Today was our last day in Prague, and we tried to make the most if it by exploring a castle and wandering around this tranquil city's narrow brick streets.
And I also got to speak Spanish for the first time in Europe in a small pub with three people ... two from Latin America and one from here. ¡Qué bueno!
We stated a little later than normal today, as we left the hostel around 11 a.m. instead of our normal 6 a.m., 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. routine.
Our first stop was at a small cheese and bread store that also sells fresh-baked croissants filled with chocolate. They were so good that I bought two ... much better than my normal breakfast routine of yogurt, a Nutri Grain bar and peanut butter toast. In fact, all of the food here has been good and cheap. Here is a picture from lunch: chicken with cheese curds inside and potatoes.
Friday's lunch
The first stop of the day was at the John Lennon Wall. This was just a normal wall until Lennon was assassinated in 1980. Since then people have filled it with Lennon graffiti, Beatles lyrics and other music sayings. The Beatles have been one of my favorite bands since I was in high school (My No. 1 band, of course, is Leaving Rockwell!) and I even remember writing a couple of papers about John Lennon for Mrs. Kreigh's honors English 12 class. It was cool to see the wall, and there were only a handful of people around. There was also a guy standing in front of the wall playing the guitar and singing Lennon singles. Here are some pictures.
At the John Lennon wall
At the John Lennon wall
From there, we walked across the Charles Bridge and made our way up to the Prague Castle, the city's No. 1 tourist attraction. We spent a few minutes exploring the castle grounds before walking up 287 steps in a spiral staircase to reach the top of the cathedral castle. The view from the top was amazing and definitely worth the 184 foot ascent. We saw Prague from four sides, stunning views of this idyllic city that is full of colors, bridges and small streets. Here is the view from the top.
Prague from the top of the cathedral tower
After touring the castle and tower, we stopped for lunch. One thing I have noticed about Prague is that dogs are welcome almost anywhere people go (very much like in San Francisco). We saw this dog today sitting at a table waiting to be served! Many restaurants even have water bowls sitting inside or outside of their establishments for the dogs.
I wonder what he ordered?
We wandered around for a little while longer before returning to the hotel and then going back out for dinner. We stopped in a small pub that a New York Times writer recommended but discovered that it wasn't as busy as the article said it would be. I struck up a conversation in Spanish with two people from Latin America who were sitting next to us and found out that today was a holiday in the Czech Republic, which was why the pub wasn't busy. It was cool to speak some Spanish in a small pub in the middle of Prague ... definitely not something you do every day. We ended the night with some pizza and a couple of hours of planning for the next couple of weeks.
We are headed to Austria tomorrow and will spend two nights in Vienna -- tomorrow exploring Vienna and then a day trip Sunday to the land of "The Sound of Music." Chris played a YouTube video last night of Julie Andrews singing the famous songs from the musical, and they have been in my head all day. Looking forward to seeing this place in person Sunday near Salzburg!
¡Gracias por leer!
Justin
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