Prague on a Saturday Afternoon

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Sunny Saturday

Saturday started off gray, but gradually the sun burned away the fog. By noon the sun was shining brightly. Nancy had worked all morning editing a 176 page book on the early history of Baptists while I (Bill) worked in the library. I walked up the 'infamous' 47 steps to our room and said, "Let's go. It is beautiful outside."

Nancy agreed.

"What do you want for lunch? Pizza? Italian? Chinese?"

Nancy thought a minute and exclaimed, "Afghan. Let's go to the Afghan restaurant."

Several years ago we discovered an Afghan restaurant and had promised each other that someday we would eat there. Today was the day.

Beautiful Doorways

It does not matter how often we go downtown or how often we walk the same streets, we always see something new and beautiful. I had not noticed the two doorways that are included in the photographs. Prague is full of them and I always enjoy looking at both the statues and the doors as we walk.

Are We Lost? No, but the Restaurant Is.

The Afghan Restaurant is in the Jewish quarter of Prague. We knew that

and we knew, or at least we thought we knew, where it was located. In fact, we had seen it just a few weeks ago one evening as we walked around Prague. You would think that we could walk right to it and sit down to eat. It didn't work out that way.

We caught the bus from the seminary to Dejvicka where the Green Line of the subway ends. There we caught the subway and rode it three stops and got off at Staromestska. From there we walked a few blocks to the Jewish Quarter where we began looking for the restaurant. Well, we looked and looked and looked going up and down streets and then going up and down the same streets again .... and then again. This went on for at least an hour or more.

Where is the Indian Restaurant

The second time we approached Old Town Square we decided instead to go to a vegetarian Indian restaurant where we had eaten at before. This time we knew exactly where it was located, down a little alleyway behind the Tyne Church. We walked down the alley and it was not there.

Had we made a mistake? Definitely not. Sadly the restaurant seems to have had gone out of business. (Nancy)- If not, the two of us are REALLY bad at finding things. We have been there at least three times before. Back to sqaure one, where is the Afghan Restaurant?

Round We Go Again.

We retraced our steps and still we could not find the restaurant.

We knew where the Chinese restaurant was located that has such fantastic food. Nancy had been taken there once and treated by two of her students and the two of us had been taken by these same students who again paid for the food. When we looked at the menu outside, we gasped at the prices!

Finally Nancy said, "Forget it. Let's walk to the Intercontential Hotel and ask them where the Afghan Restaurant is located. We were not staying there, we aren't even tourists in the normal sense of the word. What you do in a situation like this is simply walk into the hotel and act like you know what you are doing.

We asked a young woman at the registration desk. "I do not know,"

she replied. "Go to the concierge. Those folks know everything."

She was right. As soon as we asked the location of the restaurant the young man on duty picked up a tourist map, opened it and marked where we were and where we wanted to go. He told us the name of the restaurant and how to get there. Following the map we were at the restaurant in about five minutes and realized that we had been within twenty yards of the restaurant several times but had been sure it couldn't be any further down that particular street.. Oh well..................

By now it was 2:30 and we were ready to eat, and that is putting it mildly. We ordered two dishes, which we shared and both were good.

After eating we walked to Old Town Square and then returned to the seminary. We have Afgham food out of our system and now can go to the Thai restaurant across the street from it. We've eaten there before and recall it was quite tasty! Well, that is if we go downtown at mealtime again.

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