Day 21 - Rainy Day

Another cold and rainy day in Prague. It was Sunday and our options were a bit limited anyway. We ventured out to the Café Lounge for brunch around 1pm. It was another late start to the day…no surprises there…but we actually planned it this time. We were up really late Friday night (3am), and out the door early (at least for us) on Sat morning, so we decided to catch up on some extra zzz’s.

We arrived at the Café Lounge only to find that it was closed on Sundays. Ugh, but we were still in our neighborhood (Mala Strana) and good places to eat are seemingly endless. We settled on Sushi Bar, perhaps because we were both feeling the need for a, ah, “health conscious” meal…something we probably haven’t really had since being here.

Inside, and out of the cold, we were given a well put together menu, which outlined the different types of sushi, how it’s prepared, the health benefits, etc., etc. It also had bios with photos of the “management” team (Karl said it looked more like mug shots for a Russian Mafia gang). The team consisted of the “manager”, the “server”, and four “cooks” (isn’t sushi raw?). And then the prices. Whoa! I guess we did have to support the team after all...it wasn’t your typical clan of Asian restaurateurs.

Not long after ordering we quickly learned that, in addition to the food, we were paying for service, which they did quite well actually. Water and teacups were kept filled before you could even put them down. We were served a very nice tuna tempura dish as a complimentary appetizer. The manager regularly visited our table to arrange, and rearrange, our place settings to make sure we were able to eat and drink as efficiently as possible...and he would ring a bell every time somebody entered or left the restaurant (guess he didn't know about those little chime things you can put on the door).

After enjoying a our meal, and $90 later, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the apartment. Along the way we stopped at an Asian produce market, perhaps to “complete” the the missed experience at the sushi place, but realistically to grab some fruit for the apartment. A mango, two oranges and a pint of raspberries.

Back at the apartment we vegged on the couch for a while. I did some arts and crafts, cutting patterns and designs from a magazine and making bows for xmas gifts, while we watched a movie (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) related to the Holocaust.

For dinner we both wanted something simple and casual. We walked around our neighborhood checking out several restaurants before we decided on a nice little cozy one named U Morekse Panny. It was a restaurant-pizzeria with a basic menu and a warm ambience. We gabbed a couple of tall drafts of local brew (I was buzzed for sure) and I had a steak and K had a pizza. We skipped dessert tonight and headed back to the apartment to get a good night sleep.

We have conceded to the fact that the weather will probably reamin unpredictible during our final week, so we plan to search out some indoor activities. Limited pics again today, sorry. But, stay tuned!

Day 20 - Christmas Shopping

Up and at 'em early today. The skies looked promising and we needed to get out and get some excercise. Christmas shopping seemed like the logical choice...it would involve lots of walking. We actually got to our local "bagel" place - for the first time before noon - and enjoyed American blueberry pancakes and eggs before hitting the road.

First stop on the shopping tour was the Kvetna Glass Factory store, located just along the river near the Charles Bridge, and not far from our apartment. We have seen lots of glass and crystal thoughout the city in the numerous tourist shops but Karl wanted to find higher quality items and I was interested in shooting the production. We plan to go tour a glass factory, and this store was for one of the best in the Czech Republic (unfortunatly we learned from our visit that the factory was 180 miles outside the city...guess we weren't going there). The store was small, but had very nice glass and crystal on display. Karl would have bought everything if he knew he could get it home safely. He settled on some unique wine glasses and a few colored glass water serving bottles with stoppers...although he has is eyes on additional items and is looking into shipping rates to the US.

From the glass store we headed back to the apartment briefly to drop off the goods. Along the way we passed the entrance to a small park that we'd seen from our hotel when we first arrived here (you can see it in Day 4 (green grass) and Day 8 (snow covered, transformed) of the plog. We decided to take a quick walk through it and almost immediately ran into the resident peacocks that we'd also seen before from the hotel. There was also a cute old lady feeding them and we moved in to get some photos. Something definitely worth noting...I was up close and starting to shoot when three people came up on us from behind, came around us, and starting taking pictures directly in front of us. Un f'ng believable (K always tells me Europeans have no common sense...I am now a believer). Further along in the park we come upon the domain of a couple of homeless people. Rather sad but they seem comfortable and well stocked.

Outside the park we see Cafe Kaficko, a cozy little coffee shop tucked in a little side street. We were both a bit chilled and so we decided to stop in for something warm. K, the coffee expert, was so excited about the coffee menu. Not only did they have every type of coffee drink, but you could chose coffee beans from about a dozen different countries (Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, Ethopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and India). In fact he was so excited that he actually forgot to pick a country when he ordered. He was really bummed when he finally got his coffee...even worse, he absolutely hated the taste it left in his mouth. He was convinced that they give you the shit stuff ("probably Mexico") when you didn't specify what you wanted and vowed that he is no longer a coffee person...A.D.D?

