Let’s get out of Dodge

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After yesterday’s ambitious day of touring, I toned it down a bit today. This morning, I started over the Charles Bridge towards the New Town area, where I would do most of my touring. My first stop was at the Old Town Square. This area has a few different tourist sights as well as the customary food, jewelry and souvenir stands, restaurants, cafes and tourist shops.

When I arrived, it was about a quarter to ten, which meant the bells would be chiming and the turn of the hour spectacle would be taking place at Old Town Hall. Over the coming 15 minutes, the crowd waiting to observe the display had grown immensely - from a couple dozen to hundreds. Many of the people were with large, unwieldy touring groups. At the stroke of 10, the bells began to chime and numerous figurines came out of two windows above the astrological calendar that rests about 35 feet up the wall. It reminded me of a cross between a cuckoo clock and the Neighborhood of Make Believe from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.

After the brief display ended, I wandered over towards Tyn Church, an old church in the square where the Pope had just visited a few weeks ago. Like many of the attractions in Prague, the church charged a 50 koruna licensing fee to take pictures inside so I don’t have any pictures of the gorgeous interior.

It reminded me a lot of the Church of Mondsee that I had seen on my Salzburg Sound of Music tour. The interior had many black and gold altars along its sides and a large one at the front.

The next stop in the square was Old St. Nicholas’s Church. This church paled in comparison to Tyn Church in both the grandeur of its décor and its size.

I walked around the square a bit more, taking in some of the stands and shops before heading north for a few blocks to the Jewish Quarter. The Jewish Quarter was once the section of town where the Jews were relegated to live. This area consisted of the well-known ghettos and had numerous synagogues. Now the ghetto is gone and all that remains are a few synagogues and an old cemetery.

Along the way there, I walked along a high end retail street, featuring designers such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and others. I couldn’t help but wonder about the vast differences between what the area once was and what it is today. I saw a couple of the synagogues in the Quarter along with the cemetery. The cemetery holds approximately 12,000 visible gravesites but an estimated 100,000 people were buried here over time. Graves were reused since the area was so impoverished.

I then headed down to Havelska Market, a block long outdoor food and souvenir market. After taking a lap around it and buying a banana, I went to the nearby Wenceslas Square. The square is home to many more retailers and is a popular place for tourists and locals to shop.

At this point it was in the early afternoon and I had wrapped up the bulk of my touring. So I went back to the hostel and, after grabbing a small lunch, took a book out to read near the castle. I found a bench and read a bit of Catch-22, which I had started in Bordeaux with a copy at the B&B then purchased in Munich.

After an hour or so, I changed locations to get a bit more sunlight. I headed across the Charles Bridge again to the New Town and sat on a bench and read along the river. The backdrop of the river, the Charles Bridge, the (new) Church of St. Nick’s and the castle with its grand Gothic style cathedral served as a perfect setting to read. And the weather certainly helped - it hit the upper 60s and maybe even 70° in the late afternoon.

I wrapped up reading and went back to the hostel to get cleaned up for dinner. After conversing with a few of my roommates for a while, I headed down to a famous Czech brewery and restaurant called U Fleku. U Fleku is a beer hall style restaurant which brews its own beer and serves traditional Czech fare.

When I arrived, I found an open spot near two Czech men. There wasn’t any real conversation due to the language barrier - I’m glad that didn’t happen at Oktoberfest. One of the waiters carried a tray filled with mugs of dark beer. He placed one in front of me without my even having to ask. It took me back to my days at Chef Alan’s when Josh the bartender would have beers waiting for us on Monday nights when he saw us pull up to the parking lot.

In the meantime, my waiter came around and took my order. In the background, an accordion player and a tubist played while walking up to different tables for the people’s enjoyment. Another server came up with shots of something and I gave him my standard no shot policy line to which he replied that it is a tradition. Far be it for me to insult the local culture. It was as nasty as all shots are. Another round of beer followed closely to give me some relief.

Not long after my soup arrived, along with a loaf of rye bread. The onion soup tasted a lot like French onion soup but without the cheese (and therefore the calories).

After my soup was gone, another beer and my main course arrived. The main course was a pork neck with red cabbage and dumplings. It was delicious, although the pork neck might as well as have been called ham because that’s what it looked and tasted like. The dumplings were different from what I had before. Some were potato and others were a blend of potato and something else. The something else certainly added a lot of flavor.

Around the end of my dinner, some Argentinians joined the table. The locals left shortly thereafter and I was left with a bunch of other non-Czech speakers. One woman spoke some English as she was a doctor in town for a conference.

After dinner I took a walk back to the hostel. Around the Charles Bridge, some stomach pains started to arouse. By the time I made it back to the hostel, they turned into a full term stomach bug. I didn’t make it out again tonight. What a way to go out. Prague has it in for me. I’m ready to get out of here.

Tomorrow I leave for Berlin and hopefully greener pastures.

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Photos

Prague
A view from the east side where I read.

Jewish cemetery
Graves are piled upon one another.

Chocoloate gorilla
This chocolate gorilla was from a chocolate shop that originated in Bruges.

Meal
My pork neck (ham), red cabbage and dumplings.

Beer guy
The beer guy carried a tray full of beer for all the patrons.

Comments

[Karyn]

It's time to come home now, we miss you! By the way...do you want some cheerleaders during your marathon run? We're just trying to plan the upcoming weekends. Can't wait to hear more about your memorable trip, and enjoying your blogs!

[Thirsty Hurst]

If you want. I'm definitely not going to be running as quick as last year. I'll probably stop and chat with people, too. Don't feel obligated but of course you're more than welcome. I think my parents are going up that morning. They'll probably be somewhere in Brooklyn, then First Ave and Central Park. Much like we did for Mike but also with a Boorklyn stop. You can always follow them.