Sept 17-20: Prague

The Prague-nostications were Correct, by Cathy

Prague is, as Mick would say, “Amazing!” Our first day in Prague started with our departure from Krakow – this time on FlixBus (affiliated with Polski Bus). We Ubered to the bus station and boarded the bus with time to spare. Wanting to get some more obwarzanki (like O-shaped soft pretzels) before leaving Poland, I took my change purse (small zippered pouch with my CA driver’s license, one credit card and some cash) out of the zippered pouch where it lives safely in my purse. Three obwarzanki in hand, I returned to the bus, all good. All good at least until we arrived in Ostrava (Czech Republic), where we had a one-hour wait for our train to Prague, and I discovered that my change purse was gone. I was almost certain I’d had it with me when I returned to the bus, and I knew that the bus’s end destination was Prague (not sure why we didn’t just take it the whole way – I think the train was cheaper and faster?), so I told Jeff I wanted to go to the Prague bus station when we arrived. He agreed, but since he immediately canceled my credit card back in Ostrava, I figured he was just humoring me, and I was doubtful myself. When the bus finally arrived, I went over to our (very little English-speaking) bus driver and told him that I’d lost my wallet. He looked questioningly at first, but then said, “ID?!” I said, “Yes, yes! ID!” He took me to the front of the bus, asked me for my name, and then brought out my change purse. I was so happy I threw my arms around him and said thank you over and over. He gave me a look like I was crazy (don’t think passengers hug him often), but smiled and then said, “ID happen lot.”

At about 6 o’clock we finally found our Airbnb address, smack dab in the middle of the maze-like streets of old town, and met up with our host’s son who showed us the place. Another funky spot in an ancient building, but surprisingly quiet given the craziness of the street where we entered. Mick liked the location immediately since directly across the street is “Captain Candy” and a place that sells trdelnik – basically strips of cinnamon roll dough, wrapped around a cylinder and then cooked on a spit over a fire before being rolled in cinnamon sugar. You can eat them as-is or have them filled with ice cream, chocolate sauce, vanilla cream or apple pie filling – and then topped with whipped cream.

After exploring our neighborhood a bit (= walking in circles amongst masses of tourists) and marveling at the seemingly endless stream of impressive-looking old buildings adorned with equally impressive statues, we stopped for a light (not) dinner (goulash and dumplings for Jeff, a spätzle dish for me, a burger for Mick) and some Pilsner Urquell. Not quite ready to go home, we walked over to the Charles Bridge. Jeff decided to head home about halfway across the bridge, but Mick and I walked to the other side and explored a bit. What our exploration revealed was… trdelnik shops everywhere! Mick reminded me that he has a second, dessert stomach, so we got one…. a sinfully good way to end the day. Expect to see trdelniks in Fisherman’s Wharf soon.

On Sunday, we suffered our first real rip-off. On Jeff’s morning run, he ran through Prague’s Old Town Square, near the famous astronomical clock, that had what looked like good, cheap street food for lunch. Of course, even though he’d been there in the morning, we had to get the map out to find it! When we got there, one of the places with ham roasting on a spit looked delicious to Jeff. It had a long line, so we figured that was the best one. It didn’t look as great to me, so I went back and got a sausage/baguette thing I’d seen near the clock. Jeff and Mick were just checking out when I rejoined them. The food – a sausage with a slice of dry rye bread (what are you supposed to do with that?), a big chunk of ham, and a small, flimsy bowl loaded with what was supposed to be potatoes, cabbage and ham – was on a scale and the vendor told Jeff it would be 1,000 crowns or koruna (@$45). Flustered, not having that amount (Isn’t that more than our dinner the night before?) and not being able to pay with credit card, Jeff said he’d just take the sausage and the potato slop and that was about $25 (my sausage was $3). With some time to sit and figure this all out, we realized we’d been had. We went back to the stand and just happened to hear another English-speaking group talking about the scam. I went in close and took a picture as one of the guys shouted “no pictures!” to me.

Feeling slightly dejected and mad at ourselves, we took off towards the Charles Bridge again. They sure built beautiful bridges 600+ years ago. There are age-blackened statues on both sides of the bridge at equal intervals. Several of them, presumably saints, have areas of shiny bronze, evidently from the rubs of many respect-paying visitors over the years. On the other side of the bridge we meandered uphill and eventually made it to the famous Prague Castle complex, according to Guinness the largest ancient castle in the world (750,000 sq ft). St. Vitus Cathedral was the biggest wow of the day for us, both outside and inside, but the walk along the southern gardens of the complex and the views of the city down below was a close second. We discussed the highlights of the day over another light Czech meal.

Monday we decided to try one of the off-the-beaten-path walks outlined in a brochure we found at our apartment and we were thankful we did. his was the right choice for sure. We crossed the river at  Manes Bridge and walked for five miles through all kinds of parks and green spaces with great views of the castle and old town Prague below. Letna Park, the Chotkovy Gardens, the Fig Garden at The Belvedere (Queen Anne’s Summer House), the deer moat around Prague Castle, and the many small gardens within Kinsky Garden on Petrin Hill. At the top of Petrin Hill we climbed 300 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower-esque Petrin Lookout Tower, built in 1891, and took in some beautiful panoramic views of Prague. Our route also took us by the Strahov Monastery. Like all good monasteries, this one has a microbrewery, dating back to the 13th century, where you can get several types of St. Norbert beer. Next o the brewery (for reasons unknown) is the Museum of Miniatures, one of many unusual museums in Prague. We ended our walking tour along the river where we saw David Černý’s “Crawling Babies” and the John Lennon Wall we’d heard about and seen pictures of. Before going back up the steps to the Charles Bridge, we discovered the John Lennon Pub, where we returned for dinner after giving our feet some time to rest.

Tuesday was spent largely catching up on things, but Jeff and Mick ventured out to Kampa Island, where they saw a beautiful sunset and an otter. A burrito from a Californian-owned burrito joint and a trdelnik for dessert just the thing for an early bedtime that we need for an early morning departure for Vienna.

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