We ride from Berlin to Prague though some amazingly pretty countryside. The rolling hills, lazy flowing rivers and quaint little villages are postcard picturesque. Unfortunately both camera batteries completely zonked out on us so we can't share any blurry out-the-train-window pictures with you. Guess you'll just have to come visit Czech Republic sometime and see it for yourself.
Check out the cool train station in Prague! We're reminded again how much more civilized train travel is over airplane travel. There are no long cab rides out to the airport, no acres of cement parking lots, no waiting for baggage, no faux-security measures and no 3 oz liquid limitations. Plus family and friends can greet their loved ones as they get off the train - no waiting in cell phone lots or behind security gates. A great way to travel.
The Prague train station is smack in the middle of town so it should be an easy-peasy walk to our hotel, right? Nope. We wander the Prague streets quite a bit looking for it. Try to find our hotel sign (named Icon) along this street. That's one disadvantage to staying in non-chain hotels - they definitely have smaller signage than the bigger chains. Even after we checked in and had stayed there overnight, I walked right by our hotel door a couple of times.
There it is! That post-card sized plaque in the doorway.
Without question, Prague is a gorgeous old city. It's the only capital in central Europe that escaped the bombings of WWII so the buildings are original and stunning. But we arrive on a festival weekend so it was crawling with tourists soaking in the old-world charm. There were so many languages being spoken I'm not sure we ever met a true local Czech person. The crowds thinned out on Monday, but the city still has a feel of a tourist town (or at least the sections we explored).
The weather is in the 40's, cloudy and chilly but at least its not raining. Look! Blue sky! While these old buildings look good during the day (especially when there's sun), they're even prettier at night. Unfortunately none of our night photos turned out blog-worthy. We do the typical tourist things like crossing the famous Charles Bridge - packed with vendors, artists and lots of tour groups. We also stood around with the crowd of tourists waiting to see what happens when the Astronomical Clock strikes the hour. Answer: not much. I think we checked (Czech'ed - get it?!) everything off the list of must see's in Prague.
The graffiti in Prague isn't quite as artistic as Berlin. But this cool wall was used for protest slogans during the overthrow of Communism in the 80's. It's named after John Lennon (get it? a play on Leninism) and features lots of Beatles and Lennon imagery like 'Give Peace a Chance'.
Brian wants to hang out in a European cafe so bad, we brave the cold, wrap up in blankets and huddle close to the warming fires. Yup... we have the place to ourselves cause we're the only ones crazy enough to sit outside today. Loved the faux-furry covered chairs.
Brian has finally had enough of the cold cafe so we hop in a pub to drink some Czech beer. This was our first encounter with the prevalent smoking in the European bars. Remember when there was smoking everywhere? Definitely don't miss coming home with those smokey bar clothes. I guess tomorrow is sink-laundry day again.
We definitely enjoy gathering food ideas during our travels, but I also love looking around to get a few fashion tips too. All these fashionable Europeans are making me anxious to go shopping. I am so tired of the handful of clothes that I have stuffed in my backpack. Maybe I'll finally cut loose and buy some things in Italy when all I need to do is carry the pack one more time onto the cruise ship.
And guess what?! We saw something we hadn't seen since Beijing... our shadows! I was so excited that the sun came out for an hour that I had to pose for a picture without my bulky sweater! We are both getting tired of wearing them and I'm sure you're tired of seeing pictures of them! Hopefully the sun and slightly warmer weather follows us as we continue on to Budapest.
"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been." - Diane Arbus
Czech Food!
Meet the Czech Klubása.
If that sounds a lot like a Polish Kilbasa that's because it tastes like one too. See, learning new languages isn't hard! These eastern Europe countries sure do some awesome pork sausages. Seriously... this was one of the best sausage/wurst/dog/kilbasa I've ever had - spicy, snappy, smokey and delicious tucked in a perfect bun. Brian called them Prague Dogs. We had five (!) of them during our three-day stay. We would have had six of em but the stand wasn't open for breakfast on our departure morning.
This is called a Trdelník: a cinnamon roll tube cooked over hot coals sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. They were all over - kind of like outdoor Cinnabon stalls. They will even stuff the insides with nutella and whip cream in case you didn't think there wasn't enough sugar on them already. Very tasty.
Hey Cedar Rapids friends! Look - a real Kolach from a real Czech town. We hunted all over town to try to find one and had a tough time tracking one down. Maybe they've moved on to those cinnamon roll tubes.
Halušky: a sticky mash of potato dumplings, cabbage and pork. Warm, filling, starchy but not much flavor. We bought a bowl of it but didn't finish it. Gotta leave room for more Prague dogs!
Chlebíčky: Artistic open faced sandwiches - also knows as smorrebrod in Scandinavia. They were kind of like a lunch sandwich version of a bruschetta. Clockwise from the top: roasted pork with purple slaw, pickled beet spread with goat cheese, egg salad with watercress, ham and potato salad, smoked salmon with radish, celery root slaw with tomatoes. They're gorgeous looking and delicious tasting! Could this be the next trendy thing to sweep through hipsterville? Can't you see a Chlebíčky display case sitting next to a pile of cupcakes? Our kick-starter campaign starts next month (not really - that sounds suspiciously like a real job).
Svaräk: Czech mulled wine. Cheap, warming and sold everywhere. Makes me excited for cool fall evenings at home but we still have another month of travels before I can look forward to that.
Bavarian creme fille croissant - bavarian cream in Bavaria. Tastes just like you'd expect.
Kofola - Czech's local cola created when Communism blocked those capitalist brands of Coke and Pepsi. Not great flavor - kind of a watered down herbal Mr Pibb. Maybe it's an acquired taste kind of thing. Or... maybe there's a reason why no one else in the world drinks it. Or maybe there's a reason why Communism failed.
Those Prague Dogs were so good... how about another one?
Czech Beer!
Czech beer is awesome! If there's a rivalry between Germans and the Czechs about who brews better beer, I raise my glass to the Czechs (sorry to any Germans reading this). Clean and solid on the standard styles with some creativity thrown in here and there to keep things interesting. I thought this was just going to be pilsner-land but was surprised by the variety on tap. Too bad all the bars are smokey-chokey.
This was a black cherry lager and a hoppy pilsner.
A chocolate stout and a blueberry lager.
Do you know how to sucker tourists into your bar? Call it a beer muesum so they think they're in for something educational. It actually turned out to be a great little pub - we explored several of their 'exhibits'.
The Czech Budweiser brewery and the US Anheiser-Bush Budweiser are in a lengthy legal battle about who gets naming rights. The latest ruling is that Czechs get to use the name in Europe. So when you order a Budweiser, this is what you get. A-B Budweiser is labeled 'Bud'.
Traditonal Czech bar breaking the 2 inches of foam guideline. But I love their tradition of having snacking pretzels at the table.
The Czechs drink so much beer they sell it in 2 liter bottles at the grocery store. Now that's a tall boy!
You know what sounds good after all that Czech beer? Another Prague Dog! We'll miss you Prague dog...
