Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Good morning! On Thursday we woke up to sunshine and a little warmer weather. We went back up to the castle - first stopping to grab a "take-away" cup of warm spiced wine! The castle is grand and the church even more so. The gothic architecture and baroque intereriors are indescribable. The view over the city was clear today and we spent time reflecting on our visit. Off in the distance you can see the TV Tower: a modern monstrasity dominating the skyline built by the communists to block out east german radio signals. I've heard it was decorated by an artists with statues of babies, painted black, crawling up it. My daughter, Annie took some good pictures of it, I don't think we'll make the trek out there. We'll see how the day goes.
After strolling the castle grounds and gardens we took the metro back into Old Town to find lunch. Wandered into Karavella, and were not disappointed. Mushroom soup, little sauges with the BEST horseradish I've ever had, more potato pancakes and more pivo. This time we tried a Sv Venclavas (I believe that is Czech for St. Wenceslaus) beer. Oh boy, this was wonderful stuff. It was sweet, almost like a brandy, and strong! We left smiling.
We decided to go over to the main train station to buy our tickets to Vienna. When we finished that task we were going to step outside and wander around this part of town, but the clouds had suddenly gathered and it began to spit rain. I didn't want another cold, soaked walk so we took the metro back to the hotel. We spent a couple of hours reading and resting then went across the street to a church (I don't have the name right now) to listen to an organ concert playing Mozart and Bach. Once again, soaring gothic ceilings, richly decorated baroque altars. It was very peaceful and beautiful. The accoustics are wonderful and the organ vibrated with beautiful music.
For dinner we didn't want to wander far, so despite our resolution to not eat in this main tourist area, we went to a little place on the square. U Mecenase is supposed to be (I presume) a more upscale place. We ordered a bottle of Italian Dolcetto for a change of pace; had goulash and a curried turkey breast. For this $55 meal we have spent the most and disliked the most. The food just wasn't as good as the more simple fare we've been having. Our instincts have certainly been right on this one. However, the interior was old and cozy, the waiter very nice.
Afterwards we wandered back up our street and into another pub serving Budvar (yes, the original Budweiser). Alex had this and I had some of the sweet hot wine (major favorite now). As we were drinking, the head waiter fell to the ground in a seizure! We ran over to him and in less than a minute he was saying "dobre, dobre" "i'm good, I'm good". He got up, took a long drag off his cigarette and that was that! Wow.
We finished up and went back to our room, this night I stayed up past 10 oclock!
- comments
Annie Oh momma, I love your stories. Brings back all the wonderful memories I have of a beautiful place. The Zizkov TV tower is creepy from far away, and even more so up close. You didn't miss much. Remember to rest and take it easy some days! I know it's hard because you want to see everything, but you are right, traveling is hard work and it is easy to get exhausted. Miss you!