Prague Adventures Part III

Another giant Easter Egg

 We started the morning early with Capuccino (that were quite large for regular capuccino... or maybe it's just because everything is smaller in Italy lol). Endira got a croissant but we somehow accidentally ordered apple strudel with ice cream, not exactly my ideal breakfast (especially since I never eat breakfast). There was definitely some kind of mis-communication. But it was a delicious mis-communication. We ate quickly and ran off to do a castle tour.
Of course, there was no castle tour that morning, because there were only 2 of us and they have a 4
person minimum. I suggest making friends at your hostel to make sure you can do the morning tour.
So instead we went exploring on the other side of the river and we did a little light shopping on Charles Bridge on the way. We saw some modern and contemporary art in a park/garden and then we went in search of the Lennon wall.  It was challenging to find but absolutely worth it.  The Lennon wall is a graffiti wall dedicated to Lennon, the Beatles and peace in the world.  I don't know if Lennon had any particular connection to the city, but the wall is beautifully bright and colorful. There are phrases from Beatles songs and mirrors, dedications to the Boston marathon bombing and 9/11 too.
It is a gorgeous and worth trying to find (I suggest asking people... a lot). The maps are not quite clear enough. Ours really only gave us a general sense of where it was.
Right after we stopped for lunch at the John Lennon pub. Delicious but I'll write a separate review of it as

well since I enjoyed it so much.
Then we went to catch the castle tour at 2.  It was great. We had a hilarious tour guide who did a great job improvising as various hilarities and problems turned up. The castle was beautiful and very interesting as it wasn't what I typically imagine when I think of castles. From a distance, yes, close up no. It had a lot of different structures that encompassed "the castle" including a gorgeous cathedral, half of which was constructed in the 12th century and the other half in the 19th and 20th centuries. It's gorgeous and gothic and almost seamless between the 2 halves. I especially loved the gorgeous colors of the stained glass.

The monastery brewery

When we were done with the castle, we almost separated from our tour guide but he promised a spectacular view and as a bonus he took us to a local brewery, aka monastery. The monks brew their own special beer and it's delicious.
Then we wandered back down the hill for our 7pm ghost tour in the catacombs below the clock tower. It was quite atmospheric and far more creepy than our night walk. Our tour guide definitely had the right tone of voice to go with his stories. We even dragged one of our hostel friends with us and he enjoyed it as well.  We walked through the catacombs in the dark with little lanterns. It was quite atmospheric, especially with the cold air gathering around us and the lamps casting odd shadows in the corners.
Afterwards we decided to grab our last restaurant dinner at a restaurant in center called La Bohemia. It was really good so I'm glad we let the guy out front convince us to go in and sit down. I finally got to try my tradition Czech roast duck.  It came with a sweet sauce and traditional gravy. It was also

supposed to come with sauerkraut but I've never really been a fan so I asked our waiter to switch it for mashed potatoes. The waiter did argue a bit and said that the sauerkraut would have gone better but in the end he brought me my plate with mashed potatoes (and a mini serving of sauerkraut hidden underneath the duck) so I was quite pleased. The mashed potatoes were relatively bland but really worked with the sweet sauce, rich gravy, and juicy duck. I was quite the happy camper.  Endira enjoyed her steak and potatoes while our new friend tried the traditional goulash for the first time. Oh and you know that we got some beers to go with our meal as well.

And then finally we were back in the hostel where I packed our bags and pulled an all nighter because we had to leave the hostel at 4:45am.  Sleeping seemed quite pointless to me so I just made friends in the hostel.  And then at the airport I had some apple juice and a tasty double chocolate muffin for energy to stay awake till lift off.
And then we were back in Rome. It was a short trip, but I've definitely fallen in love with Prague. It's a gorgeous city with so much to see and do and it feels amazingly comfortable to me.

Prague Adventures Part I
Prague Adventures part II