On to BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA!!!!

Another drive, this time through the Wachau Valley and along the Danube. That means we cross the border into Austria on our way to Slovakia! Today’s sunshine makes the greens on the rolling hills so fresh and verdant. Continues to be reminiscent of our PNW in topography and flora.

A curiousity pops up several times – a tall log post with a live, now-dead dry fir tree. Haven’t been able to find the reference yet though it may be in some way related to the Czech Witches Night that happens April 30-May 1st.

Another McDonalds bathroom break and we see fun little things like the car “wash box” and “pimp up your burger” ads at McDonald’s.

Along the way we see Krems from a distance, stop in a camping park to view Durnstein from the opposite side of the Danube and lunch/quick “sightsee” in Melk. We appreciated the scenery and little villages we drove through and generally liked being close up to less touristy places. Real people live in some of the quaintest of settings along this route.

The Danube was so high the ferry across to Durnstein was closed. Harold and I stayed in the castle many years ago on our first international trip. Opulent treat for us back then.

Melk’s attraction was it’s abbey and hillside town. We hiked up to the abbey grounds and chose not to pay for a peek at yet another golden frosted church interior. But this one seems to be striking some modern notes in its grounds.

Our driver, Justice from Deben, South Africa originally where he was fostered by a vicar, is relatively new to the Czech Republic. He’s friendly, has a rich chuckle and calls our president that “Trump Fellow”. He speaks 5 languages and most recently hails from London. He gets us to Bratislava and inside the city gate in the rain which we seem to be having trouble outrunning!

The main square is “drippy” and not as showy as most.

Bratislava is, we read, a new and hip destination as it restores its old town and looks to the future. We’re excellently situated just inside St. Michael’s Gate (Mary and Rick Steves chose the place) and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.

Mary met Schoner Naci, a carpet cleaner and town character, who greeted folks until the ’60’s in his suit and top coat.

And we found his friend on the square, Cumil (the peeper), who has no history – just an artists whim and our imagination.

Dinner tonight at Martin’s suggestion (our driver between Krakow and Prague) at Koliba Kamzik- a really lovely, traditional restaurant and meal.

St. Michael’s Gate in the old city walls from Michalska Brana on our way back to our hotel.

Dobru Noc! Oh, and may I mention that we had NO dessert tonight!

C Krumlov is still gray and rainy. But the castle calls and we wonder about what is undoubtedly a picture perfect dream of a medieval city on better weather days.

A bear pit instead of a moat here – none to be seen and we wonder if they exist now…..

We behaved and I can’t show a photo of the most interesting part of the castle grounds – a baroque theater. Restored and fascinating use of illusion to create a 100 meter stage vision from 30 meters space. All run by two men under the stage, they used animals on stage and fire for special effects (that burnt down all but two such theaters in Europe). It was quite fascinating.

These are from a postcard……

We spent the day exploring with the views or shops obscured by our hoods and umbrellas.

Cozy dinner in our hotel. The best apple strudel ever!!

POSTSCRIPT

The sun shines on us and C. Krumlov as we leave! Had time for a walkabout before our departure. The sun makes a difference. As we drive out of town I even see a flotilla of rafts in the river.

Off to Cesky Krumlov a medieval UNESCO world heritage city, but not until a plump Czech dressed characterization of a hotel manager gave us a special Hotel Hastal coin for our departure and Mary and I gave him an earful about the WiFi. He played dumb (he has to have known) and eventually followed Mary around to give her $20 (that’s about 450cz). Hrumph.

About a three hour shuttle to C. Krumlov with a group of sleeping Asian women. The terrain and foliage are very Pacific Northwest, down to the rain clouds! But we can recognize beautiful countryside through the raindrops. Sadly our bathroom stop was a McDonald’s (they’re everywhere, along with KFC and Starbucks) but unlike those at home the bathrooms were not at all dependably clean. At trips end we have NO time to chat up our driver, Petr, as our arrival to the square from which we needed to walk coincides with a heavy downpour. But the hotel is just round the corner.

The old portion of Krumlov is encircled by its river. In summer it’s full of rafting and canoes. Remarkably saw three this afternoon and a group of adults (one in wet suit) bracing for their river run with hot chocolates!

The castle from our side of the river.

Excellent pho for lunch and a traditional dinner at the pub-like Na Louzi. The best of the day was ………ta dah….. dessert! Almond cake and apple strudel. We’re pretty laid back – the town is sleepy in the rain.

