September, brought on fall in full force in Germany. It also bought old friends from dental school to Europe. Milan was planning a return trip to his homeland of the Czech Republic with his girlfriend Tiffany and we thought this was a perfect opportunity to visit a new country, see our friends from back home, and have a tour guide who spoke Czech for our travels. The drive to Prague was relaxed, scenic and straightforward. One major highway took us from home in Ramstein, straight into Prague. Cruising along the A6, we admired Germany as we drove along the Autobahn on our way to our neighbor to the East. We stopped along the border to buy a vignette, a highway toll pass that allowed us to use the Czech motorways.
As we cruised into Prague, I couldn't help by notice how it reminded me of our beach trip to the Outerbanks (also with Milan and Tiffany). Something about the way the building and walls looked that immediately brought that comparison into mind. Driving through the city, we wound our way down old narrow streets and finally, with a little help from our iphones map, we met Milan and Tiffany #2 outside our apartment. We embraced our old friends, dropped off our bags, parked the car and began exploring our surroundings. Our apartment sat 1/2 the way up the tallest hill outside of San Francisco, so walking it was nothing short of a cardio exercise going to the car or even walking home.
Walking around with out tour guide Milan, we saw the presidential palace and got a great view of the city below. As the sun was setting, we made our way down into the city and headed for the Charles Bridge. The famous bridge, full of artists and toursits, was lively and abuzz. We then headed to a favorite restaurant, just behind and under the bridge, with a great view of the city behind us. Our first taste of Czech food reminded me much of German and Hungarian cuisine. The meat was rich and flavorful, the potatoes and dumplings, warm and hearty. After our dinner, we walked back across the bridge, stopping at the various statues and monuments along the way for photos and to admire the city as the sun set in the background. We made our way back to our apartment, tired from a long day of travel and ready to begin our adventures in the Czech republic the following morning.
Day 2 - The City
Our first morning began with a return to the royal palace, this time for a tour and to watch the changing of the guards. We stood deep in the crowd of tourists watching the guards carry out their ceremonial switch-a-roo in front of us. From there we proceeded on the the palace grounds, and into the cathedral. There we were greeted with huge, bright stained glass windows and the largest and most ornate silver sculptures we had ever seen. After the cathedral, we headed to Golden Lane, once the home of the city's goldsmiths, more recently the tiny huts were homes to artists, poets and writers. The homes have since been unoccupied and served as a tourist attraction, but at one time Franz Kafka lived in #27. The 2nd story of the homes has been turned into a gallery, displaying the various suits of armor and providing tourists (us included) with a place to practice our cross-bow skills. (Side note, while a good shot, neither of us was a skilled with a cross-bow as we are with handguns.)
As we left the palace grounds, we walked down a steep slope past a local winery ( right in the heart of the city!) and began our search for lunch. Our legs tired from walking all the hills, we stopped in a boat that was turned into a restaurant on the river. We ate a HUGE and delicious italian lunch, finished it off with an espresso and almost fell asleep in the big comfy couch/chairs we were relaxing in. As we struggled to walk from our food coma, we headed to the astronomy clock tower. We waited with the crowds for the hour to strike, and were greeted with the animated clock, bells and accompanying live-action trumpeter. As the afternoon hurried past, we explored the streets of the city and made our way to the old Jewish Temple. We however arrived a little late, and the temple was closing as we were arriving. Instead, we made our way back towards our apartment as we needed to grab a brief rest before heading to the airport to pick up Aaron.
The airport turned out to be more of an adventure then expected, first finding the gate was my job while the girls and Milan kept a look out for him if he slipped past me. While I stood inside, Milan managed to get a parking ticket for parking in a "no parking zone". He played the dumb tourist card, while the police tried to speak English with him. At the same time, he understood all of their Czech musings and mumblings under their breath. A few hundred crowns later (about $10) and 30 minutes later and Aaron arrived and we were on our way back into Prague, this time in search of dinner. The funny thing about some cities in Europe is that past oh say 9pm, the options for dinner are almost non-existant. We tried 3 places that were all closed or done serving food before we found a small Italian joint that was still open. We settled down, a group of old friends like it was just yesterday the last time we were together. The fresh italian pasta was delicious and just the thing to end the day.
Day 3 - The Swamp Water and Dessert for Dinner
The next day began early with a quick bite to eat at a small cafe and we hopped in the car off to Karlovy Vary, the historical spa town in the West of the Czech Republic. The town was once the vacation spot of the Czech nobility as the springs that fill the town are rumored to have healing powers and are a very popular destination among the Czech people. The city looked much like Venice with lots of tall row-houses along the canals. As we looked around, we began to search for a spa mug, equipped with a built-in straw for drinking the medicinal waters. Tiff and I bought a small blue bird mug to share and we found the different springs to heal us. The water comes in several temperatures, from near-boiling, all the way down to, burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth and scald-your insides. We chose the "coolest" variety, and after a few minutes of blowing on it to drop the temperature to a palatable level we all took big swigs, and nearly vomited. The water tasted like there was no way it was curing us, unless it was poisoning any bacteria that inhabited our bodies. Needless to say, we didn't drink more then a few sips. We decided to wash the taste down with a few traditional spa wafers. The size of a 45 record, they came in chocolate, hazelnut, cinnamon, citron and were delicious. At 15 cents each, they were a great snack.
We enjoyed another delicious meal, sitting along the Canal, watching people as they walked by. Then we found ourselves in the middle of a parade of performers through the middle of town. There was a folk festival that weekend and there were traditionally-dressed people from all over the Czech republic as well as the rest of the world; as far away as New Zealand. As we made our way back we searched for a place to get massages (this was a spa town after all). We found a thai massage parlor and ended our trip to Karlovy Vary with long and relaxing massages to ease our tired bodies.
