A slower pace, with no particular plan

Prague Day 3

Again we started off the day pretty slow, it is vacation after all. Hit the streets around 10:45 for a walking tour of the Lesser Quarter. This took us back across the Charles Bridge. Along the way, we climbed the Charles tower for some photos and a brief history. Good view from up there, despite the cobwebs, but in my opinion doesn't beat the view from Prague Castle. Afterwards we wound our way through the Lesser Quarter, heading towards the hill just below the castle. Thus began our quest for cheap beer and food, as I quickly blogged about earlier. The official record was 29 crown for .5L of Pilsner...though we never took advantage of it. We partook of 30crown .5L mugs in two establishments, which I know would make Banh and Aram proud. I want to reiterate that if I had found 20crown .5L beers, I would still be there. Ha.

We had lunch at an extremely large Czech restaurant that had indoor and outdoor seating. We chose outdoor -- I would say that 60-70% of our meals have been eaten outdoors... the weather has been extremely agreeable and you just can't beat sitting outside for meals in some of these European squares. It was at this Czech establishment that we first realized some of the things we were getting charged for. For example: every table had pretzels hanging on wooden holders. I ate one. I got charged for it (although I didn't know it until I looked up the word for it today). After you order, most places automatically bring out slices of bread to your table. If you eat it, they charge you per slice. Didn't know that either. So just a heads up to anyone who visits Eastern Europe and sees a bunch of stuff on their tab that they don't recognize. Didn't bother us because the meal and beers were cheap over in the Lesser Quarter. But thinking back, I'm sure we were charged for it that first night on the main square as well. Oh well... learn something new everyday.

Afterwards we walked down to the river just south of the Charles and walked through the courtyard of a modern art museum, then headed back to the hotel where I took a small nap. In the evening, we headed back to the Lesser Quarter to an area of restaurants we had seen earlier in the day for some more cheap eats. We shared a mix grill for 300 crowns ($15) that had 2 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of pork chop, 2 pieces of steak, and 2 pieces of hot dog as well as some green peppers, tomatos & cucumber. Also came with 3 sauces -- peppercorn, cranberry and something similar to mushroom. Everything was excellent...and the price was outstanding. Great meal to end the Prague trip. On the way back over the Charles Bridge, we snapped quite a few more photos, then grabbed some ice cream and some snapshots of the main square, and called it a night.

So although we never really saw the crazy party side of Prague --we could tell it was there if you went looking for it--and trust me, you didn't have to look very hard. I imagine with a big group you could get into all sorts of trouble...sort of like Vegas. Not quite the Prague we were anticipating, but we enjoyed the beauty of the area itself as well as the culture it offered. If you're ever looking to go shopping for garnets or marionettes, Prague is your place. I'm excited to not have to calculate conversions from crowns to dollars anymore. :)