This morning we traveled from Cesky Krumlov to Prague, a 3 hour bus ride.
This city is gorgeous! Every building is perfectly preserved, over-the top ornate – its almost unsettling.
The weather was bipolar today, so we cut our exploring short. One minute it would be sunny, the next pounding hail from a dark sky. I saw someone tragically have their meal blow away.
We grabbed lunch at Cafe Neustadt – a popular hipster hangout. They turned out to be vegetarian – the best surprise – and served amazing soup, sandwiches and desserts. The cafe spearheaded public pianos in the city and hosts a lot of cool events.
With our bellies full we headed to the old city. It’s jam-packed with pedestrians. The narrow cobblestone streets are perfect for walking around – which is why it’s so dissapointing that the centre is not car free. There’s maybe one driver for every 100 pedestrians, yet the sidewalks are lined with parked cars and pedestrians are forced out of the way – even in public spaces – when a car barrels past. Another pet peeve: segways are becoming a popular form of touring a city. As amusing as it is to see old people timidly try to ride these things, I don’t like the trend in an already crowded public space, and lets face it pictures dotted with segways riders in helmets are less appealing.
The city is in full swing with easter preparations. The old town square is full of market stalls, painted eggs, and decorated trees. There are plenty of stalls selling Trdelnik, a Czech tubular pastry cooked by rotating over coals.
We checked out the astronomical clock. I don’t know how to read it but it looks pretty spiffy. The maker was blinded because the city didn’t want him to be able to recreate similar clocks in other cities. Every hour a parade of the apostles appears in the window above the clock.
We bought groceries at the subterranean grocery store (not a very pleasant experience), and headed back to the apartment early to cook and watch movies.
Meanwhile... 