Tostinos Pizza and The Girl from Ipanema

Jubilee Synagogue

Dancing Buildings

A breakfast of fruit and coffee and some yummy hearty rolls and the off for another walk-about, this time to the east and south in another disrict called Nove Mesto to check out some unique architecture. Nove Mesto is a new portion of the city and while it does have some of the gothic-baroque architecture, it also has some newer pieces. Also Nove Mesto, is more of the Czech working district and is less of a tourist zone, and after being in a mass of tourists all day yesterday we wanted something a little more real. The first stop was the Jubilee Synagogue built in the early 20th century and cmoprised of Art Noveau and pseudo-Moorish styles. It is quite an interesting piece admist the more drab 20th century utilitarian archictecture. Then we hiked south past the National Museum and Wencaslas Square, the heart of the modern Prague, and then turned west to photograph the dancing buildings, also called Fred and Ginger.

National Theatre

Prague Castle

We stopped in a local cafe and had a fresh croissant, mmm, and espresso and decided to hike back over to Stare Mesto and get a view of the city from the adjacent hillside parks. We checked out the National Theatre, an impressive building, and then hiked across the Most Legii Bridge, just south of the King Charles Bridge. From there we took the fenicular up the hillside to the park and the Strahov Monastery. There is a observation tower there that you can climb up (about 200 steps) or take a lift. We climbed. From the top we got the views we were hoping for of the red-tile roof city with the Castle rising up prominently from the hillside. Unfortunately the air was hazy but the views and photos I think were still worth the effort.

King Charles Bridge, the Moldau, and Old Town

Then down the hillside we went, heading east, steps after steps, after steps. Thank goodness it was relatively cool. We wove our way through the crowds on King Charles Bridge one last time and then, after a little more souvenir shopping, we stopped in the hotel restaurant for a late lunch of pizza and beer and wine and then collapsed in our room to rest our barking dogs before dinner.

So I guess we we had to have at least one bad dining experience, eh? After we rested we decided to try out a recommended Italian restaurant nearby. We set off and got there in good time and relatively early but, alas, no room avaiable. No big deal there are plenty of places around so we walked around and found a promising place called the Wine Shop with Italian food, but Rick first wanted to check out a neat wine bar in underground caves that we had visited earlier. So we walked there only to find it closed. Seriously, closed during dinner and cocktail hour? We were a bit perplexed. Well that shot plan B so we decided to head back to the Wine Shop and eat there, only we couldn't find the damn place. We wandered around for a good hour, if not more, and no luck. It was particularly frustrating because we had passed it twice when we weren't looking for it and now when we were looking for it it was no where to be found. To add insult to injury, we were seeing for mutliple times all the other restaurants we had considered but dismissed for various reasons. We finally came across another Itlian restaurant that was recommended but it was full as well so we wandered more and then finally decided to go back to the hotel and google the "The Wine Shop" on our computer.

The cobblestone streets challenge the calves

Well we tried googling the restaurant and, apparently, the place didn't exist. It was like the mythical town of freakin' Brigadoon, visible to us only at a certain time and then was invisible otherwise. Well, after a half our of digging on the web we thought we might have found it and so went back out trekking around only STILL no luck. OK, let's just eat at one of the cheesy tourist places at Old Town Square. The food may not be great but there was a great view of the astronomical clock and the Church of Our Lady of Tynn. Let's do that. I picked out a Spanish place with outdoor seating and as we tried to squeeze past some tables, I managed to spill a pitcher of milk all over the place. There is a reason why Rick refers to me as a bull in a China shop. We didn't stay there.

Old Town Square at Dusk

Finally we decided to go back to a bar that we had passed, that was playing some decent jazz, provided we could find the place. I recalled that it was near the guy playing the harmonica . . . please may the harmonica guy be there. He was thank goodness and so we found the restaurant and sat our tired butts down in a seat. So this is how we ended up in a second-rate bar in Prague, ordering our second pizza of the day (that's pretty much all they had) that was one step above Tostinos frozen pizza, drinking Italian wine, and listening to a very good duet of a saxaphone and bass play their

The Location of Our Final Meal in Prague

rendition of The Girl from Ipanema. Oye. We had been walking since 6:30 and it was 9:00 pm. Rick said that on the bright side of things, we already walked off the calories that we were consuming.

 We strolled back to the hotel, purchasing some version of Czech fast food which was a piece of baked dough in the form of a cylinder with cinnamon sugar on it, and then had a nightcap of Baily's Irish Cream and apple streudel. Not the best of nights, but hey our bellies were full and our minds full of memories so who can complain?