Last Days in Prague

On Friday we had a big day of Prague sightseeing. The weather was warm and sunny, and Caitlin and I met Estefi after her morning class and went to the Globe Cafe, an English cafe near the film school that offers comfort food like omelets, bagels, mac and cheese, and filtered coffee. Then we went to the Vlatava River (the main river that runs through Prague) and rented a paddleboat for an hour. It was so much fun! We got a great view of the city from the river and had fun trying to navigate the little boat around other boats, ducks, and around a little island.

After that we went to up the Prague Castle, which sits on a hill at the north end of the city. The castle surrounds St. Vitus Cathedral, which is what you can see from the other side of the river. Prague really looks like a fairytale town; we felt like we were in a storybook. We had lunch at a little cafe in the square behind the cathedral, and it really looked like a scene out of Shrek! We shared a chicken wrap and beef goulash in a bread bowl, and some Kozel, a dark Czech beer. After lunch we walked down the hill from the castle to the Charles Bridge, and stopped along the way at a little cafe to split a "Prague ball," a chocolate dessert with chocolate cake, chocolate filling, cookie crumbs, and a little coconut sprinkled on top. The bridge itself is beautiful, and the views from there of the castle were also amazing.

The next morning we started our day with a decadent breakfast at Kava Kava Kava, a coffee place near the center of town. It was rainy but not very cold, so it wasn't bad weather to walk around in. We stopped at a market in Wenceslas Square, and then at the permanent market nearby called Havelske Trziste. We walked to Old Town Square and saw the famous Astronomical Clock, and shared a bratwurst sausage on a roll from a stand in the square. That evening we went to see Swan Lake at the National Theater by the river. Before the show we went to Cafe Slavia across the street, a very fancy restaurant that felt like a hotel restaurant, complete with a pianist. For dinner we shared a poppy seed crêpe with salmon, apples, and a cheese sauce; roast duck with potato dumplings and purple sauer kraut (made from purple cabbage, I assume); ratatouille, and a pear dessert. I drank Moravian grog, a hot drink made of red wine, rum, sugar, and lemon. It kind of tasted like a hot toddy. We also drank coffee before the show to wake us up. And for all that it cost less than $20 a person! Gotta love the Czech Crown. The ballet itself was stunning. I had to keep reminding myself that I was sitting in a theater in Prague watching a ballet; it felt like a dream.

That night we went back home and packed, and Caitlin and I left early Sunday morning, her on a train headed for Munich, and me to New York via a connection in Paris. I was able to buy macarons from Ladurée at the shop in the Charles de Gaulle airport before my flight, and I was very happy I was able to bring them home for the parents. (Well, they didn't all make it home, but most of them did.) And now I'm back in NYC sorting through my pictures and trying to remind myself that it wasn't all a dream. Back to reality...pictures coming soon!