Prague Splurge

We treated ourselves to the loveliest dinner and view of Prague. Because. The restaurant was partially reserved for a wedding party which meant we were listening to romantic English pop covers in the background. (We knew them all!).

We chose to taxi to the top of the Prasky Hrad and walk down a bit to the Richter Vineyards where the Piano Nobile restaurants sits on the edge of the view. So much quieter and royal feeling when it’s not covered in tourists.

Breathtaking view!

And then this gorgeous meal served by Pavel. The staff were attentive and made us feel special.

Pavel suggested an excellent Pinot Noir from Moravia. (Servers tell us whites are the strength of Czech wineries.)

To say nothing of the salmon bouche, the salad, bread and wonderful desserts!!!!!

And then we meandered down the hill, across the river to our hotel. An enchanted evening.

Báječné.   

This is the day we actually spent the morning in the Spanish Synogogue. We walked again through the Jewish Quarter and saw the shops with yarmulkes, Golem cookies (a anthropomorphic creature created from mud by Rabbi Bezalel that initially was helpful and then had to be destroyed because it turned bad – I’m a little unclear about it) and menorahs.

We walked over to the Little Quarter again and found the Lennon Wall. It spontaneously arose at the news of his death and persists despite efforts to end it. Now it is celebrated and is a place of expression. The Beatles still touch us all.

People were adding to the wall while we were there. It must be layers and layers deep.

This was a more artisan area after you got off the main street at the St Charles Bridge. Some quiet parks and residences. And this nice place to watch the world go by from.

Dinner near our hotel (Katr) and then we returned to the Spanish Synagogue for a concert performed by members of the Czech Collegium Symphony Orchestra. Three violins, a cello, an expressive bassist and a female soloist. Varied program: Bolero, Carmine Burana, Elvira, a little Gerschwinn and then traditional Jewish songs. Sounds a little weird when I write it, but the music was lovely and the acoustics astounding. Finished with Hava Nagila (Let Us Rejoice). That’s the thing about vacations – they pique your curiousity enough to do things like look up the titles of songs you’ve heard for years to give you context.

And another day sets.

New Town

Found the Hraldska Market in the Old Town but if it were not for the beautifully displayed fruits we wouldn’t have found anything that evoked old world market. We did, however, on our way through New Town stumble into a real neighborhood market where we enjoyed the ambience a great deal.

Next up the Narodni Muzeum/National Muzeum – a beautiful building with mostly empty rooms except for their Czech leaders “Pantheon”.

Narodni Muzeum

Saw the least appealing Gehry designed building I’ve encountered yet.

And then we crossed the river to have a lovely lunch and gorgeous view from the Manu Restaurant. It sits on an island in the river. We were treated to our lunch by Ron and Else Nichols who had been here just months ago! Special!

The walk back took us across Shooters Island and through a children’s festival. It’s fun to see families out together enjoying themselves. And to hear there laughter. We saw lots of toys and games we didn’t recognize, but they all had children smiling.

Did I mention that dessert habit? Coffee, Tiramisu and Profiteroles in the square ……….. Dobrou Noc

We’re encountering large groups of grooms men on bachelor weekends. They’re pretty intent on drinking to excess! Our driver, Martin, says many of the groups fly over from the UK for their debauchery. We did see a couple smaller bachelorette groups too. And the square is being set for something tomorrow!

Dobre rano slunicko or Good Morning, Sunshine to you!!!!

We decided on a change of breakfast fare and found our neighborhood Food Lab to be a treat! Crepes and great coffee all served pleasantly and with WiFi!!!! We’re easier to please some days than others!

Today was a day of infrastructure accomplishments. We found the post and also used the metro. We’ve found Prague imminently walkable. Both worked fine but we always expect to beat our postcards back home!

Back through the castle grounds for the last time.

Lunch at the Panorama Pergola. Which included the discovery of the afternoon cocktail of the trip, the Aperol Spritz!

And back down for our last Old Town stroll. Forgot to mention that yesterday the square was hockey madness! They had a televised screen for the game and the Czech colors were everywhere. Festive atmosphere and we have no idea who won!!!

Dinner at Al Dente (best ice cream we’ve had this trip – artisan pistachio and deepest chocolate. Good thing we didn’t find it earlier since it was only steps from the hotel!)

And the evening starts a rainy departure.

