My first day of living in a new country and I learned why everyone says not to take a taxi. I landed in the morning and was able to see where I would be staying for my first month in Prague. The guy who came to meet and help me gave me a folder with pertinent information for my stay, like an “Expats.CZ Survival Guide 2016” and 30 minute bus tickets. He left and I unpacked and got settled in.
Helpful Literature
Expats.CZ Survival Guide comes out every year with a new guide for expats and I found it to be very useful. If I ever decide to go live in the Czech Republic again I will get a copy of that book just to refresh my memory, or when I move to another country again I hope that it has a similar book for new expats.
I have found that finding a general book of history or tourism in whatever city I am going to is a great jumping off point. It gives me a general outline of what I might want to see and explore further.
Transportation
There are many ways to get around Prague; you can take a taxi, public transportation, an Uber, or any other non-motorized transportation. When coming from the airport your a little more limited. I will always recommend public transportation, it is quick, easy, and far cheaper than the other options. My problem with taxis is the price. If you do not have someone who speaks Czech call ahead and prepay the ride, they will make sure to charge you the highest rate possible by going the longest and roundabout route.
Insider tip: make sure your bus ticket is current and correctly stamped because they will fine you when they catch you, they do not care if you are a tourist and did not know how to purchase or timestamp your ticket. Ticket machines are at every bus and tram stop and metro station, most only accept coins, but is some areas there are modern machines which accept credit card.
Buying Food
My roommate moved in as I was organizing myself to go on my very first grocery shopping trip, so I decided to wait and see if she wanted to join. She did and we were off…
The store was only a block away, which is nice. Another nice thing is that food is reasonably priced, makes me wonder why they can price it so low here but it is so expensive back home. Isn’t it all the same production costs. Oh well…whatever…I knew I could cook and save money. So of course in this saving money mindset and after having purchased some groceries, I had to go back and buy vegetables; which is when I learned a very important aspect of a successful traveler. Always pay attention to your surroundings and what other locals are doing! As it turns out, to buy vegetables at certain markets you must weigh your vegetables (the machine prints out a price tag based on the weight) before taking them to the cashier to purchase, because if you don’t the lady will yell at you and make you walk all the way back to the produce section across the store and weigh your food. The many customers behind me in line were glaring and so I decided to just leave my produce behind and not purchase any that day
I ended up going to a restaurant with my roommate. The place was good, I had Hovezi Gulas with a small beer. So cheap for such a large plate of food and I liked how I could pick the size of beer I wanted. Another thing I learned was that beer is cheaper than water sometimes and always put down a coaster if you want beer (pivo, pronounced peevoe).
Insider tip: always have cash on you, most places do not accept plastic.
Being Page For Life 