visitors never see. This is Sapa Market. It's about a 30-minute drive from the center of Prague, and it could not feel further away. And you can see it is a bustling commercial and cultural center with all different types of businesses. We're here to eat of course, so I'm excited to explore a little bit. I cannot emphasize how different this feels from the rest of Prague. Like, I can't even believe it's the same country. Of course we got a little Vietnamese coffee to fuel our journey. Now this is my type of place. This is one of a few massive covered markets here, and I believe they're wholesalers. You can really find anything and everything. Lingerie, plush toys, shoes, a hat with braids, because why not? Religious framed photos. The possibilities are endless. If you're coming here for the first time, maybe consider a guide or doing a little research ahead of time, because it's pretty sprawling. I mean it's an entire neighborhood and there's so many different shops, so it can be hard to kind of orient yourself without some preparation. Of course one of the most compelling reasons to come to Sapa is for the food. So we've come to pho thang, which is allegedly the best pho in Prague. I like it. It's a no frills joint. They don't have a menu, so the waiter just comes over. He's like, we got chicken and beef pho. You choose what you want, and that is it. Looks and smells amazing, so moment of truth right here. Oh yeah, that hits. Strong contender for a death row meal right here. We're learning that Sapa definitely has another layer to it. So at the surface it's crowded and bustling. People come here to shop, to eat, to get haircuts, get massages, all very PG. But then you also have drugs here, money laundering, illegal immigration, definitely some illegal goods coming and going. So it kind of reminds me of a baby Tepito market in Mexico City, where there's just different layers. So should you come and visit Sapa market? I think if you have only two days in Prague, maybe not because there's so much to see in the city. But if you're spending a little longer time, I highly recommend it because it's really fun to wander around here. And especially if you love Asian culture and food, you're going to have a great time. It's definitely interesting and not what you would expect from Prague. Just east of Prague's historic center is Karlín. For much of its history, this was a working class industrial neighborhood. Then in 2002, catastrophic floods devastated the area, forcing much of it to be rebuilt. In the years that followed, Karlín's old industrial spaces were revitalized with offices and new businesses, like a former military barracks and Eska, a restaurant set inside a converted factory. This place is called Eska. It's a bakery restaurant combo. They specialize in cracked coffee and brunch and freshly baked bread. It's kind of a hipster spot. It's in this former industrial space with Scandinavian design elements. And they take traditional Czech cooking methods like sourdough baking and fermentation, but they give it a modern twist. Thank you. Thank you. You can really see the modern twist on traditional Czech food in what we ordered. Here we have a cheese omelette with a lot of truffle on top. This is what they're most famous for. It's potato in ash and it's served with smoked carp, kefir, some dill and some lemon zest on top. And here you have a sausage. The potato has such a fresh flavor. And then this is essentially a very savory, smoky cream. And that dill really makes it pop. It's so delicious. Oh my goodness. All the bread we've had in Prague is so good. And this one they bake in house. You can see the process and it looks incredible. Cheers. Everything here is super simple, but it's just done so, so well. Really high quality. If you're in Prague, definitely come here. It's amazing. We've come to Letna Park, which is a great green space with an absolutely beautiful view of the city. It's a Friday afternoon and you can see the beer garden is packed with people who just got out of work, enjoying a beer with their friends. This is the exact scenario where I like using the Pocket 3 because we're surrounded by people and I would feel self-conscious using the big camera. But now we have this little guy. The reason why I really love this camera is because they made it really easy to use. Even if you don't have a lot of experience, it took me a long time to learn those skills. But you don't need to because their menu is so good. So you can go from video to all the settings. And for example, time lapses, you can choose what are you going to film, sunset, clouds, crowds, in a regular cinema camera that requires you to learn a lot before you're able to get those shots. We're at the Metronome. It's also in Letna Park and it's a very popular place to watch the sunset because you have an amazing view of the river and the bridges and the city skyline. You can see people gathered up there waiting. It's almost time and the Metronome itself is quite cool too. This is kind of like a hipster hangout spot, I would say. We see a lot of groups of teenagers hanging out and drinking beer. There's always a DJ here playing techno, skateboarders. You can see there's graffiti everywhere. I've been here before and I really like it. It's a very cool vibe and the weather is just perfect right now. What a beautiful sunset. Prague is really such a stunning city. And how about that dynamic range on the Pocket 3? It's getting a little dark now but it's capturing all different lighting really well. I am so excited for this. This place is called Cantina and it is part restaurant, part butcher shop, part deli. And what is really special about it is that you come here, you pick out the cut of steak that you want, and they grill it for you over charcoal. And the meat is just chef's kiss. It's just a carnivore's wet dream. Oh my god, look at those dry aged cuts. They look so good. And allegedly they have great pilsners. The way the restaurant works is that there's different counters where you can order different things. So we got our steak and here's the prepared foods and you can order like other appetizers and dishes here. I don't know if a restaurant can get more magical than this, truly. Thank you so much. We got a casual little appetizer to start. This here is the beef carpaccio which they are very famous for here. And it's thinly sliced beef topped with mayonnaise and some basil oil and thick chunky sea salt. A small pilsner as is traditional in these parts, perfectly poured with just the right amount of foam. Oh yeah, that's a good pour. God, that is so good. You wouldn't even think you're eating raw beef and the flavors of the mayonnaise and the basil. It's perfectly savory. 10 out of 10. You wouldn't think raw meat would taste good, but this tastes like heaven. Like really f*****g good. Sorry for the f*****g moment. Now this is some proper bone marrow right here. Not those stingy little pieces that they charge you $50 for at the fine dining spot. This is the real deal. It's a simple thing, cooked right, no frills needed. Oh my gosh, thank you. And we got the rest of our meal here as well. I'm starting to think we went a little overboard. We have a three-week dry-aged T-bone steak and then traditional Czech potato pancakes. Look at that, it's the perfect medium rare. So tender and juicy and I feel like you can taste the grass that the cows were eating. Arguably the most decadent meal I've had in my life. Look at that, it's like jello. And this bread is also incredible. I have to say, in the Czech Republic, they make some damn good bread. Prague feels like a city from another time, until it doesn't. More than a thousand years have shaped, destroyed, rebuilt, and reinvented this place. And that process has never really stopped. Prague continues to change, without losing the character that makes it so easy to romanticize. The fairy tale is definitely worth coming for, even if you have to share the magic with a few other people. But we found just as much to love outside of it.