Maitai's Central (Don't Call It Eastern) European Excursion
Jul 16th, 2008, 06:12 PM
#21
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,373
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Loving the report already. The same security check happened to us on our way to our hotel in the Mala Strana, we were a little worried to say the least. Everytime we walked in and out of the "area" the guards gave us "that" look. It soon became a joke to try and get passed without them seeing us, ie sneaking behind those huge garbage bins etc. Well we were enjoying ourselves even if they thought we were nuts!!!
Schnauzer
Schnauzer
Jul 17th, 2008, 03:49 AM
#25
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,790
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
...have we ever complained about long, detailed Trip Reports? I don't think so!
Tom, now I have to find a map of Central (not Eastern) Europe to follow your trip.
Are you going to do a TR with pictures, like the Tuscan trip?
Tom, now I have to find a map of Central (not Eastern) Europe to follow your trip.
Are you going to do a TR with pictures, like the Tuscan trip?
Jul 17th, 2008, 08:01 AM
#27
Original Poster
<b>DAY TWO - AN ASTOUNDING CATHEDRAL, A BREW WITH A VIEW, NO ZLOTY ZONE, AND TOM’S PRAGUE DEATH MARCH!</b>
At home, you have to drag me out of bed on Sunday morning. On vacation, however, I am The Energizer Bunny.
On this particular, beautiful Prague Sunday, I was standing on The Charles Bridge at 7 a.m. shooting pictures while the others got another hour of sleep. A person I met on the bridge said this was the first day in weeks where they expected really nice weather. “Rain,” he said. “We’ve had lots of rain.”
Timing is everything, baby!
The reports are correct. If you want to be on The Charles Bridge without hordes of people trampling you, early in the morning is the only time to accomplish that trick. By about 10 a.m., it’s every man, woman and child for themselves.
As I traversed the bridge, looking up at the Prague Castle and out onto the Vltava, I noticed there was one statue that seemed to garner much more attention than any other on the bridge. I recognized it as the statue of St. John of Nepomuk, who, like most saints, received his sainthood status the hard way. Nearly everyone who passed the statue rubbed on the gold engraving, which is supposed to grant each person one wish.
Believers, I don’t want to spoil a good story, but it doesn’t work, and my wish was not very complicated. Oh well, maybe it just doesn’t work for Presbyterians.
I met up with the rest of the gang about 8:15, and after some incredibly overpriced espressos and cappuccinos, we walked up “The Stairs” to the Prague Castle Complex.
Mary asked, “Isn’t there another way to get up there?”
Well, yes there was, but it wasn’t until we returned home that I was reminded of that easier method to transport people to the castle. But, what the heck, we had to get in shape for the rest of the trip.
We were able to go inside St. Vitus just before Mass, and the sun streaming through the stained glass windows was a spectacular sight to behold. We had to scurry out, but knew we would see the entire interior of the church at the end of our audio tour.
The Castle audioguide tour cost 250 Kč per person, and it included entrance to the Old Royal Palace, St. Georges Basilica, the Golden Lane, Daliborka Tower, and (best of all) with the audioguide, we would also be allowed in the exit of St. Vitus Cathedral when it reopened, bypassing the long line waiting to get inside. It was like having a Paris Museum card in Prague (only a lot larger and heavier).
After getting through the first four parts of the tour, and since St. Vitus wasn’t going to open for another 90 minutes, we put our audioguides in our pockets and headed up to Strahovský kláster (Strahov Monastery & Library), the second oldest monastery in Prague.
I don’t know if they frown upon tourists taking audio guides off the premises, but on this day we did without any ramifications. Plus, they had my driver’s license, so they knew where we lived.
We viewed the incredible ceiling in the Theological Hall of the library. The old collection of books and the now extinct Dodo bird on display was kind of cool, too.
All of this culture can make a group thirsty (a dodo bird is culture, right?), so after touring the library, and since we still had time before St. Vitus opened, it was time for a libation. Close by to the monastery, we spied a restaurant that had a magnificent view of Prague from its outdoor patio. It was after 11 a.m., so it must be time for beer. In just a few minutes, we were to reach pivo nirvana.
We sat down at a table at the Bellavista restaurant on this warm day and ordered an Urquell dark, draft pivo (at least I think it was Urquell). I am not a big beer drinker, but this beer was stupendous. For a dark beer, it was light, flavorful and even a little sweet.