On the drive back to Prague, we stopped at a restaurant next to the Krusovice brewery in a small town. There we experienced two things. One was a delicious meal at dirt-cheap prices and the other was Tiffany's 1st pregnancy craving meal. She ordered (and mind you all of this was like $11) Waffles with bananas, whipped cream and walnuts; crepes with raspberries, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce; croquettes (fried mashed potatoes); pickles and a raspberry-lemonade to drink. This was an important meal, because even now in our 31st week of pregnancy, this was the only craving-filled meal that would only be ordered by a pregnant person. But I must say that it was delicious and we were all pretty jealous of her choice of dessert for dinner. Afterwards, it was back to Prague for rest before another big day of travel.
Day 4 - The Cave of Beer and Unique Toilet
The next day's adventure took us to the town of Plzen. This town is the home of Pilsner beer and home to the world-famous Pilsner Urquell Brewery. Upon arrival it looked much like Willy Wonka's Candy Factory. Behind a large metal gate loomed smoke stacks and buildings where the magic takes place. Unlike Wonka's, we needed no magic ticket, only a few hundred crowns for a morning of adventure. The tour encompassed both the traditional brewery and the new ultra-moden facilities where beer is packaged at light-speed. After the tour of the old and new brewery, we got the taste the hops in raw form as well as the wheat (both raw and malted) as it used in the Pilsner making process. The hops taste like guinea-pig food in the raw form, but the smell of the fresh hops is evident in the finish product. After a history of Pilsner beer and the town of Plzen, we were told to bundle up and we headed underground into the beer caves. The caves were where the beer traditionally fermented and was stored to age in old oak barrels. Down in the caverns under the brewery, we were given glasses of the beer as it was traditionally made, fermented and stored prior to modern refrigeration. The beer was ultra-hoppy and delicious, I really loved this version of the beer and wish they sold it. Down in the caves we got to see how it was once done, right after seeing the way it's currently done.
Back up at ground level, we finished up the tour and decided to head into the town of Plzen. We were in search of the official underground tour, but after the signs to the start of the tour disappeared, we showed up 10 minutes late and were told that they cancelled the tour for lack of participants and they wouldn't even give a tour to us! Crap! So we headed into town to explore, and ran into a traditional czech music and stew festival. We then climbed up the 30+ stories of an old bell-tower, up the steepest steps ever built and got a great 360* view of the city. After our bell-tower climb, we headed back to Prague to meet up with Milan's 2 cousins for dinner and beer at a local brewery in a suburb of Prague. The small local brewery reminded me of Cap Ale house in Richmond, with the long wood tables, and selection of beers. We drank the house-made czech ales and even tried the (women-only, as we were told by our Czech hostests) raspberry beer (which was more like raspberry smirnoff ice, hence the women-only designation). And that is where we came across the unique toilet. I noticed it first on my trip to the bathroom. Like a normal toilet, only not in a stall like a urinal, but the traditional bowl style toilet. However this one was about 4 feet off the ground (not for those under 7 ft tall??). Aaron came across it after I did, and later told us he tried peeing in it....not sure how well that worked. After Milan's cousins laughed at Aaron, we were told that it's for throwing up in.... I guess that happens more often in Prague then elsewhere. After a night full of lots of beer, Becherovka (the national liquor) and some brandy with mini pears soaked in it, our brave and wonderful DD Tiffany, loaded the van full of drunks and drove us back across Prague, through the beautifully lit up city and back to the apartment.
Day 5 - The Bones and the Kofola
Day 5 began with another walk up the long steep hill to the bus (van). We stopped along the way for a bite to eat (a pastry and coffee) and grabbed another one for the road. Today we headed to the town of Kutna Hora to the Kostinca, or Church of Bones. This one was at the top of my list of things to see in the Czech Republic and we were all excited to see something so different. The drive out to the town took us winding through several fields and through the countryside. The chuch and ossuary were in the middle of a small town. Everything seemed like a normal church, until you walked in the front door, down the 2 small steps and saw the decorations before your eyes.
The name "Church of Bones" is dead-on. The pictures below attempt to do it justice, but the sights are just incredible. Bones of thousands of deceased soldiers adorn the sub-terranian ossuary, neatly arranged in a beautiful fashion. They hang from the ceiling as a chandelier, cover the walls almost like wallpaper and hanging decorations. In each of the 4 corners, there are pyramids of skulls and femurs from floor to ceiling. The large room is certainly one-of-a-kind and something special to behold. We had an audio guide that gave us a history including the fact that at one point the entire decorations of bones was disassembled, bleached and then re-assembled just as it previously stood.
The church was amazing and I doubt we'll see anything like it on another journey. As we ventured out into the bright sun, we ventured to the church across the road that was connected with the town. This church was more plain, and more traditional. The walls coverend in paint and paintings, the statues of saints we not made out of bones. This church was definitely less interesting (hence the lack of pictures...).
Back outside we walked around the small town, looking for souvenirs and anything else interesting we could find. We found some amazing frozen yogurt. This was the 1st time we found it in Europe and the flavor combination of vanilla and sour yogurt was delicious. I also found a single small can of Kofola. I had been wanting to try it for a while, but never wanted to buy a 2-L bottle of 6-pack. Milan warned me against the flavor and suggested that I was better off skipping it entirely. The taste was something like medicine + Root beer. It wasn't too bad but nothing special. I'm glad I tried it, but nothing to buy in bulk.
After we explored the city a little more it was back to Prague. Walking around we found roast pork being cooked in a square and that became a delicious last dinner. Dinner was followed by a drink on top of a roof-top terrace overlooking the city. A nice and relaxing way to end the trip.
The following day we were up early, packing the car, and rolling back west home to Germany and Oliver.
Until next adventure
David, Tiffany and Oliver
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