Day 11&12: 20 Mile Walkabout Prague

Day 11 started with our very last meal as three Americans and a Swede. Off to Sweden they go...

And off to roam more of Prage we went...

We crossed Čech Bridge to start the adventure on the west side of the Vltava River. We walked up stairs, and stairs, and more stairs of Letná hill. We saw breathtaking views of the city...

The shoes, not sure the meaning, are in the place of an old Stalin monument that was destroyed in 1962.

A very friendly dog greeted me by running between my legs. Looks like I have a tail...

Then we made it the Prague castle grounds at the perfect time to watch the changing of the guards.

According to the Guinness book of world records, Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world. Some think it was founded in 880 by the prince of an old dynasty. 

From all over Prague, you can see this beautiful cathedral. I assumed it was actually the Prague castle, but no, it is the St Vitus cathedral within the castle grounds. 

The cathedral was sprawling with amazing stained glass windows

The grounds included a museum of an ancient street within the grounds called Golden Lane.

Above the Golden Lane, there was a museum where we saw all different shapes and sizes of knights armor. Most of the dates on the armor cases were between 1450-1550.

After leaving the bustling castle grounds, we were a little worried we had done something wrong when we went through these frighteningly desolate passages.

Despite the creepiness, we made it to the Strahiv Monastery where we explored the peaceful grounds

And then headed into the beautiful gardens on Petrin Hill. We could have tried to accomplish the stairs of this Eiffel Tower look-a-like, Pertrin Tower. But we didn't, we figured the 70+ flights of stairs we had done up until this point would probably suffice.

The walk down Petrin Hill was so pretty it felt fake. The camera couldn't come close to doing it justice. 

Towards the bottom of the hill we found this monument. The dedication said, "The memorial to the victims of communism dedicated to all victims, not only those who were jailed or executed but also those whose lives were ruined by totalitarian depotism."

While headed to Charles Bridge to cross back over to our side of the Vtlava, we made sure to visit the Lennon Wall.

Prior to 1989, western music was banned from Central and Eastern Europe. Because Lennon's songs praised freedom that they did not have, he became a hero. After he was killed in 1980, someone painted his face on the wall of The French Embassy. The wall became a popular site for graffiti and political messages. Police tried over and over to paint over the graffiti, but it was always back by the next day. Such a beautiful image and symbol of peace...

We crossed the Charles Bridge and enjoyed a look at all the ground we had covered. We started at the far right of the picture and ended at the far left of the picture. Such an amazing day of exploring.

Ending with a delicious Italian feast, round 2. We had been dreaming about it since our first night.

Day 12 - Our last day

We decided to take a river stroll down to the Dancing House, an unusual building that we had to set our eyes on.

Further outside the city center just above the river, we visited a historical fort from the 10th century, Vyšehrad. The views were equally amazing as from Letná Hill. Again, pictures just could not do it justice.

Today, we only did 24 flights of stairs compared to our 100 flights of stairs yesterday. 

Overall 20+ miles of Prague in two days, 125 flights of stairs, pretty great end to the trip. Now we stay the night across from the airport. We wake up at 4 am and zombie our way to our terminal. 

We loved you Prague! Maybe we can see you again someday in the summer when you are green and warm. 

Thanks everyone for listening to our long, wordy blogs. We enjoyed writing them and hope you enjoyed reading them. 

Tomorrow, home sweet home.

Day 10: Prague Food Tour

Today, Mandy and Johan ran around visiting the Prague castle, while Malia and Kelly caught up on some much needed sleep. We all met with our Prague Food Tour guides, George and Leona, at the National Theater, one of the three places to see an Opera in Prague

Our first stop was Café Savoy with a beautiful, ornate ceiling. It was built in 1893 and the ceiling is exactly as it was then. It survived being destroyed because the owener's had the foresight to cover it with a false ceiling about a meter down, so it looked like any boring old ceiling. At one point during the Soviet occupation, they said it was even used as a garage to fix cars. So when the cafe was finally given back to the original owners the false ceiling was destroyed and black. Luckily, the knew what glory was behind it. They had saved the beautiful ceiling.

