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Tag Archives: Prague

Bike Trip – Day 1

22 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by gwenhaynes in Uncategorized

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Prague

Day 1 consisted of taking a taxi from the Hotel Seifert to the Hotel Monica about 10km to the south but still in Prague. This is the starting point of our bike trip. We arranged this trip through Hooked on Cycling. They use a company called Pedalo who provided our maps and lodging and will schlep our gear every day.

We got to

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around mid day and spent the afternoon reconstructing our bike. Our tradition has become building the bike with a nice bottle of the local vino close by.

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Later we took this little path down the hill

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to an interesting restaurant – Restaurace U Blahu. All the tables were made of old treadle sewing machine bases.

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Here we had our first schnitzel with the most amazing mashed potatoes I’ve ever tasted

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and a sample of their beer – not as good as the Pilsner.

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The end of a lovely day.

 

Prague – Day 3

22 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by gwenhaynes in Uncategorized

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John Lennon Wall, Prague

Another day of wandering. This time we walked along the Vltava River.

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Always interesting things to see.

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A lovely little canal.

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A beautiful flowery shop window.

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Lots of yellow penguins all in a row?

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Chris trying to appreciate “art”

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A peaceful little stream

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Another amazing old door.

And the highlight of our outing was the John Lennon wall (a place recommended by your bar buddies). In the 1960’s this wall was known as the “Crying Wall” as it was covered with protest text/lyrics and art although the authorities regularly painted over it. After his murder on 8 December 1980, John Lennon became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. Despite repeated coats of whitewash, the secret police never managed to keep it clean for long, and the Lennon Wall became a political focus for Prague youth (a lot of Western pop music was banned by the communists).

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And since we were in the neighborhood we stopped in the John Lennon Pub for a delightful lunch on the back patio.

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More wanderings in the afternoon and then dinner at an Irish pub near our hotel.

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Prague – Day 2

20 Sunday May 2018

Posted by gwenhaynes in Uncategorized

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Prague, Prague Castle

Another wonderful day of wandering the streets of Prague. So much to see.

Check out the stonework on this building.

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This is what it looks like up close. The flat stones are just made to look like they are not.

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Can you believer these cathedral spires behind this building?

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And a quick peek inside.

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Here are some more sites on our wanderings.

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Locks of Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sign for a Marionette Shop

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A simple bike rack

Our destination is the famous Prague Castle perched high on a hill overlooking all of Prague.

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We arrived in time to watch the official changing of the guards at noon.

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The 11 o’clock guard.

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The Changing Ceremony

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The 12 o’clock guard

It’s now time for lunch. Remember our Pilsner buddies from last night? Well, they told us where they’d be working today so we found their restaurant and had a popular local dish.

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Roasted pig knuckle

A few more sites on our walk back to the hotel.

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We came upon this simple church in a neighborhood

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and peeked in – WoW

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After relaxing in our hotel for awhile we headed out around 2000 to a nearby park to do what the locals do. Stop in the park’s beer garden, grab a brew or two and find your spot on the grass to watch the sunset. See the castle in the distance?

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A lovely way to end the day.

 

 

Prague – Day 1

20 Sunday May 2018

Posted by gwenhaynes in Uncategorized

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Astronomical Clock, Croquettes, Prague

Our taxi arrived right at 0900 and whisked us off to the Central train station in Vienna. Once there, it took us awhile to figure out the system. There are many different train companies each with their own trains, rates, timetables and ticket offices. We’d heard about a special deal with RegioJet – only 15 euros per/person Vienna to Prague. As we searched for their ticket office we learned that you can only order tickets on line. So at the last second Chris was able to figure out how to do that on his phone and ordered the tickets just as out train was pulling into the station.

We jumped aboard with our two suitcases and the giant tandem box trying to maneuver inside the car and as the train was about to leave the station the train attendant said “no no that’s too big” which was true as it certainly wouldn’t fit down the aisle or anywhere else so we agreed that we could leave it right at the front of the car where we’d gotten on. It just barely fit without blocking the door to the toilet.

Once we got settled into our seats we had a lovely five-hour ride to Prague while sipping on some local vino.

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Once we arrived we hopped into a taxi/van that took us to our hotel – The Hotel Seifert.

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A wonderful place that serves a huge breakfast with lots of options. It’s also in a great location.

After breakfast we headed out to explore the city of Prague on foot. Our plan was to just wander and see what we see. Lucky for me, Chris (almost) never gets lost. Here are some of the sites as we wandered.

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One of our goals was to see the Astronomical Clock. This is the oldest working astronomical clock in the world and was built six centuries ago.

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But due to repairs it was not in operation so instead we climbed to the top of the clock tower for a look around the city.

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Here’s a cool snap I took of the climb up to the top.

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Since it was getting late we wandered back toward the hotel looking for a place to get a small bite to eat for dinner. We made it all the way back to the hotel and were just pondering this tiny place across the street

when two

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reps ushered us inside because they were so excited about their beer and wanted to show us how to make the perfect pour. They took us behind the bar and had us each pour our own beer from the tap in the very special Pilsner Urquell way – with lots of creamy head.

So, of course, we had to stay for dinner. Here we learned about Croquettes.

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These are deep fried potato balls filled with yummy stuff inside. (See list of goodies above.)

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Bon Appetite and Good Night

 

 

 

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