I recently had the opportunity to have Lunch In The Sky here in Prague. This is a unique concept where you eat and drink while hanging 50m off the ground dangling from a crane.  Depending on the weather and the location, this can be an experience which you won’t forget easily.

I had already chanced upon this concept in Helsinki last August. The view of the whole city stretching out underneath me as I sipped a cocktail late in a summer evening was breathtaking. As soon as I discovered that I could book a Lunch in the Sky here in Prague, I knew I had to put my name down.

I went with a good friend of mine, Francois Paul, and we spent most of the few days leading up to the event anxiously checking the weather report. We were a little concerned that it was overcast, and would probably rain, but it turned out that we had nothing to worry about.

The event took place at Cihelna which is very close to the Charles Bridge. Having received instructions to be there 30 minutes before take off, we were seated in the terrace of the Hergetova Cihelna restaurant with plenty of time to spare. This restaurant was supporting the concept and its chefs were the ones cooking for us. It turned out that we needn’t have worried about timing as the previous flight was delayed so we ended up being served several glasses of sparkling wine to help us wait.

Ah well.

For those of you who have never done this before, here are 5 helpful tips to keep in mind:

1. When seated, a lady comes round to strap you in. This is not because she’s taken a fancy to you, so it is considered inappropriate to wink at her. The straps are there to make sure you don’t fall out.
2. If you’ve been drinking on an empty stomach before taking off, there is a certain amount of pleasure to be derived from turning your seat around 180 degrees and watch your feet dangle above the city while you’re feeling light-headed.
3. The food is going to be world-class. It is going to be very difficult to enjoy the meal and also make sure that you see everything from up there. Don’t forget to look around.
4. If it starts to rain while you’re up in the air, don’t panic. Think of it as a refreshing cool extension to your shower cabinet but with food, wine and other people you’ve never met before.
5. Don’t forget to take as many pictures as you can. While you’re trying to enjoy the food and quaff more wine, the view is certainly not going to let you forget this one.

The menu we had on the day was superb:

• Shrimp salad Skagen with dill, mayonnaise and toast. (Accompanied by Adami Prosecco Treviso)
• Chicken ballotine, risotto cake and creamy morel sauce (Accompanied by Attitude Sauvignon Blanc 2012)
• Frozen strawberry cappuccino (Accompanied by Muga Rosado, Muga 2012, Rioja)

Throughout the meal, we also had water together with the wines and we also had time to enjoy the view, fool around and experience a bird’s-eye view of the historical centre like no other.

Sadly, this was only here for a weekend. Those of you lucky enough to have this in their town or city should certainly take advantage of it.

Take a look at a few pictures we took from up there. All pictures (c) Francois Paul.

The Lunch in the Sky was organised by LimeAndTonic.com who frequently organise activities in Prague as well as other major cities including Sydney and London.