If we hadn’t stolen four audioguides and needed to get back to St. Vitus, I could have stayed here all day. The menu items looked interesting, and we decided to come back here for dinner one night.
In a magnanimous gesture, I offered to pay for the pivos and handed the waiter some money. He looked at the money and started laughing. “Sorry, we don’t take Polish money here.” I had mixed up my zloty with my koruna.
“Just like the old days before the euro,” I thought.
As we walked toward the entrance of the castle complex, there were a bunch of guys in uniform, and I was afraid they had sent out troops searching for a group of Americans with stolen audioguides. Fortunately, it was just the changing of the guard ceremony. By now, the castle was packed with visitors.
The line for St. Vitus was long, but when it reopened, we went in the exit and wound our way through the cathedral. The four of us have visited many (sometimes we feel too many) churches and cathedrals, but St. Vitus vaulted into all of our “Top Five” lists.
Although we had done a lot of walking, there was an “opportunity” for us to walk up the 287 stairs to the top of St. Vitus. Since I never met a set of stairs that could not be vanquished, up we went.
The views out over Prague were astounding. The people on the crowded Charles Bridge looked like ants.
It was now two in the afternoon, and I made the huge mistake of saying, “Let’s eat lunch over in the Staromestské Námestí (Old Town Square). By the time we found a place to sit down and eat, it was about 3 p.m., the weather had become quite warm, we were sweating, and I could see that our walking warriors were getting a little testy with their fearless leader.
Did that deter my first-day walking tour of Prague to continue after lunch? Well, not really. As I sat in the square, looking out at the statue of Jan Hus (who was burned at the stake in the 1400s, but who did get a statue of himself built here 500 years later), I had this idea to walk over to a famous beer garden after lunch.
As it turned out, by the time we got there, Tracy, Kim and Mary had notions of burning me at the stake.
But before we started walking, we looked at our watches, and it was 15 minutes before the hour. A huge crowd was hurriedly gathering in front of The Old Town Hall orloj (Astronomical Clock). Yes, the dance of the glockenspiel was only moments away, and people started jostling for a good position to watch. For a Southern Californian, it was similar to being at the scene of a Britney Spears’ arrest.
At the top of the hour some goofy little characters did a dance (well, they shook anyway), and then, poof, the spectacle was over. When it ended, almost as soon as it had started, there was a vocal, collective sigh that filtered through the crowd, as if to say, “I wasted 20 minutes of my life for this.”
Speaking of collective, although our collective feet were tired and getting more and more sore by the step, we walked toward our next stop, U Flecku, one of the oldest beer gardens in Prague.
On the map, it didn’t look that far. In reality, it was turning into a big Tom mistake, and as we finally sat down at the table in the beer garden, my beautiful and trusting wife gazed at me and said lovingly, “What the Hell were you thinking, you idiot?” Sometimes I don’t relish my role as tour director. At least the beer was good.
Kim, always there to help, equated the last part of our walk to a death march, while Mary just looked happy that she was married to the “other guy” at the table
By the time we walked across the river, through Kampa Island, up the stairs to the Charles Bridge and back to the apartment it was after 6 p.m.
Tracy wasn’t talking to me for the moment, so I had a chance to reflect on the day. Since it was the “first nice day” in quite some time, people took advantage of that fact. The river had been full of canoes, kayaks, paddleboats and other floating vessels, which just added to the charm of Prague. The views both from and of the Prague Castle were stunning.
Old Town Square was really cool with the spires of the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn rising above it. It would have been nicer had there not been a structure built right in front of the church, which I think was the doing of Hapsburg era folks.
We had not had a large lunch, and by the eight o’clock hour both my wife and friends were once again speaking to me, as was my nearly empty stomach. There are an abundant number of nice, little restaurants on Nerudova Street in Mala Strana, and we wandered nearly all the way to the top of the street checking them out (just can’t get enough walking).
We decided upon a place called Ferdinand, which we had passed early in the walk up the street. It was very cute and had a garden in the back, but since it was reserved, we ate under the nice vaulted ceiling in front. The dinner was good, and they had a varied selection of steak, chicken and fish dishes. Mary sampled a goulash with very bizarre bread dumplings.