After finally dropping the glass off at the apartment we headed back out towards Old Town and Wenceslas Squares. We decided to walk through Kampa Park on the way out, which was a good call (on my part) because we came upon a small craft fair where we made some good gift buys on jewelry and ceramics (K bought a small Christmas tree candle holder for himself...he was so happy), as well as some home made cheeses for the apartment. Our first xmas shopping of the day went pretty well.

On our way across the Charles Bridge we came upon two newlyweds having their wedding pics done. There were probably 50 tourist joining in and taking photos...I couldn't resist either.

As we entered Old Town Square we saw several people eating what appeared to be thick crust pizza and, of course, our mouths began to water profusely. It took us about 10 minutes to find the source...a local vendor selling "Langose"...the sign said...dough with garlic, ketchup and cheese. Somewhat dissapointed, but overrun with all the anticipation, we went for it anyway. Yep, it was fried dough with garlic, ketchup and cheese. Good thing we were hungry. But even worse, while paying, Karl drops the bag holding the ceremic items he bought earlier and one his Christmas tree (...he was so crushed).

From there we headed to another Christmas craft area that we had visited once briefly before, just outside Wencelas Square, where we had also meet an older woman displaying original paintings that we liked....but we were way too cold at the time to shop. Much to our dissapointment, she wasn't there today. We looked around a bit more, made a few small purchases, and then decided to head back to the first craft fair near the apartment to replace K's broken ceramic since that fair was for one day only and it was ending at 6pm. We made it back just in time. The vendor was very nice, and even a bit surpised when Karl pulled out his money to pay (I think he thought K was expecting him to replace for free). The vendor gave him a discount and even threw in a small candle holder for free. That's the Christmas spirit!

Back at the apartment we dropped off our purchases, relaxed and put our feet up for a few minutes, and then headed out to Noi, the delicious Thai restaurant in our neighborhood. This was probably our third visit...definitely a favorite. If you've been reading all along, you've probably realized by now that we are not fans of the traditional "local" food...instead preferring the international or more creative local options.

A pretty doorknob we passed at some point in the morning.

Just another pretty little street near our apartment.

some crystal in the nice little shop.

Karl in the park.

The totally RUDE morons who thought they would waltz right in and snap some pics.

The old woman who obviously had developed a relatioship with the birds. Cute!

Expressing his feelings...and mine.

The little hobo cave.

Looking down one of the main drags.

posing by the gate ...tehe

The one-day-only craft fair by the park. It was bustlin'!

Cheese. 'Nuff said.

The nice man selling the ceramic trees.

The new happy couple on the bridge...

One of the carriage horses working in Old Town.

Langose - deep fried dough, garlic, ketchup and cheese.

Day 19 - Designer Expo

Yesterday we connected with someone who gave us some insight on the real ins and outs of Prague...the less touristy stuff. Her name is Sara Tight and she writes the Lifestyles column for Prague-Stay.com, a great resource for people looking to visit Prague; it is also where we found our apartment. Among the ideas Sara gave us was to visit a local design expo that featured the work of young and/or up and coming designers in the areas of fashion, jewelry, glasswork and porcelain. We thought this would be a fun thing to do for today and made it our plan. Plus the weather was somewhat crap again (not cold, but cloudy and looking like rain).

Before going to the exhibit, we stopped off at the Café Lounge for breakfast, a cozy and sophisticated café that Sara also recommended. It was only a few blocks from the apartment and more, or less, on the way to the expo so it was perfect. At the café we were greeted by two cute Czech girls with funky blond (dyed) hair. At first glance you would probably think they were sisters. In any event, the café had an extensive list of coffee preferences, along with the explanations for how each is made, from latte machiatto to a café americano. K, the newborn coffee drinker, was most impressed...even if it seems that everywhere we go there is a different definition of coffee drinks that involve milk. I ordered tea and K got a coffee (make that 2). For breakfast I had poached eggs with tomato and pesto sauce (the menu said tomato pesto…but one egg had tomato on it and the other had pesto) along with toast. Karl had a...ahem...healthy English breakfast with fried eggs, bacon, sausage and toast. I must say we were both really excited to have toast that was not made with rye. Rye bread is everywhere here and often the only choice. We both hate rye bread so even white bread toast was an absolute delight. K lucked out and got a couple of pieces of wheat as well…it was probably more fitting with his "healthy" breakfast choice. We ended up spending a couple of hours in the café, eating, drinking, and surfing the internet on the free wi-fi connection (the high speed internet in our apartment has been acting up lately so it was nice to catch up on email, etc...and the blog!). During this time we also got a kick out our interaction with the blonds. They had learned some of their English in the US and would occasionally drop some slang or other particulars that would crack us up because they were so formal in their service presentations (one of them actually said “okey dokey” and “no prob”).

