Prague, Czech Rep. Day 2

Prague, Czech Rep. Day 2

Today we toured the city a little bit. It was a self guided walking tour led by me, Garner. So, it was not that interesting to the normal observer. If you remember the Family Circus cartoon where the boy is told to get the mail and her runs a track all over the neighborhood going in and out of everywhere and finally comes home... our route was similar. We started by getting the 72 hour transit ticket that is good for busses, metro, and trams. We headed right into the center of Prague and got off right by the Prague Caste. From there, we walked around and headed up to the castle. The main sites up there are the St. Vitus Cathedral, Chapel of the Holy Cross, Old Royal Palace, and the royal gardens. We stomped through all and spent some time looking at the interesting tourists. I am sure that I was a spectacle as well since I got some long uncomfortable stares. Maybe that's because I was staring at them? The walk over to the gardens was nice, being able to look down to the Vltava River and the many bridges that cross it. The trees in the area were huge and had labels below them stating their information. I was impressed at the size of them and the diversity in such a small area. Some must have been there for over 300 years. We then walked down and crossed the river on the Manesuv Bridge. This brought us to the center of Prague with the larger buildings and busy streets. All the shops were open and people were everywhere. This is surely a more tourist crowded city than we have seen before. I got some postcards like a good tourist and we just looked around. The square is nice and has the usual cathedrals and patio eating establishments, as well as horse drawn carriages for sightseeing. Some things that struck us were the huge roasting pork pieces on the fire and the crazy clouds in the sky. I know those are two different things to be intrigued with, but the smell of the roasting meat was everywhere and I was temped to go and get a piece. The people eating it sure looked happy as they stuffed their faces. The clouds were catching my eye since it was supposed to rain. We had our rain gear, but the clouds kept forming in a dark shade of grey and never sprinkled at all. The sun would cut through and cast a cool effect on the buildings.

Stamps. Got 'em. No problem. Just walked into the post office, politely asked if she spoke English, she did, I paid, I double checked the international USA rate, and I was on my way. No elaborate screw up like in Krakow. I am happy.

After the town center, we headed to Wenceslas Square. This is actually a long street that goes from roughly the old town square to the Museum on the hill. This is where the crazy shops are and everything is super expensive. There are some hostels on there that charge 35 dollars a night to be in a 10-12 person dorm. Not cool. Our little place out via metro is WAY nicer... And cheaper. We poked our head into an international liquor store and yes, they had some cool stuff, but they were charging astronomical prices for everything. Once again, not cool. They also had those wonderful Cuban cigars, but unrealistically expensive. Way better in Krakow. Trust me. We went up a bit from there, caught the metro, and went back to Ladvi, our stop.

Dinner was stuff from the grocery store . It's cheap, quick, and better for you.

Oh yeah, we went to the "Beer Factory". The tables have 4 taps and a computer that tallies up the amount in liters. Tables compete and people are looking at who has drank the most. This must get a little crazy in the evening into the night. It was nice for lunch.