Breakfast is included with the room here, so after a nice breakfast of eggs, yogurt, and some nice local breads, we went out to see Prague. Our goals today were to work our way to Wenceslas Square and the national museum, then old town with the astronomical clock and old town square before going to the Bedrich Smetana museum (one of my favorite composers) and finally the castle overlooking Prague.
Getting to Wenceslas Square (named after the good king Wenceslas in the Christmas carol) involved more exploration of side streets and winding paths. While doing this, we were able to do one of the things I like to do when in a foreign city, go to a department store. Buying gifts and things is usually much cheaper and more authentic than buying from souvenir shops, and they generally have grocery stores in the basements and serve great local cuisine.
Outside of the department store I saw something familiar with a twist, a Euro-dog vendor. This is like a hot-dog vendor, but instead of a bun that is sliced down the middle, there is a whole punched from the end lengthwise toward near the other end. Ketchup and mustard are squirted down in the hole, the hot dog is place inside, then another dose of ketchup and mustard on top of the hot dog on the end it shows through. A picture is worth a thousand words, so you'll see what I'm talking about. But the bun is also a great because it isn't just a Wonder Bread bun, it is a great artisan style bun. I want to make these at home.
When we did make it to the square, it was pretty amazing. It isn't really a square. It is more of a promenade. At one point I was able to call my dad with the help of a free Internet access point and he told me of when he was in the square in 1989 when I was just back from my mission. This was the time when the country had just emerged from communism and elected a new president. He said the entire square was filled with thousands of people celebrating. That must have been quite a sight. Now, the square is lined with shops and bustling with shoppers.
At the other end of the square from where we entered sits the national museum. We walked to that end and enjoying looking at the preserved architecture. While we went inside to look at the lobby area, we didn't go too far because this isn't an art museum. It is a natural science museum filled with things Alicia and I are less interested in spending time on, considering our ambitious plans for the city.
Our next stop was the old town, old town square, and the astronomical clock. This clock is a normal clock with an hourly chime and mechanical show, but it also has a astronomical clock under the main clock that keeps track of heavenly objects over time. It is ornate and a pretty cool clock. I haven't seen another like it.
The square was pretty neat, with buildings and churches that help you understand the age of this part of the city. We were able to be there on the hour when the clock chimed and had a mechanical show of characters passing around near the face of the clock. I can't say that it was impressive, but the area was well worth visiting. Also in the vicinity was a series of vendor stalls that I have only previously seen at Christmas markets in Europe. So it was fun to see something like it in the middle of summer.
Next was the Smetana museum, but it was very hard to find. Even with GPS we wandered up and down a pier on the river until we realized we had to go past a restaurant to see it. The problem was that the museum is closed on Tuesdays. I was bummed.
After that, we decided that perhaps some dinner was in order. We were near the St. Charles bridge, so we brought the things we purchased back to the hotel and then had dinner across from the hotel.
The restaurant is off the beaten path and also had a good selection of local cuisine. We asked the waiter what his favorite things were and he told us a few dishes that are his absolute favorites. I can say that we both had things we never tried before, but I can't say that I liked either dish. Alicia liked hers, but didn't like mine. However, in this case it still wasn't a loss because we were able to try things that locals eat and get more of a feel for Czech flavors.
We finished dinner just in time to head to the xxxx church where they were holding a candlelight organ concert at 10:00 pm. I scoped out the venue last night and found out that if you show-up at the box office just a couple minutes late, they will give you two tickets for the price of one. So we only missed the first minute of a Bach fugue.
The acoustics were amazing and the organ was a pipe organ that Mozart and Dvorak played. On some numbers there was a soprano soloist. So for pieces like Mozart's Exultate Jubilate and Shubert and Gounod's Ave Maria, there was a clear, piercing voice that filled the room and floated just above the organ. It was sublime and breathtaking.
Knowing that we needed to get up early tomorrow meant that after the concert and a slow stroll back across the St. Charles bridge in the moonlight with Alicia, we went to sleep knowing we had to leave Prague tomorrow and start our last full day in Europe. We are sad to leave, but excited to get back to our children and the world we left behind.
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