Praha, Czechia. Thursday, 22nd May 2014
A leisurely day today, with two activities on the agenda - one a visit to the Prague beer festival and the other a cruise on the Vltava. Urmila also wanted to revisit the street joining the Old Town Square to Wenceslas Square; that cobbled street hosting the curio, souvenir and garnet shops on either side.
We left the hotel late - at 10:40, after breakfast and whatsapp. Had originally planned to walk down to the old town square by the regular route via Narodni museum and Wenceslas Square. However, we spotted bus no. 291 just outside our hotel. It was the starting stop, so we got places to sit. The bus took us along a new route to Karlovo Namestie, an important junction for many tram routes. I recognised it as the same stop from where we had changed trams to return to our hotel, on Tuesday afternoon. From K. Namestie we strolled in the
direction of the river, just to try a new route. As we neared the river, we spotted and clicked a strange looking building, which I call the 'crooked' building. (Only much later did I come to know that this modern contraption is called the 'dancing house' and has become a 'must see' for tourists to Prague, though I cannot figure out why! I mean, who wants to see a bizarre construction in a mystical and magical city replete with old world charm?) Strolled along the river front in the direction of Charles bridge, admiring the smashing views of Prague Castle and its St. Vitus' cathedral. Checked out a ''boatel' (boat restaurant) too. Just before
Charles Bridge, we turned right into a cobbled by-lane and following our instincts, soon reached the old town square. Then took the route which Urmila had wanted, admiring the garnet and souvenir shops. Soon reached an open-air market reminiscent of Bangkok's Chatuchak market, selling just about everything - curios, artefacts, puppets, fruits, vegetables, chocolates, the works ! Bought local marzipan chocolate and spotting an interesting looking restaurant called 'Del Mar', entered it. It was housed in one of the old,
interesting buildings while its bar was located in what was perhaps a corridor! The restaurant was underground. However, the barman- a young, friendly guy - agreed to serve us food in the bar itself. We ordered one draft beer for me, a vodka for Urmila and roast chicken gammon leg with mashed potatoes. The food was smashing ! After lunch, we
proceeded on foot in the direction of the Vltava and reached it at the spot of Czech Bridge, one of the many spanning the river. Then walked towards Stephan Bridge, with the river to our left and a green backdrop; and stately buildings to our right. Descended to the embankment just before Stephan Bridge and bought tickets (CZK 480/- + 3% for credit card) for an hour's cruise. The cruise boat was large with dual seating arrangement - inside, in an
A.C. hall complete with chairs and tables; and an open terrace above it. It being quite hot we preferred the A.C. hall and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise(up to Charles Bridge and back), sipping our individual drinks - draught beer; and multivitamin juice. It was an engrossing hour spent on the Vltava. The cruise over, we retraced our steps to old town square. Being
rather tired, we decided to carry on to our hotel and rest.
(Gave the beer festival a miss because every street in Prague seems to be celebrating a continuous beer festival ! Cheers to that !)
