Our first stop was Cukrkavalimonada (no I am actually not kidding), a cafe in our neighborhood that we have passed several times but never checked out. The inside was cozy and sophisticated (seems to be the theme we keep choosing) and the menu included both breakfast and lunch items. Fresh baked goods kept arriving on the counter from the pastry chef as we settled in...yum. The ceiling was probably the most interesting feature though. It was made of exposed wood that had been hand stenciled with a floral type design (I have pointed this out before, but the detail and workmanship throughout this city is never ending). I grabbed breakfast. Karl had lunch. We skipped dessert (not that we didn't strongly consider it) because we really wanted to get out and explore while the sun was out. No worries...we will go back for the sweets.
After the cafe we headed to the Lennon Wall, a popular tourist spot that was just around the corner. It featured a large image of John Lennon and lots of graffiti and written messages. The story behind the wall goes like this...."In 1988, the wall was a source of irritation for the communist regime of Gustav Husak. Young Czechs would write grievances on the wall and in a report of the time this led to a clash between hundreds of students and security police on the nearby Charles Bridge. The movement these students followed was described ironically as "Lennonism" and Czech authorities described these people variously as alcoholics, mentally deranged, sociopathic, and agents of Western capitalism. The wall continuously undergoes change and the original portrait of Lennon is long lost under layers of new paint. Even when the wall was repainted by some authorities, on the second day it was again full of poems and flowers. Today, the wall represents a symbol of youth ideals such as love and peace."
Just beyond the Lennon wall we crossed a small bridge. The bridge had an iron fence on one side covered in hundreds of locks...it was a "Love Lock" bridge. “Love Locks” is a custom in which lovers fasten padlocks to a fence or similar public fixture to symbolize their love for each other (locking the padlock and throwing away the key).
After checking out the locks for a few minutes we noticed the weather was changing fast. The sun had disappeared, and the wind had begun to pick up and some snow flakes started to fall. We moved on and soon meet up with a few tourists on segways (people riding around on segways have been a great source of entertainment for us since we have been here). The woman rode over a pile of slush and completely wiped out. It was pretty hysterical; their tour guide had to stop and call it in...we snuck a couple pictures again. In no time we were freezing our you-know-whats-off so we hurried across the Charles Bridge searching for some warmth. Once across, we ducked into several of little shops (tourist traps) to take advantage of their heat...pretending to be interested in the stuff they were selling. From there we made it as far as Old Town Square before we broke down from the cold and entered a café for some hot tea…and a raspberry croissant.
After we had warmed up a bit, we set out toward Wenceslas Square in search of a DHL location. Our purchases here have WAY exceeded our luggage capacity and somebody told us there was a shipping office in this area. After about 20 minutes of searching with no luck we gave up and decided that what we really needed more than anything was to be indoors for the rest of the day. We could see the National Museum off in the distance at end of the square and decided that’s where we would go (ok, it was more me, K hates museums).
On our way there we came across Como, a restaurant that we had heard about (it was part of the Kampa Group…we previously ate at the Kampa Park restaurant, one of Prague’s top restaurants, and read about it there). K thought he would be a much better museum companion if we grabbed a small bite there, and I wasn’t going to complain about the chance to get out of the cold. Inside we had bruschetta with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, and an antipasto "mixto" with several different meats and cheeses.
We finally got to the museum around 4pm. The lighting inside was not great (interior lighting is dim and the dark skies outside were not letting any light in) and the museum did not allow the use of a flash. Also, I had to pay 50 Czech Krowns to purchase a license to take pictures. Anyway, there are a couple of museums in Prague, this is the oldest one and it features sections on mineralogy, anthropology, paleontology and zoology. We took time to go through ALL the exhibits. The mineralogy was probably the most interesting, as it had every mineral known to man on display. After the museum we scurried back to the apartment to get out of the cold, again.
For dinner we went to Safran (“saffron”), a nice little restaurant at the end of Kampa Park along the river. We have been trying as many neighborhood restaurants as possible and the cold made staying local an easy choice. The menu focused on the finest fresh ingredients and, of course, included a handful of dishes that used saffron. We both had delicious minestrone soup to start. For the meal, I had grilled shrimp with a tarragon spice mixture and K had grilled duck breast with apples and ginger. And for dessert, I had raspberry au gratin (with a cream cheese base…yum) and K had a pear boiled in saffron wine (the waiter poured more wine over the pear and lit it when he served it).
All in all…a very good day. It was great to have some light early in the day to get a few outside shots.
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