Our walk to the exhibit took about 15 minutes. We discovered there were three floors of exhibitors: 1^st floor – Jewelry/Glass/Porcelain; 2^nd floor – Fashion; 3^rd floor – “Chemistry”…?...basically a mix of the others. It was interesting to look at all the stuff but, with the exception of some really cool bags in the fashion area, we both agreed that the jewelry stuff was the best. And of the jewelry, we liked the stuff that was from the younger designers who really appeared to be just starting out. K actually bought some xmas gifts from them for his friends.

After the exhibit we walked toward Wenceslas Square and passed a couple of nice boutique shops. I found a nice wallet and a pair of leather boots. Much to my resistance, K insisted on getting them for me for Christmas. I think he felt bad about my last boot shopping experience (meltdown).

By now we were both starving and K decided he wanted Italian food for dinner. I was thinking that was just what I needed, NOT!. I have probably gained 10 pounds here. Eating out 2 meals a day for a month makes it hard not to…plus K has an abnormal metabolism so dessert is usually a must, ugh. Oh well, we headed to a restaurant that we had enjoyed on our second day here. We even had the same waiter this time, who remembered us, but also thought K was a famous actor...ha ha. I opted out of pasta and had chicken stuffed with mushrooms, olives and parmesan cheese. K went all out with pasta bolognaise, and profiteroles for dessert, of course. I was good and resisted dessert. It was hard.

After dinner we headed back to the apartment to catch up on updating/uploading the blog (something we had let slip for a bit due to internet issues in our apartment and a small hard drive accident). Limited pics today due to weather and being inside at the expo.

Some nice achitectural details on a building outside of Cafe Lounge.

The Blonde Twins.

The toilets? The utility closet? Kind of funny either way?

Down the row of buildings again. This sight never gets old to look at.

Some of the people selling jewelry at the expo.

Jewelry.

Bags!!!!

The love of Karl's life...

Day 18 - Sun at last...back to the observatory

Sun at last. Halleluiah! I’ve wanted to get back up to the observatory to take a few more shots of the city but the weather hasn’t exactly been cooperating. If you remember from a prior plog, our first time up to the observatory we just missed the light at the end of the day. This was not going to happen today, so off we went. K was also much more enthusiastic about going back up; perhaps it was because we were going to take the tram ride up this time.

Despite the sun it was cold and windy at the top of the hill. This made for a rather brutal climb to the top of the tower...up the metal spiral staircase, outside. You could actually feel the tower swaying as we neared the top. That’s when K informed me that these old structures were never built to the same construction standards use in the US. Great.

The view was much better today even if a few clouds had rolled in. I was able to get a few good shots while I could still feel my hands and fingers, and it just felt great to be outside and enjoying the sun again. At the bottom we needed to grab a coffee at the café in the base of the tower to help get warm again before walking to the tram station.

At the station, we were informed by an.....attendent that our round trip ticket was no longer valid. Apparently it was only good for 75 minutes, and we were at the observatory for 90 minutes. K decided to have a philosophical debate with the attendant about the time (and money) it took to climb the tower and support the local cafe AND the FACT that nowhere on the automated ticket machine, or on any of the signs or postings, did it state that the tickets had a time limit (this included the signs in Czech). It did, however, say this in small print on the actual ticket, but even then only in Czech…and this was a tourist area…and everything else in the city was in English 9can you feel the rant?)! It was comical to watch the attendant ignore K’s argument and attempt to show us how to buy another ticket. K, of course, was relentless. I should probably note that the price of a round trip ticket was only about $1.50. But it was about "principal", at least to Karl, and he was having so much fun with it.

For dinner we went to the Malostranská Beseda – Café and Pilsner Urquell Restaurant in search of simple food and a good beer. Pilsner Urquell is the popular Czech beer and the company has a few "original" brew pubs around the city. This particular one was not far from our apartment and located in a renovated historic cultural center. The pub had a dark wood interior, a large brass beer vat, old photographs and more. Perhaps best of all, it was NON smoking (not the case for every other restaurant and bar we have been to so far)

Afterwards we walked around enjoying the local city lights before heading back to the apartment.

