After breakfast, it was time to go to the Prague Castle! I was pretty excited about this. This was also the only time we ever needed to use the tram while in Prague - we took the subway almost as far up as we could go, then took the tram up to the castle. BTW, don’t sit their at the bus stop for 20 minutes thinking that it’s the bus line you’re taking. I think sometimes the locals would use the word ‘bus’ and ‘tram’ interchangeably.
Prague Castle is a huuuuuge compound, on top of a big hill overlooking the city. It’s also on the side of the river opposite Old Town Square, and our hotel. The tickets for the castle were pretty reasonable - we paid for the “short visit” which included entrance to St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica, and Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower ($12.50 per person). I could have easily paid for the “long visit” and been very happy (that included St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, permanent exhibition "The Story of Prague Castle", St. George's Basilica, Convent of St. George - National Gallery /until February 28/, Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower, Prague Castle Picture Gallery, Powder Tower, Rosenberg Palace for $17.50). There was so much to see and do there, it basically was a mini city within the city.
First stop was inside the palace. It was pretty sparsely furnished, but no biggie.
Checkout the stove. I LOVE the stoves they used to use in castles/palaces. I want one.
Next up - St. George's Basilica. They still regularly hold concerts in this church - in fact, they were having one that night (couldn’t make that one, unfortunately).
Next stop was my favorite area of the castle grounds - The Golden Lane. (I swear, that name just reminds me of some of the ickier parts of the Sex Machine Museum).
The Golden Lane is the street right outside the palace where the servants/workers would have lived. They are TINY houses, and some of them are redone to look how they would have looked back then, and some were converted into shops.
We all walk into the Lane. I turn around, and suddenly Lacie & Josh are just gone. Vanished. It was fairly crowded, but not so crowded that we would have lost site of those two. Yahreen and I just stood there looking dumbfounded and slightly lost. I ran into a few gift shops to kill time and wait for them. They still weren’t back from whatever black hole they had jumped into. So, I went looking for them, while Yahreen stayed with The Squirt. Still couldn’t find them.
I swear it was a good 25 minutes before we found them again. They had gone into the houses and museums without us. Actually, the two went in SEPERATELY, and then found each other halfway through their little let’s-escape-Courtney-and-Yahreen party.
For shame, people.
After getting over the shock of abandonment, we went to Daliborka Tower, which was where the jail/dungeons were located. This was pretty amazing, and really pretty creepy. I can imagine being in a jail today is like being in The Ritz, compared with the dungeons from back then.
We had one more stop on our “short visit” pass - St. Vitus' Cathedral. Unfortunately, today was Sunday, meaning there was mass. They were allowing people in after mass let out, though, so that’s when we went to the Golden Lane. After the Lane, we went back up to the Cathedral.
I’m not good with crowds. I know that’s kind of a dumb thing for a traveller to not be good with, but it’s true. I’m talking elbow-to-elbow, some Japanese-person-smelling-your-armpit type crowding. That’s exactly the kind of crowded it was in this church. Yahreen didn’t even attempt it with the stroller. When the three of us finally made it inside the cathedral, there were even MORE people in there. It was pretty ridiculous, actually.
Josh is the type of photographer that likes to take 20 pictures of the same thing on slightly (if at all) different settings. Normally, I’m okay with that. But, in situations such as this, I was about to pull my hair out. I just wanted to walk thru, see the stuff, and quit waiting around for Ansel Adams to finish his damn portfolio. So, Lacie and I broke off from him (we DID tell him we were leaving him, unlike SOME people did at the Golden Lane). I thought we’d be able to make it around the Cathedral and out in a quick fashion.
Nope.
It took flippin’ forever to get thru the masses of people. It was a nice church, and very ornate....but so’s every other Cathedral around here. Yes, I’m jaded, whatevs.
After basically Roman-Grecco wrestling our way outta there, and Josh making is way out shortly thereafter, we left to walk around the outside of the palace, and down the steps.
As we left the Cathedral, we did get to see the changing of the guards. That was pretty cool (and some of those guardsmen...phew! not bad at all).
I’d say it took us about half a day to do the palace. One could easily spend the whole day there, and if I went again, I’d do the “long visit”. There are a few restaurants and cafes up there, so that would help a lot.
As for us, we were starving. We made our way down eleventy-million steps (ow) and went menu-reading. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but Josh and I are always on the search for good Mexican food in Europe. I know that’s a ridiculous thing to search for, but sometimes we get desperate.
We actually found a Tex-Mex restaurant in Prague. Whhhaaaaa?? Yes, please! And actually, it was probably one of the best Mexican restaurants we’ve tried in Europe. Granted, that’s not saying much, but it is saying something. I mean, sure, the salsa was really a kind of pico de gallo made of red bell peppers instead of tomatoes....but still, they actually had guacamole! And it’s hard to mess up a veggie quesadilla. Lacie was the only one to get Czech food (goulash with dumplings) and she said hers was really bad. So, if you’re ever in Prague & get the hankerin’ for faux Tex-Mex (but NOT Czech food), try Jo’s Bar.
After lunch, it was time to find Lennon’s Wall. In the early 80s, somebody painted a portrait of Lennon on a wall. It stuck. People have been painting messages of peace, love, and Beatles ever since. Every once in awhile, the city will paint over the entire wall, but people just re-paint it. The wall was in a very quiet area, and would be completely miss-able if you didn’t know where to look.