What we noticed most about the restaurant was its intricate plating. Over the course of the next few weeks, it became apparent that in many restaurants in Central Europe (or at least the ones we frequented), plating was an important part of the presentation. It also became apparent that the food was going to be better than what we had expected.
We walked back near the embassies and happened upon a very neat wine cellar that would become our home away from home in Prague and then we had a quick drink at an Irish pub.
It was here I made the error of saying, “Geez, my feet are killing me.” It was the first “unanimous look” I had ever received.
The following day our friends Doug and Jackie (who had just flown in on this night from Southern California) would hook up with us for a day of sightseeing, and I decided we would go at a more leisurely pace. What I did not know was that we were going to dine at two fantastic restaurants.
<b>COMING UP: DAY THREE – A JEWISH HISTORY LESSON, THAI-ING ONE ON, SEEING RED, CELLAR DWELLERS AND MAYBE ONE DOES COME TO PRAGUE FOR THE FOOD </b>
At home, you have to drag me out of bed on Sunday morning. On vacation, however, I am The Energizer Bunny.
On this particular, beautiful Prague Sunday, I was standing on The Charles Bridge at 7 a.m. shooting pictures while the others got another hour of sleep. A person I met on the bridge said this was the first day in weeks where they expected really nice weather. “Rain,” he said. “We’ve had lots of rain.”
Timing is everything, baby!
The reports are correct. If you want to be on The Charles Bridge without hordes of people trampling you, early in the morning is the only time to accomplish that trick. By about 10 a.m., it’s every man, woman and child for themselves.
As I traversed the bridge, looking up at the Prague Castle and out onto the Vltava, I noticed there was one statue that seemed to garner much more attention than any other on the bridge. I recognized it as the statue of St. John of Nepomuk, who, like most saints, received his sainthood status the hard way. Nearly everyone who passed the statue rubbed on the gold engraving, which is supposed to grant each person one wish.
Believers, I don’t want to spoil a good story, but it doesn’t work, and my wish was not very complicated. Oh well, maybe it just doesn’t work for Presbyterians.
I met up with the rest of the gang about 8:15, and after some incredibly overpriced espressos and cappuccinos, we walked up “The Stairs” to the Prague Castle Complex.
Mary asked, “Isn’t there another way to get up there?”
Well, yes there was, but it wasn’t until we returned home that I was reminded of that easier method to transport people to the castle. But, what the heck, we had to get in shape for the rest of the trip.
We were able to go inside St. Vitus just before Mass, and the sun streaming through the stained glass windows was a spectacular sight to behold. We had to scurry out, but knew we would see the entire interior of the church at the end of our audio tour.
The Castle audioguide tour cost 250 Kč per person, and it included entrance to the Old Royal Palace, St. Georges Basilica, the Golden Lane, Daliborka Tower, and (best of all) with the audioguide, we would also be allowed in the exit of St. Vitus Cathedral when it reopened, bypassing the long line waiting to get inside. It was like having a Paris Museum card in Prague (only a lot larger and heavier).
After getting through the first four parts of the tour, and since St. Vitus wasn’t going to open for another 90 minutes, we put our audioguides in our pockets and headed up to Strahovský kláster (Strahov Monastery & Library), the second oldest monastery in Prague.
I don’t know if they frown upon tourists taking audio guides off the premises, but on this day we did without any ramifications. Plus, they had my driver’s license, so they knew where we lived.
We viewed the incredible ceiling in the Theological Hall of the library. The old collection of books and the now extinct Dodo bird on display was kind of cool, too.
All of this culture can make a group thirsty (a dodo bird is culture, right?), so after touring the library, and since we still had time before St. Vitus opened, it was time for a libation. Close by to the monastery, we spied a restaurant that had a magnificent view of Prague from its outdoor patio. It was after 11 a.m., so it must be time for beer. In just a few minutes, we were to reach pivo nirvana.
We sat down at a table at the Bellavista restaurant on this warm day and ordered an Urquell dark, draft pivo (at least I think it was Urquell). I am not a big beer drinker, but this beer was stupendous. For a dark beer, it was light, flavorful and even a little sweet.
If we hadn’t stolen four audioguides and needed to get back to St. Vitus, I could have stayed here all day. The menu items looked interesting, and we decided to come back here for dinner one night.