I couldn't help it... Chuck Norris is alive SOMEWHERE.

Walkway leading to the tram for the observatory.

A second (and much better I think) panorama from the top of the observatory.

A close up view of the castle from the top. We brought the big lens this time!

Looking down on the Charles Bridge. Behind it in the top right corner you can see the tower in Old Town Square.

You might need to enlarge this picture to see, but I have circled the spot where our apartment is looking down on it from the observatory. This gives you a better idea of where the apartment is in relation to everything else.

A close up view of the tower in Old Town Square.

This is ... uhm another famous building in Prague...? The dome is always recognizable along the skyline.

This is the Hunger Wall, which King Charles the VII (I THINK I got the number right) had built in 1362 to provide work for the poor people of the city and also for defensive purposes.

A view with the wide angle. Pretty cool... there was actually some blue sky too!

This is the church structure that we hiked up to last week but then could not get into... Karl and I both decided that the hike looked like a piece of cake from up on the observatory and that it is very misleading...

The hunger wall again.

Checking out a menu.. this is the "Menu Face"

A shot taken of a tower off in the distance between buildings. Did some fun things with the settings...

Zoom!

Day 17 - Groceries and cooking dinner

Rainy day. More melting snow. More messy roads. A very uneventful day. We stayed inside most of the day....listening to music, watching tv, surfing the web, and making snowflakes (there are now 60 or so spread throughout the apartment...Merry Christmas).

We decided to stay in and make dinner tonight. This meant that, much to K's disapointment, we'd have to go grocery shopping. Most of the food shops near the apartment are small, limited, convenience type markets, so it was most likely going to be an adventure to pull this off. To start, we actually had to Google to find a supermarket company and then find one of its locations near us. We found one in the center of the city, and so off in the rain we went (unfortunately, we were not smart enough to bring one of the many umbrellas in the apartment, but I did bring my camera which had to be kept under my coat the entire time. I looked like I had a tumor.)

At the grocery store we scanned the aisles for ideas (we couldn't actually plan in advance because we had no idea what the store would have....supermarkets here pale in comparison to the US...is that why they are all so skinny here, perhaps?). We struggled to agree on anything. I should also point out how frustrating it can be to go to have seemingly limited options, when you are absolutely starving, and you have to interpret everything in a foreign language (particularly the spices!). It was probably at this point that it registered to me it might have been a better night to go out to eat and save making dinner for another night. Unfortunately we were already too invested in the process. K of course had already reminded me how easy it would be to order from a menu and have food served to us.

In any event, we did finally agree on stir-fry. It was something simple and quick, and the store appeared to have all the ingredients (except broccoli), which we got from a small Asian market on the walk home, along with a bottle of champagne to celebrate our first, and probably last, dinner that we cooked in the apartment. Definitely last.

Another no pic day. Sorry :(

Day 16 - Nail Polish - Part 2

Today was pretty much a yuck day. It was forecasted to rain, but only did a little, and the temperature rose considerably. The result: the streets and sidewalks were a complete and absolute mess. We did manage to get out for breakfast at a local bagel shop. Nothing too exciting. Along the way, however, there was plenty of entertainment in watching the locals clear snow. Here, shovels and snowblowers are replaced by brooms and power brushers. This worked ok when the snow was light and dry, but today the power brush (looks little like a rototiller) could hardly move the snow but they kept trying (too bad I didn't have my camera). Also worth noting, there was significant snow and ice falling from the buildings, due to the slippery clay roofs. This was rather unpredictable and dangerous. Several sidewalks were blocked off and we often witnessed, and came close to getting hit by, large chunks of slush falling from the rooftops high above.

All and all it was pretty much a crap day to be outside but we had no interest in wasting the entire day inside (also our internet wasn't working). Karl decided we should go replace my nail polish (it really was his idea) since he felt responsible for its mysterious disapearance yesterday. So off we went, another trek to Sephora in Wenceslas Square. After enduring slippery sidewalks and roadways, and narrowly escaping death from falling snow on several occasions, we finally arrived at the shop...only to find they didn't have the particular color I wanted, oops (I may have witnessed a vein on K's forehead fill with blood). But there was good news. There is another Sephora in Prague (in fact there are several). It's only walking...can't kill us, right? Off to city centre we went.

By now we were both a little hungry and perhaps getting a bit cranky. We opted out of stopping for food in the interest of securing the nail polish first. Actually I really wanted to eat. K wanted to complete the mission. After a little confusion over directions we finally arrived at Sephora (#2). I couldn't find the color. Shit. Actually, K lost his shit and demanded that a store clerk find it. After digging through an overstock drawer, she found the last bottle. Phew. Lucky for me, and probably for her too. At the check out, we were given a chocolate holiday treat. K dug into it and in no time had forgotten about everything. Yay.

