We had yet another most excellent day in Prague today. We got a bit of a late start once again given that we slept in pretty late, but that's only cuz we are still doing the European thing and eating a late lunch followed by a very late dinner. But hey, does it really matter? We're on vacation with no kids!!! We'll do whatever the heck we please.
We hit the Hotel Josef breakfast buffet and loaded up nicely, gotta love the free breakfast, it's great. So much to choose from and most of it is pretty normal. Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, cooked veges, cereal, fruit, cheeses, lunch meats, a few pastries, including chocolate croissants, yum!!! We will definitely miss Hotel Josef, hopefully the next hotel is just as great!
We headed back over the Charles bridge on our way to St Nicholas Cathedral which is down the hill from the Prague castle we were at yesterday. We walked by it a couple of times and from the ground it's sort of hidden but has a pretty grand facade. If you get up high, the dome is quite visible as it's the tallest dome in the city, albeit still a bit low on the horizon given that it's in a valley. Upon entering, it was quite a shock to see such an incredibly ornate and highly decorated interior. It's a vast cathedral with sweeping open spaces but the artistry is truly breathtaking. This is a "newer" cathedral that was completed in the 1700s in Baroque style. Every square inch of this place had some for of statues or elaborate alter carving. You could stand in one place and take 5 minutes minimum just to properly soak up the beauty and detail in the small space before you. There was no one there given it was winter so we only had a few others around which allowed us to take our time and take many pics. Unfortunately there was no audio tour and very little written placards explaining all the various aspects of the church. Nonetheless, this is definitely one of the if not the most artistic church I've ever seen, very glad we made the trek back to see it.
From there we headed back up to Prague Castle to check out the Lobcowitz Palace. We didn't know too much about it only that it was a highly popular destination for tourists according to trip advisor. We were thinking it would probably be an architectural draw given that it was a "palace" but upon arrival it was really more of a museum housing a vast collection of artifacts from the Lobcowitz family. We wavered a bit on going in but Mo found a few good photos of the interior and we decided to take a chance. The audio tour was included for free which ended up being one the best if not the best I've ever done! It was narrated by the youngest Lobcowitz who is probably in his 50s and lives in Prague. As you entered each new room of the palace it told a story of the several hundred year history of his family. You really felt like you went on a journey through time and got a ton of awesome detail on how his family came to prominence in the 1500s and where they are now. The family's collection of paintings, really old china, guns, swords, furniture, artwork, etc is really awesome as there's a story behind all of it. It ended up being fantastic and wildly beyond our expectations. Would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone visiting Prague. Even better, we literally had the place to ourselves, didn't see another soul, other that the little old lady curators for 90% of the tour.
From there we headed back to the Hotel as I had to prepare for and present during two media briefings for work. A bit of a bummer to break up the day but for Mo it was great. She ventured out to hit the local swimming pool for a workout. While she was nervous she got some great help from the hotel front desk and made here way to the tram (street car) and managed to get to the pool without getting lost. At the pool nobody spoke English but she managed to muscle her way through the entry fee transaction and got to swim with the Czechs! She even made it back to the hotel without any major fuss. She'll be ready for Barcelona when she'll be on her own cuz I'm working!
For our evening anniversary dinner Mo found a great restaurant called La Botega de Finestra. It was a delightful little place that was a cross between a deli and a fancy restaurant. They had a simple menu but with really good options. I had an delicious kobe steak and Mo had a great pork belly dish. We also had a bottle of wine, full bottle of water and dessert all for approx $70, would have been easily twice that in the US for the same quality food! The atmosphere was just perfect and we had a wonderful time eat, talking, soaking up our surroundings and relaxing. Definitely one of the best anniversary dinners ever!
That night after some lenghty troubleshooting with Papa, we were able to get a skype session going with Gamma, Papa and the kiddos! We were in bed on the phone cuz it was 12:30am but it was great to see the kids. They were quiet and Emilie was very reserved and seemed a little despondent about the whole thing. Ian was a little more engaging but not much. My guess is that while they're having a great time with the grandparents, Emilie is probably really missing us and was just sad to see us knowing that we were so far away. Hopefully we'll do another session and they'll a little more happy!! :)
We're off to Berlin tomorrow, excited to see what this next leg of the trip brings! See ya then...
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