In a magnanimous gesture, I offered to pay for the pivos and handed the waiter some money. He looked at the money and started laughing. “Sorry, we don’t take Polish money here.” I had mixed up my zloty with my koruna.
“Just like the old days before the euro,” I thought.
As we walked toward the entrance of the castle complex, there were a bunch of guys in uniform, and I was afraid they had sent out troops searching for a group of Americans with stolen audioguides. Fortunately, it was just the changing of the guard ceremony. By now, the castle was packed with visitors.
The line for St. Vitus was long, but when it reopened, we went in the exit and wound our way through the cathedral. The four of us have visited many (sometimes we feel too many) churches and cathedrals, but St. Vitus vaulted into all of our “Top Five” lists.
Although we had done a lot of walking, there was an “opportunity” for us to walk up the 287 stairs to the top of St. Vitus. Since I never met a set of stairs that could not be vanquished, up we went.
The views out over Prague were astounding. The people on the crowded Charles Bridge looked like ants.
It was now two in the afternoon, and I made the huge mistake of saying, “Let’s eat lunch over in the Staromestské Námestí (Old Town Square). By the time we found a place to sit down and eat, it was about 3 p.m., the weather had become quite warm, we were sweating, and I could see that our walking warriors were getting a little testy with their fearless leader.
Did that deter my first-day walking tour of Prague to continue after lunch? Well, not really. As I sat in the square, looking out at the statue of Jan Hus (who was burned at the stake in the 1400s, but who did get a statue of himself built here 500 years later), I had this idea to walk over to a famous beer garden after lunch.
As it turned out, by the time we got there, Tracy, Kim and Mary had notions of burning me at the stake.
But before we started walking, we looked at our watches, and it was 15 minutes before the hour. A huge crowd was hurriedly gathering in front of The Old Town Hall orloj (Astronomical Clock). Yes, the dance of the glockenspiel was only moments away, and people started jostling for a good position to watch. For a Southern Californian, it was similar to being at the scene of a Britney Spears’ arrest.
At the top of the hour some goofy little characters did a dance (well, they shook anyway), and then, poof, the spectacle was over. When it ended, almost as soon as it had started, there was a vocal, collective sigh that filtered through the crowd, as if to say, “I wasted 20 minutes of my life for this.”
Speaking of collective, although our collective feet were tired and getting more and more sore by the step, we walked toward our next stop, U Flecku, one of the oldest beer gardens in Prague.
On the map, it didn’t look that far. In reality, it was turning into a big Tom mistake, and as we finally sat down at the table in the beer garden, my beautiful and trusting wife gazed at me and said lovingly, “What the Hell were you thinking, you idiot?” Sometimes I don’t relish my role as tour director. At least the beer was good.
Kim, always there to help, equated the last part of our walk to a death march, while Mary just looked happy that she was married to the “other guy” at the table
By the time we walked across the river, through Kampa Island, up the stairs to the Charles Bridge and back to the apartment it was after 6 p.m.
Tracy wasn’t talking to me for the moment, so I had a chance to reflect on the day. Since it was the “first nice day” in quite some time, people took advantage of that fact. The river had been full of canoes, kayaks, paddleboats and other floating vessels, which just added to the charm of Prague. The views both from and of the Prague Castle were stunning.
Old Town Square was really cool with the spires of the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn rising above it. It would have been nicer had there not been a structure built right in front of the church, which I think was the doing of Hapsburg era folks.
We had not had a large lunch, and by the eight o’clock hour both my wife and friends were once again speaking to me, as was my nearly empty stomach. There are an abundant number of nice, little restaurants on Nerudova Street in Mala Strana, and we wandered nearly all the way to the top of the street checking them out (just can’t get enough walking).
We decided upon a place called Ferdinand, which we had passed early in the walk up the street. It was very cute and had a garden in the back, but since it was reserved, we ate under the nice vaulted ceiling in front. The dinner was good, and they had a varied selection of steak, chicken and fish dishes. Mary sampled a goulash with very bizarre bread dumplings.
What we noticed most about the restaurant was its intricate plating. Over the course of the next few weeks, it became apparent that in many restaurants in Central Europe (or at least the ones we frequented), plating was an important part of the presentation. It also became apparent that the food was going to be better than what we had expected.
