Prague + Blog = Plog: Day 4

This was my day to sleep in. After the first night, and staying up until 2 last night (still adjusting to time change), I slept until noon. Another late start...2pm. We decided to stay on the west side of the river today. A quick falafel breakfast (lunch) from a small and surprisingly authentic arabic street side shop and then we decided to head up to the observatory. "Up" being the key word. The observatory sits on top of the highest point of the city and there are two options to get there: walk (hike) or take a tram. To Karl’s dispair, I chose for us to walk up. (That's what he gets for making me choose). Although I know he is not a huge fan of all the walking I actually really enjoy it. And I was thinking that a small hike up the hill would be a decent workout. After about 30 minutes of winding pathways of cobblestone and earth we arrived at the top slightly sweaty and out of breath. On the way up we had a few stunning views of the old city, with the end of day sun creating an almost golden glow on the faces of all the buildings below. We were excited to shoot this from the top of the observatory before the light was gone so we rushed to the tower, only to find that it would cost us 200 cz ($10+) to CLIMB a thousand spiraling stairs to the top. Karl actually did much better at this part than I did, taking two to three steps at a time while I pushed my way up (at quite a steady pace I thought) with an annoying British tourist breathing down my neck behind me. Work out clothes would have been appropriate. Sweating and out of breath, again, we made it to the top but missed the light (Shit, we are going to have to do this again - Karl). We opted for the tram down the hill…and will surely take it up next time when we return. We grabbed a quick tea in a small coffee shop (where I called mom) then spent the rest of the day visiting shops on the west side of the river, before dinning at a nice authentic riverside restaurant. Goulash, lamb knuckle, local spirits, etc. Btw...this was our Thanksgiving. No substitute for turkey and stuffing, but it was nice and the service was great. Then back to hotel for a bit of rest before heading back out for some late night shooting in the city lights...after the streets were clear of people and traffic. We left the hotel around midnight (the night clerk looked at us like we were nuts as we headed out all bundled up, loaded with camera gear, sporting brand new white running shoes…(our feet were tired from all the walking and Karl really didn’t care what people thought at this hour. I don't care how much pain my feet are in, I will never make that mistake again. We were a great source of amusement for all the other late nighters out and about...with our dark clothing and bright white running shoes glowing in the city lights). We got a few shots but discovered that the major attractions lighting up the city streets and skylines power down around 1 am, so mission unaccomplished. Bummer. Back to hotel to sleep!

A view from the upper floor window of our hotel.

The entrance to our hotel...look familiar Zo?

K looking at map....tourist? (sorry, couldn't resist....although he never gets us lost :)

A look down the street from the hotel. Here comes the metro.

One of the beautiful buildings of Prague.

Not sure what this part of town is called. It is sort of on the edge of Mala Strana, a more upscale part of the city.

One of the many side streets.

Door.

The tram we did NOT take up to the observatory. The tram we WILL take up next time.

The beautiful light that was making the city glow at the end of the day.

Where's Karldo?

A chapel at the top.

Gazing out over the city. What a handsome jaw line :P

A panorama from the top. It needs some work. Photographers - any good suggestions on how to reduce vignettes in the individual frames before stitching them all together?