This stop on our "Cafe Tour" is the oldest cafe in Prague, and one that has the most significance to me because it's a cafe that my grandparents and parents frequented ever since they were youngins. Whenever I visit we make sure to spend a leisurely afternoon here...sharing a palačinka (crepe) and a hot apple strudel accompanied by coffee or tea. They have a special coffee that you must try! We'll order one in just a bit...
My mom and I enjoying a summer afternoon at Café Slavia
The cafe's location is wonderful ...it sits on the corner of Smetanovo nábřeží and Národní, right across the street from the National Theatre and overlooking the Vltava River, with a splendid view of Prague Castle. It's truly a great place to grab a table by the window and just watch the world go by.
Café Slavia opened in 1881 (the same year that the National Theatre opened) and was always a meeting place for writers, artists, politicians, directors, actors and actresses. The café closed in 1991 due to ownership issues, but reopened in 1997 after being restored to its 1930's Art Deco look. It was always, and still is, one of those places where you might very well be sitting next to someone famous. Probably the most famous guest is ex-president Václav Havel, who frequented the café during his dissident days. Other famous guests include writer Franz Kafka, 1984 Nobel Prize Winner, Jaroslav Seifert, and composers Dvořák and Smetana.
Piano music fills the air...
A painting that I fell in love with the moment I set eyes on it is entitled "Piják absintu", Absinthe Drinker, and hangs here in the cafe (you may have noticed it in the first photo above...hanging on the wall behind my mom and I). The artist is Viktor Oliva, and this is his most famous painting (believed to have been painted sometime around 1903). He was born in Bohemia in 1861, studied art at the Prague Academy of Art, was intrigued by Paris and thus moved there for several years before returning home to Prague. While in Paris, he discovered "the joy of absinthe". Lucky for him, there was an absinthe drinking culture in Prague too! History states that Oliva kept a diary, and in one of his entries he stated that he was was drinking absinthe at Café Slavia, thus we know that he frequented the cafe. You may very well be sitting in the same spot he sat!
Viktor Oliva's painting of the green fairy brings us back to a time long , long ago...
There was another diary entry stating that he was out celebrating with a lady friend, drinking Champagne. He held up his glass, looked at his lady friend through it, and mused, "As I looked at her through my glass, and saw her beautiful form, it looked as if the Green Fairy herself was swimming inside. What a wonderful pairing that would be!" Hmm, champagne and absinthe...care to try it with me?
So, are you ready for some apple strudel and my favorite coffee offering, Coffee Slavia? Mmmm, coffee with absinthe topped with homemade whipped cream, delicious!!
Do you like it?
My love enjoyed it...
Café Slavia...Smetanovo nábřeží 2, Prague 1
No comments:
Post a Comment