Returning the month long rental car in Sofia, we spent a few uneventful but enjoyable days there and then headed to Prague for a week. Perfect weather with lows in 50s and highs in low 80. Prague is a beautiful city that has retained many of their old building, as they avoided being destroyed in either WW or the break from communism in the 90s. We took a great all day food tour, an ebike tour, a boat tour on the river the goes through town and a Rick Steves self guided walking tour. We stayed about a 10 minute subway, tram or bus ride from old town and again enjoyed being away from the crowds of tourist. The public transportation was very efficient and easy to use. Found a great TexMex restaurant and got our fix. Went to the zoo in the burbs on a Sunday. Full of kids since it was the weekend. It is a great zoo. Went to a mall out in the burbs to see a movie. It was in English with Czech subtitles but we didn’t know that part of the movie was in Spanish. What would have been English subtitles in the US were in Czech of course. It appears to me that Prague is a little more affluent and modern compared to what we saw in the Balkans. Talking politics with the guides is interesting as the current Czech president is an old man with no filter that tells everyone what they want to hear and was elected as a non-politician. Sound familiar. We continue to FaceTime with family so the grandkids don’t forget who we are. The kids are using the lake house some in our absence and haven’t burned it down yet so that is a plus. On to Vienna Austria for a few days before we head to England for a month of driving on the wrong side of the road. I have recently found out from my genealogist minded sister that I am blood related to a Cope that was knighted and related by marriage to some English royalty. More on that in future posts.
Another great penthouse balcony to chill. Next 2 pics are views from the balcony.
Our ebike tour-10 pics
St. Nicholas church
overlooking city with tour guide
with us on tour- couple from San Diego – Heather and (I can’t remember his name).
in old town
Two bronze sculptures of two men peeing into a Czech Republic-shaped enclosure. Created by Czech artist David Cerny, this piece of art is appropriately called “Piss”.
food tour guide-Misa- next 16 pics
A great group on the food tour- from New Zealand, Australia and England ( a common language that I could hardly understand)St Vitus cathedral at the Prague castle-11 pics
looked like s film crew and cast in the church
changing of the guard at the castle-2 pics
steps leading up to castle
traditional stew dishes with dumplings
St Charles bridge
entrance to st Charles bridge
found a great TexMex restaurant with margaritas, tacos (soft), enchiladas, chips, salsa, great guacamole and pico-4 pics
TV antenna was spruced up by same artist (David Cerny) as peeing men by putting on crawling babies- weird. We went to the top and took several pics of the city-6 pics
subway
rated the best ice cream in the city
river cruise-9 pics
river has a small lock (see water line on wall) to assist flooding issues
swans congregating
about to have a short afternoon thundershower
passing another party boat
saint Charles bridge from water
prague zoo-8 pics
pic of me after all the eating
makes me miss Lake Livingston
reminds me of raising 5 kids
from italian restaurant on the river-3 pics
another David Cerny work is a mocking reference to the more famous equestrian statue of King (and later, Saint) Wenceslas riding an upside down dead horse
cubist style building
The medieval Prague astronomical clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating. It shows time, position of sun and moon in sky, and the current astrological sign