Onward we trek through the raindrops. It’s all downhill from here (a good strategy! Even if we weren’t jet lagged!), so we just meander through the Castle Quarter, stopping here and there for pictures of the grand architecture along the way through Castle Square.
As we meander down the street, we find a street vendor selling these pastry looking things that they are roasting over an open fire. Hmmmm…. interesting. Big mistake trying one of these things out – they are now my favorite new treat – just like the darn waffles in Belgium – these things, called Trdelnik are addicting! They are pastry dough copiously coated in sugar and cinnamon, wrapped around forms then rolled over open flames. Yummy!
Well, I figure we’ll walk it off! Worth it! We continue on to the castle, but decide against buying a ticket to go inside. We’re happy just walking around the outside – it’s huge – a city unto itself. The entry gates open up into an interior courtyard where the St. Vitus church looms over you.
We did visit the church, you can at least go inside to the back of the vestibule without having to pay. It is magnificent, huge and as with all these medieval churches, incredibly ornate.
Back outside, we make our way through the castle village. We were heading toward the Golden Lane, an area with cute little cottages and shops, but after turning the corner and seeing the crowds we nixed it and headed back down the hill to the Little Quarter.
On the way down the stairs (down is good!), we found this cute little coffee café, where we stopped off for a cappuccino to revive our flagging energy. Wonderful place to sit outside, gazing at the view out over Prague and into the Wallenstein Gardens below, while we infused ourselves with caffeine.
We’re ready to continue our descent, and head down into Little Quarter toward the famous Charles Bridge. We’ve read about the little island underneath the bridge, Kampa Island, which sounds neat – so that is our destination.
Unfortunately, the rain is not our friend. The drizzle has become a steady pitter patter on our umbrellas and its getting messy and cold. We try to walk through Kampa, but, it’s just too icky. The park area looks nice, but not in the rain. The entry plaza though is lined with trees and probably merits another visit in drier weather.
We are officially on our last legs – and it’s getting semi-late (well, it’s at least approaching late afternoon!) so we decide to head back to the hotel for nice hot showers and some decompressing before dinner. Walking to the metro stop, we pass over this canal that reminds us of Brugge. So pretty!
After our rest, we walk over to Kandelabr, a wonderful neighborhood restaurant. Traditional Czech food with a flair, the ambience is part upscale pub and the servers are attentive and lovely. Ed starts with grilled sausages, then moves on to Goulash – served with the requisite potato pancakes. I take an adventurous route and order the pork tenderloin wrapped in Parma Ham with spinach. It sounded pretty good – and tasted even better!!!!
Beer and wine delicious as well, and all for only 739CZK. That’s $29.56US. Amazing!
Stuffed and happy, we wander back to the hotel and try to make it awake past 8:30. Ed succeeds, I absolutely do not!
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