This was one of our first treats, a couple types of open faced sandwiches.  The egg, radish, and potato salad is the most traditional, called Chlebiček bramborovym salátem.

We also had some amazing sweet treats at the first place, but we all were so excited to eat it and didn't think to get a picture until they were gone. They were Vanilkový věneček (donut with custard filling) and Laskonka (coconut meringue with chocolate and coffee filling).

Next, we went to a new old bar to try some traditional Czech liquor and cocktails. 

First up, absinthe. They say the Czech's love their absinthe. It was never outlawed here, like it was in other countries. We learned that the proper way to make an absinthe cocktail is with this little water dispenser and a special spoon. You pour the absinthe in the glass, then put a sugar cube on the special spoon and slowly drip water over it until the sugar completely dissolves into the glass.

It ends up looking like this fine drink in Kelly's hand...

And Johan's

Next drink up was a flaming drink called a Becherocka Blue Blazer

It smelled like Christmas, it tasted like straight booze. I much preferred to just hold it close to my face and enjoy the dealicious orange and cinnamon aromas.

Last drink of the tasting was a Hruškovice/merunkovice/silvovice sour. It was the crowd favorite, it was still rather boozy but the egg whites gave it a creamy consistency that made it very nice.

Johan said this was a must have shot. You cannot tell that we are sitting on tiny little chairs on a window seal bench.

After our drink tasting, we walked across the old town square. George told us a story about what these sticks were used for. Supposedly, and Leona seemed to corroborate the story, the Monday after Easter men go into the woods to find these sticks. Then, they go to their lady's door and spank them with it. In return, the lady gives the man a decorated egg. 

Our next stop was this long beer pub Lokál. It was about drinking beer and eating beer food. 

From furthest away to closest: 

Tatarák - steak tartar (yes we braved it, and most of us really liked it)

Smaženy syr - fried cheese

Pražská šunka - Prague ham

Nakládany hermelín - Marinated cheese

We finished our beers

And headed to Café Imperial... We only caught a picture of the soup called Kulajda - dill soup with poached eggs and mushrooms. 

We all had a main dish too, we were definitely not hungry for it. But we were on a food tour, so we had to do what we had to do. Surprisingly, It was more meat and dumplings... 

We slowly strolled home, all of us struggling to move and breath. Might not need to eat for days...

We had a nice relaxing end of our last day with Mandy and Johan hanging out and enjoying our apartment. They leave us in the morning. It has been an amazing trip with epic experiences together. They will finish there trip in Sweden with Johan's family. We stay in Prague two more days. 

To say good night, here is a view Mandy and Johan caught from the Prague Castle. Kelly and I haven't experienced it yet, but we will tomorrow.

Ahoj! (Found out today that can mean bye too)

Day 9.5: Beer Spa and Pretty Views

When our bus dropped us  off back in Prague, we made a mad dash for our 3:30 appointment at the beer spa. If you're asking yourself, what is a beer spa, prepare to have your mind blown.

Our spa attendant mixed beer from in the tap, and grains from these two buckets into......

Giant bathtubs. You could rent a single tub or a double tub. Naturally we rented two, two seaters.

Each tub had a glass chiller and two taps for beer, one for light and one for dark. 

We were instructed to soak for 25 minutes, and then relax on the hay-bed for a half hour. We were not supposed to shower for two hours in order to maximize the "the healing power for both inside and outside the body."

Some of us soaked the whole time while some Swedes among us enjoyed a full thirty minute hay lounge.

We finished our beers and headed out for dinner.

The view from our table was amazing. I know that word is over used but in this case, totally accurate.

We saw the Prague Castle and Charles Bridege. 

And then the sun began to set.

It was a beautiful end to an eventful day. 

Tomorrow, we explore the castle and embark on a food tour. Pictures of sausages to come...