Nothing starts a good overview of a historic city like a bad pun, right? I'd been waiting for a long time to go to Prague, home of one of my favorite writers, Franz Kafka, the largest castle in the world, Prague Castle, and the location of many a major motion picture movie scene (more on that later). This was my first solo international trip and I fared pretty well. I missed having dining companions, though...
Sights:
(Clockwise from top left: St. George's Basilica where I took in a classical music concert one afternoon, Prague Castle at Night, Prague Castle from Petrin Hill, Prague Castle juxtaposed with a modern sculpture in Old Town in the foreground, view of the Mala Strana neighborhood from Prague Castle)
St. Vitus' Cathedral at Prague Castle
Municipal House/Obecni dum (An Art Nouveau treasure)
(Left to right: Detail of Old Town Hall Tower, Church of Our Lady before Tyn with it's signature towers, known as the last resting place of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe is buried)
Prague is used a lot as a location in major films. I stayed at a hotel on a square in Kampa Park that ended up being on the same square and location of a big car blow-up scene in Mission: Impossible. Being a big fan of action movies, you know I was pretty psyched about this. Here are some pictures of the square. Maybe you recognize the square from the movie?
(Clockwise from top left: Double staircase leading from The Charles Bridge to the square my hotel was on, my hotel which is the last yellow building on the left, View of the square from The Charles Bridge, a movie being filmed just off the square by the Devil's Stream and, no, I have no idea who those actors are. Do you?)
Odds and Ends
(Clockwise from top left: Devil's Stream near The Charles Bridge and Kampa Island, another view of stream from Kampa Island, Statue near Prague Castle, Park Benches on Kampa Island)
Food and Wine
I ate twice at the hotel restaurant/pub twice and enjoyed it both times. Then I ate at a restaurant in Prague Castle, a small, yummy and quiet bistro and at a true Czech microbrewery/pub.
A sampler: Smoked pork ribs, pickled vegetable relish, horseradish and mustard, seared duck with orange sauce, Moravian red wine, beef goulash, bread dumplings, potato dumplings, Prague ham, pickled hot peppers, Krusovice dark beer, Pivovarsky Dum light and dark beers, roast duck with sweet and sour cabbage and sauerkraut, mulled wine to-go, Pretzel bread rolls.
Excuse the rushed overview, but time is a-ticking on my time here in Europe and I need to share a lot more information with y'all!