After the wall, we walked towards St. Charles’ Bridge. There was a market right before the bridge, and can you guess what we purchased? Come on, I know you know.
Yup, takeaway beer. Love it.
St. Charles’ Bridge is for pedestrians only, and crosses the river. It’s full of crafters, and artists, and tourists. Great for people watching, and city watching, and general hustle-and-bustle watching.
I really loved the whole area at the base of the castle. I wish our hotel had been on that side of the water, really.
But, c’est la vie.
It was getting kind of late in the day, and we had to go back to our hotel to find out where we were going to eat for dinner. Tonight was the night we were supposed to do our included 3-course meal at the restaurant at our hotel. The reviews for our restaurant were really really excellent (Italian, with wood-fired pizza ovens). We were excited to eat there.
Except for the fact that that morning, our concierge told us that the restaurant was unexpectedly closed that day. She was really irritated with the restaurant owners, and I almost felt bad for her (I think she was expecting us to be really mad at her). But, she ended up scrambling, and finding us reservations at the restaurant in their sister hotel, the Residence La Bologna.
The real drag was that we didn’t find out what restaurant they were sending us to until AFTER we had come back from sightseeing that day. Of course, Residence La Bologna was back in town, and we had to treck back out AGAIN. Oy.
We get back on the subway, walk our way around town (getting lost & confused), and FINALLY find the La Bologna, and it’s restaurant.
It’s 7:30pm. The restaurant is completely empty. This should have been our first warning sign of problems to come. Actually, it WAS our first warning sign, and we all made comments about how bad it was that the restaurant was empty. Yes, we were off the beaten path, but we weren’t THAT far off.
Normally, we would have just left - no way would I have eaten at a restaurant like that. Buuuut, the meal was included, and we wanted free stuff. That was our downfall (well, the downfall of a certain member of our party).
Since it was a set 3-course meal, we all started out with caprese salad (which was very good). Then, I had pasta for my main meal, and the other three had grilled chicken. My pasta was actually really good (it was an Italian restaurant, so I should hope). Lacie didn’t like her chicken, and only ate maybe 1/2 of it. Josh ate all of his. Yahreen ate all of his, but on the last bite stated, “That chicken didn’t taste good. In fact, that last bite tasted bad.” (foreshadowing) Then we had chocolate ice cream for dessert. For being free, the meal was fine (well, WOULD have been fine, except....)
After a let-down of a meal, we walked back to the subway, and back to our hotel. But not before running by the local shop & picking up a bunch of wine. Of course, we got all the way back to our hotel before realizing we didn’t have a bottle opener. Oops. Josh went to the front desk, and THEY didn’t have a bottle opener. They even knocked on the door of another suite, and asked if they had one. Nope. So, Josh went back to the shop, wine bottles in hand, and had the shop owner open them all, with his own opener that he had to grab from his house (he lived in the home connected to his shop).
FINALLY, wine & games!! We had a great last night, and drank a lot (shocker), and laughed a lot. It was so much fun.
The next morning it was time to make the drive back home. Except, one of us wasn’t feeling so good. Poor Yahreen was having stomach issues. Everyone assumed it was the wine.
Nope.
He felt bad first thing in the morning, but after about thirty minutes (and a little pepto, and a little making-himself-puke) he was completely fine. Whole new Yahreen. It HAD to have been the wine.
Except, when we stopped for lunch, he got sick again. And, he was sick for the entire ride home. Josh drove home, and he drove faster than he normally does, and had to weave & stop on the shoulder of the autobahn every thirty minutes. What should have taken 3 hours (we had gone almost 3 hours by lunch) took 6 hours. We drove L&Y straight to the ER on base. It was such an awful trip back for everyone, most of all Yahreen (obviously).
Folks - no matter what super awesome deal you’re getting - DO NOT EAT AT A RESTAURANT WITH NO CUSTOMERS DURING PRIME MEAL TIME!!! I know food poisoning can happen at any restaurant, but ESPECIALLY in restaurants such as the one we went to the night before. We all knew it was a bad idea to eat there in the first place, but we did it anyway. Lacie and Josh REALLY dodged a bullet with their chicken.
I still maintain that my pasta was delicious, though...
Other than that awful, awful incident - the trip to Prague was great fun. I don’t know if I necessarily need to go back, but I sure wouldn’t fight it. I’d probably stay on the Castle-side of the river if we went back - and I’d definitely go see a marionette show. Oh, and do the Ghost Walk (I’m still torn up about that, btw).
So, here’s our rundown:
Courtney’s favorite: The Golden Lane @ Prague Complex
Josh’s favorite: I'm not sure...forgot to ask. I'll update when I ask him, but I'd guess his favorite was Prague Castle.
Courtney’s least-favorite: Sex Machine Museum
Josh’s least-favorite: Sex Machine Museum
Best meal: lunch stop at Kutna Hora
Worst meal: restaurant inside Residence la Bologna (duh)
Must sees/dos: Prague Castle, drink Czech beer, the town of Kutna Hora (there are a ton more, but those are the top three)
On a completely unrelated note - at the metro stop nearest our hotel, we kept seeing a movie poster and it had us completely intrigued. I don’t know what this movie is about, but I sense an Oscar.
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