The classic sights of Prague

Day 2

Photos are here.

We had breakfast at about 8 am and since Vaclav had an eye doctor appointment, Vera took me up to the castle. We walked through the royal garden and up to the St. Vitus Cathedral. This place is huge and impressive and gorgeous. It’s a Gothic structure, but the buildings around it remind me of photos I’ve seen of Vienna. More 18th century stately stuff. We saw that the line to get into the cathedral was HUGE so we walked around the are for a while, looking at impressive views, making chit chat.

We descended the hill in light rain and headed to St. Nicholas’ Cathedral. It is grand an impressive on the outside with it’s green copper dome, but once we got inside, I almost exploded. Baroque. Baroque style going nuts all over everything. Pinkish marble and grayish marble, gilded everything. Crazy. I know that the baroque style is meant to wow people, but I was completely floored. I don’t know if there’s a word for what I was. I wasn’t expecting it, and I’ve certainly never seen anything like it. You’ll just have to look at the photos.

Vera and I then stopped for coffee (I had a hot chocolate), and Vaclav met us in the café. We went around the corner to eat (I had a breaded pork chop type thing with blue cheese baked into the top). And a beer.

Vera had to go to work, so Vaclav walked me over the Charles Bridge and over to the astronomical clock. It was here that I realized that my hotel would have been close and I would have been staying right in the center of the romantic old city. Oh well. He walked me up to Wenceslas square, and then we stopped for a beer. They were always asking me if I wanted a beer or some food. They have a Hobbit-like eating schedule. They seriously eat ALL THE TIME. I wasn’t hungry when I ate most of my meals.

Vaclav called his friend Petr (I think that’s how it’s spelled) because he speaks very good English, and Petr and I talked about the Czech Republic in general. Then he wanted to talk about politics. American politics. Most people I met in the Czech Republic asked me who I was voting for, and I always said, “I don’t know yet.” I figured that was better than offending anyone. Either most assumed I was a Dem, or they don’t understand the system because most of the time, they asked if I was voting for Obama or “Mrs. Clinton.” Petr has some pretty strong feelings about Bush the junior. I have a feeling most people in the world do.

After the beer break, Vaclav walked me around to more churches, and they were all equally spectacular inside.

We then had a break for “typical Czech soup” which was very good, and then went across the street to KFC for some wings. KFC. In Prague. For wings. Hm.

We went back to the flat and I had a nap. Turned out Vaclav had a nap, too.

Vaclav, Vera and I met Vaclav’s daughter, Erika and went to a restaurant called “La Boca” in the centrum where I had my first goulash. Vaclav recommended that I try it because it is a “typical Czech food.” I was a little scared because I’m such a picky eater. BUT! Goulash is amazing. I can’t really describe it… Kind of like a savory stew with some meat (this one had beef and sausage) and dumplings (this one had “a variety of Czech dumplings”) and it is just irresistibly good. Czech comfort food. With beer.

And then, bless their sweet hearts, I think Vera and Vaclav wanted me to have a fun time with some rock & roll in a place where young people hang out in the city. I think that’s why Erika was enlisted to co-sponsor the evening. We ended up in a place called “Harley’s” (after Harley Davidson, of course) where the DJ played American rock and oldies (and not bad rock and oldies, btw… Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Chubby Checker), and we had many more drinks.

Now, is it wrong to assume that something served to you in a shot glass in a bar is, in fact, a shot? I was served something in a shot glass in a bar, and after several rounds of “Na Zdravi” (pronounced nah zz-drah-vee and meaning “to health”) I shot the thing down. It burned my insides and cut them to shreds. When I put the glass down, I saw Vaclav’s almost whimpering face, jaw about on the table, eyebrows up in dumbfounded wonder… apparently this thing was to be sipped. They all laughed at the crazy American. I laughed too. Quite nice.

It was at this point that I went to the bathroom (Erika told me I’d know it because Marilyn Monroe was on the door). Inside the stall, someone had written “Czech me out,” and I found this unbearably funny. It was probably the effect of whatever I’d just had to drink, but I was in peals of laughter they probably heard back at the table. Sigh.

I then (I think to the relief of Vaclav and Vera) said I was getting tired, and we went home. On the walk back to the car, something that was apparently pretty funny happened, but I missed the joke. The sidewalks in the center of Prague are made of square stones arranged in appealing patterns. Erika found one of these stones loose and picked it up and said, “Chee chee” something, and Vera and Vaclav erupted in laughter. She tried to explain it to me, chee chee being what they say to call a cat… and I told her it was a stone… so she said “I have chee chee stone,” which once again caused riotous laughter. I laughed too, but near as I could tell, I was laughing because she had a hat for a cat? I dunno.

We took Erika home, we had a couple more beers at the apartment, and I went to sleep.