Sbohem, Prague.

(That’s bye”)

Prague – Jewish Quarter (May 25)

We spent the day learning from our private guide, Barboro. She gave us a Czech history lesson, but most importantly provided thoughtful structure and education about the arc of Judaism in the Czech Republic. I needed basic information about the religious and cultural touch points and I now know a teeny bit more. I am grateful to have spent time with her.

The names of Czech Jews murdered during the holocaust are printed in the Pinka Sova Synagogue walls. It’s sobering.

The synagogue is now a museum and there are few Jews remaining in Prague. The Star Nova/New-Old Synogogue is tiny and the only one yet holding worship services. Some of the things we learned emphasized the cruelty of the Nazi extermination design intended to insult their religious beliefs and tenets. The history is preserved Barbora says because Hitler intended a museum of the elimination of their race. The local Jewish community proposed using empty synagogues to store Jewish history and objects. The Nazi’s agreed, supervised them to completion and then transported the religious academics who curated the collection to their deaths. Reopened some time after the war and with a woman administrator at the head.

Barbora shares that as a result of Catholic religion imposed upon the Czechs historically and banned during the communist era, Czechs largely identify as atheist (she was careful to say not agnostic). This differs from Poland where Catholicism is predominant.

Though this is from a couple days hence, I think I’ll share our return to the Jewish Quarter to visit the Spanelska Synagogue/Spanish Synagogue.

Note the Star of David in the chandelier.

Again this synagogue is part of their museum system, but on the other end of a design continuum. Where the other synagogues we visited were simple in architectural detail, this is a grand and opulent Jewish synagogue. Colorful and gilded.

Old Town Hall Astronimical Clock – 1350. Has three time conventions aligned and an hourly moving disciple show (glockenspiel style) which we managed to miss every time we were in the square.

The city and its square are quite spectacular and busy. It’s very metropolitan here and tourism is notable. If we were high end shoppers we’d be in paradise!

We’re nestled in a residential area just off the square that’s quieter and has a bit more of the old city look.

We just enjoyed cafe life after our walking tour and ended our day with dinner at the Mincova bar in the square. Both of us had Czech traditional meals – heavy on the beef! Which just means an excuse for wine. And we’re finding some reds that are nice.

Dobrou Noc.

Hradcany Castle Quarter

We made a sweeping walk from Old Town through the Strahov Monastery, it’s gardens and into the castle grounds and dropped back down to the Vltava River today. We wandered through the Little Quarter that is quietly classy with green spaces before our ride up on the lanovka/ funicular to their “Eiffelesque” Petrin Tower (we found it not worth the effort). But the views, trees and orchards were more than worth the walk!!

Hradcany Castle or Prazsky Hrad and it’s grounds are on a grand scale. The entrance is traditional pomp and circumstance. Beginning with St Vitus’ Cathedral the castle impresses. The president actually works here (as do buildings worth of administrative types), but no one lives in the two castle residences on the grounds. There is a little lane of houses/shops on Golden Lane that are historical in appearance if not function any longer. It’s colorful and quaint.

St Vítus Cathedral

Golden Lane – the castle shops.

Before we got to the castle, we spent some time in the Strahov Monastery with it’s beer garden, beautiful white buildings and library. Really lovely and peaceful in their courtyards and gardens.

Yes, we were there together!! A monastery beer (pivo) garden stop.

Lunch at the Bella Vista was a relaxing indulgence with great food, wine and a view to die for!!

We put some miles on our sandals today and loved each step. Had dinner in our neighborhood – at Rick Steves recommended establishment called “Lokal”. It is supposed to evoke the communist era lack of hospitality in service but with good quality, value food. Mary is going to write on the RS’s site to say it’s unworthy of the recommendation…… makes me laugh. It was inexpensive and a definite hipster hangout – we had to wait for a table. But my memories of the Bella Vista will outlast those of the Lokal!!!!

Walked around the square again in search of a more atmospheric dessert and ended the day with the murmur of tourists around us.

Krasne sny.

I’m a bit obsessed with the mosaics we walk upon….

Sgraffito, not to be confused with graffiti, is a building exterior style we’re seeing in varying degrees of complexity (this very simple compared to the murals on town hall) which is essentially a scratching off of plaster to a lower level leaving a relief pattern.

In Prague our hotel has chandeliers but not stable WiFi!!! I’ll keep trying!