Afterwards we ducked into the first decent food joint we saw, the (M)eating Point, and enjoyed some delicious stir fry. On the way back to the apartment we passed an interesting looking shoe store. We went in and I found a great pair of black boots (I have been looking for a black pair for a while). They fit and looked great, but once I got a look at myself in the mirror, and had a look at my...well how should I say...slightly larger figure (all this eating out has caught up), I may have gotten a little pissy. K has an expression for this behaviour that I really enjoy (NOT)..."miss pissy piss pants"...but I am not going to make this post about me. I didn't get the boots.

We walked back to the apartment in light rain and actually went to bed before 2am for the first time in a while.

It was too yucky out to carry camera today. No pics, sorry.

Day 15 - Coffee, Nail Polish and Snowball Fight

More snow today. We decided to find a local person to help us find more authentic (non-touristy) foods, crafts and travel opportunities outside of the city. The company that rented us the apartment put us in touch with a woman that we agreed to meet at a café shop near the National Theatre at 1:00pm (actually it was 1:30, but at least we were on time for once, even if it was by accident). We were told to look for a woman holding newspaper. Seemed simple enough. At about 1:50, and after approaching the wrong woman once, and observing 4 out of 5 woman that were alone holding a newspaper of some kind, we happed to get a phone call from the management company. They wanted to know if it was ok to go into the apartment to clean and change the linens. We took the opportunity to explain that we had been waiting 25 minutes for our assistant. They said they would call her and get back to us, which they did rather quickly. She was not coming. At first we were told that she did not get my confirmation by email, as requested, but when we got home later that night she basically explained that she blew us off for the Ritz Carlton who had some VIPs that needed her more. Oh well, we did manage to pass the time in the café and Karl had two cups of coffee….WIRED. This also made it easy to convince him to walk 8 miles (we later looked up the mileage and it is actually more like three miles round trip to the square from the apartment) through the cold and falling snow to Wenceslas Square so I could go to Sephora to buy nail polish. I think he also realized he could get a trdelnik there and so, without further delay, off we went. Rather uneventful – at least for Karl. I thoroughly enjoyed Sephora. The more eventful moment, perhaps, was getting back to the apartment and realizing we had lost the nail polish in the snow somewhere along the way…ugh. Oh well, we used the time of mourning to make more paper snowflakes (I did…Karl worked on the computer doing who knows what). For dinner we venture out with no direction. Could have been a big mistake, since we walked around for an hour "not being able to agree on a restaurant" - K. I would have been happy eating anywhere but SOMEBODY is a little picky... All was not lost however as we launched perhaps the biggest snowball war in Prague history, even if it was just the two of us, although a few innocent bystanders may have caught the errant snowball. The snow was wet and perfect for the occasion. Running down alleyways, dodging behind statues and parked cars, it was almost like being in a video game of sorts. I’m not sure the locals knew what to make of us…were we really trying to kill each other? I'm surprised that we didn't set off any car alarms. I won btw. After about an hour, starving and completely soaked, we agreed on Mexican food. Once inside the restaurant it took us a while to figure out why everyone was starring at us. Could it be because we walked in looking like we just got out of the shower, in our clothes? Another great meal at another one of our favorite eating spots. Coronas, tacos, carne asada, cheesecake and chocolate tarte. Yum. Well fueled up for WWIII. Right out of the front door Karl lunged for snow and took cover behind a car…I went into a full sprint. The game was on (much to the amusement (ok, horror) of the restaurant patrons and passersby). Let me just point out that it was a different battle when you are stuffed with food. I may have actually vomited in my mouth once or twice. Anyway, the intensity picked up in this round…the snowballs (cannonballs) were getting larger and more frequent, and it was definitely more dangerous to be an innocent bystander. Cold, wet and tired, we crawled back to the apartment and chilled for a while watching tv. Karl tried to stay awake for the Patriots game, which started at 2:30am here, but didn’t last past the first field goal. I was long gone before that. We’ve both been a little disappointed about not being able to run since being here due to the weather, but we are definitely making up for this with other outdoor activities.

On our way to "meet" our person.

A bird flying in for some crumbs on the Charles Bridge.

Ditto.

Little Mole enjoying a spot of tea.

Little Mole all blinged out.

Cafe Latte

part 2

Enjoying some hot wine in Wenceslas.

Some lovely penguins.

Out of focus lights on the way home.