Café Evropa
Dake KangDake Kang|Guest Contributor|CAFES, PRAGUE Updated : Oct 24, 2016, 02.49 PM IST
Dake Kang
A history and math student at the University of Chicago, Dake has been roaming the world since he was born, moving with his family from the United States to Korea and China as a child and most recently popping up in Oman, the Czech Republic, and India. With an insatiable curiosity about everything and anything - coupled with an unrelenting restlessness - he"s found himself in some pretty unusual situations, from being struck by lighting to interviewing North Koreans to befriending Burmese soldiers on overnight trains. Catch up on his latest journalistic explorations at dakekang.com.
The Grand Evropa Hotel, built in 1889 and located prominently on Wenceslas Square, is an authentic remnant of Old Art Nouveau Prague. Rumours say that it hasn’t been renovated in decades! But while that might deter you from staying there, it shouldn’t deter you from stopping by its café, named Café Evropa, located right on the square. The most notable feature of Café Evropa is its unsettling familiarity, which comes from the fact that its interiors, along with the hotel’s restaurant, served as the model for the dining room of the ship in the iconic classic movie, “Titanic”. Looking up at the ceiling, one gets the distinct Art Nouveau feel that went on to make the set design of “Titanic” famous. With veined marble columns, old fashioned lanterns, and wood panelling, Café Evropa emits the same kind of run-down grandeur its parent hotel does, and its convenient location makes it perfect for a break from a day of hectic sightseeing in central Prague. But be warned – at the time of writing it was shuttered for much-needed renovations along with the rest of the hotel and is due to be reopened in 2016. Hopefully, the renovations will succeed at giving Café Evropa an upgrade without depriving it of its former run-down charm.
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