We walked back near the embassies and happened upon a very neat wine cellar that would become our home away from home in Prague and then we had a quick drink at an Irish pub.
It was here I made the error of saying, “Geez, my feet are killing me.” It was the first “unanimous look” I had ever received.
The following day our friends Doug and Jackie (who had just flown in on this night from Southern California) would hook up with us for a day of sightseeing, and I decided we would go at a more leisurely pace. What I did not know was that we were going to dine at two fantastic restaurants.
<b>COMING UP: DAY THREE – A JEWISH HISTORY LESSON, THAI-ING ONE ON, SEEING RED, CELLAR DWELLERS AND MAYBE ONE DOES COME TO PRAGUE FOR THE FOOD </b>
Jul 17th, 2008, 11:45 AM
#30
Original Poster
"What was the Prague apartment like? "
The biggest positives were location (very close to Charles Bridge, Kampa Island, Prague Castle and lots of restaurants in quiet Mala Strana location) and price.
Pasquale was a terrific host; arranging transportation from airport, meeting us at apartment and giving us a little orientation of Prague. We also stopped by his office in old Town a couple of times, and he was very accommodating and gave us recommendations. He was a genuinely nice guy.
We had two apartments on the second floor above a courtyard that had a restaurant (that closed early, so there was no noise at night except for an occasional speeding car). The apartments were secure and we had keys to outside door and inside apartments.
Kim and Mary's apartment had a little kitchenette that you walked into and there were wood beams in the bedroom. It was cuter than ours.
Our room was definitely more Spartan. It could have used a nice coat of paint and a little more TLC, but for the price (79 Euros a night), it more than made up for its shortcomings. As you can see from my previous post, it's not like we are in the room very much, anyway.
I would say if one was a finicky traveler, needs clean sheets each day and wants to be a little pampered, this would not be the place for them to stay. But if you value a clean, safe place with a gracious host, and at a price that frankly can't be beat for its location, I would most definitely recommend it. There is also a little grocery store directly across the street.
The owners of the Vlasska Apartments also have The Arcadia Residence that is similar to a B&B and gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor, located in Vyšehrad, which is about a 20 minute walk to the Charles Bridge and they also own apartments near Old Town called Kozna, I believe.
The biggest positives were location (very close to Charles Bridge, Kampa Island, Prague Castle and lots of restaurants in quiet Mala Strana location) and price.
Pasquale was a terrific host; arranging transportation from airport, meeting us at apartment and giving us a little orientation of Prague. We also stopped by his office in old Town a couple of times, and he was very accommodating and gave us recommendations. He was a genuinely nice guy.
We had two apartments on the second floor above a courtyard that had a restaurant (that closed early, so there was no noise at night except for an occasional speeding car). The apartments were secure and we had keys to outside door and inside apartments.
Kim and Mary's apartment had a little kitchenette that you walked into and there were wood beams in the bedroom. It was cuter than ours.
Our room was definitely more Spartan. It could have used a nice coat of paint and a little more TLC, but for the price (79 Euros a night), it more than made up for its shortcomings. As you can see from my previous post, it's not like we are in the room very much, anyway.
I would say if one was a finicky traveler, needs clean sheets each day and wants to be a little pampered, this would not be the place for them to stay. But if you value a clean, safe place with a gracious host, and at a price that frankly can't be beat for its location, I would most definitely recommend it. There is also a little grocery store directly across the street.
The owners of the Vlasska Apartments also have The Arcadia Residence that is similar to a B&B and gets rave reviews on Trip Advisor, located in Vyšehrad, which is about a 20 minute walk to the Charles Bridge and they also own apartments near Old Town called Kozna, I believe.
Jul 17th, 2008, 04:30 PM
#34
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,435
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Your trip reports are so well written. They're the best. I can't wait to read more. I loved the food, beer, wine in Prague. We were there in the winter and it was fabulous; both the city and the food.
Yipper
Yipper
Jul 18th, 2008, 11:43 AM
#38
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think this is the first time I've actually read one of your reports, maitaitom - I've heard of them, of course. But then, one hears of the loch ness monster, too!
Very much enjoying it. Central Europe is on the list, though there are other places closer to the top. The apartments sound exactly like I like
Very much enjoying it. Central Europe is on the list, though there are other places closer to the top. The apartments sound exactly like I like
