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

Prague Adventures Part II

The beautiful clock tower

Delays, delays... I'm always delayed! But I'm working on it!

entertaining music

Here's Part II of my Prague fun.
On our first morning we went on an awesome free walking tour through the center of Prague. I saw so many amazing eateries while we were walking but there just wasn't enough time to stop, not if I wanted to learn about Prague's history too... I chose to satiate my brain and ignore my stomach for a while (which was silly since I hadn't eaten breakfast). On our one break, Endira did get Mulled Wine which was delicious. I could have gotten food but I was having way too much fun relaxing in the sun listening to this older man play saxophone and singing. He even sang in Italian for the crowd.
When the tour ended we went back into the market and got chicken skewers with onions and red

Chicken Skewers and beers on the street

peppers. They were well seasoned, smoky, and juicy, fresh off the grill.  The skewers were served in a long toasted bun. They were delicious but slightly difficult to eat unless you removed the chicken and vegetables from the stick which was quite difficult to do with no plates while sitting on the ground. That being said, I managed it and it was totally worth it.  Removing the skewers made it a lot easier to eat and we were very happy. We also had some beers with our meal while sitting in the shade of the gorgeous clock tower.

me and my dark beer

Then more beer. I tried dark beer for the first time and it was delicious. It wasn't as dark or as thick as Guiness nor was it a meal unto itself. It was a little heavier than the blonde beers I've tried before but it was not overly rich and really tasty. I liked it even better than the Pillsner.

my beautiful berries

We walked around center and found another market to explore as well. It was mostly witches (I'm still not quite sure what they were doing there), beautiful paintings and other artisan made things.  It was quaint and adorable and I wanted to buy everything. I especially wanted to buy the fruit. It was beautiful and fresh and the colors were vividly bright. It was awesome.
Then we went back to touring. We went to the Jewish quarter

from the window of the
museum

and saw the museums and WWII memorials there and we also saw one of the oldest standing Jewish cemeteries. It was absolutely stunning and a little eerie. The oldest grave that I saw dates back to the 1400's. I would actually really like to learn more about that cemetery because it was so crowded with graves spanning back centuries. They are literally one on top of the other, no space, no plan. It is hauntingly beautiful.
Afterwards we wandered around the city some more and grabbed another snack before heading over to the Ice Bar (more on that in a moment). We went back to the market

I was super hungry so I forgot to take a before shot.

again and I got a grilled cheese on toast. But it wasn't like the grilled cheese that you think of in the states. it was quite literally a hunk of cheese placed directly on the burner until melted, creamy on the inside and crisp on the outside.  It was served on a piece of bread and had a wonderful flavor and texture. I'm not sure what kind of cheese it was but it was quite delicious.  Endira instead opted to try some goulash soup.  It was quite tasty and considerably lighter than the goulash main

course that I'd tried the evening before.  It had a kick of spice but it wasn't overwhelming. the soup had a full and heart flavor.
Next we headed over to the the Ice Bar by Charles Bridge.  I insisted on going. I could not resist, a bar made of ice where drinks are served in glasses made of ice, yeahhh, it was necessary.

I'm such a goofball 

We found discount flyers at our hostel and so got an extra shot each which was lovely.  We got to go into a bar made of ice for 20 minutes (they have timed sessions to make sure no one gets too cold) and it was absolutely hilarious.  They decked us out in big silver jackets and black gloves and then we got to do 2 shots each. We danced a bit and goofed around taking pictures, but we weren't even really that cold. However, there was an Italian family with us and well, they were definitely feeling the cold. Italians are freddolosi, aka they're always cold. They had me cracking up because they were shivering and jumping about while we were sitting on the ice chairs and having a ball. There's an ice bar in Rome and I would absolutely love to go to that one too. It would be especially nice in the summer since it gets so hot here.

Selfies

After we got done being silly in the Ice bar we walked along the river and took some selfies before
heading back to the market for another snack. We decided to do a snack and then a late dinner (another snack really) since we were signed up for a 9pm ghost tour. Endira got another sausage while I decided to go for something sweet. I decided to try something called "fried curd". Really, it was fried dough with a sweet filling inside. I, of course, chose chocolate. It was so good. The dough was crisp and not too sweet and the chocolate wasn't overwhelming.
And then we went to our ghost tour.  It was interesting but not particularly scary (the stories had potential but you could absolutely tell that our tour guide didn't believe a word she was saying).
Afterwards we grabbed some dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Las Adelitas. It was quite good with large portions. The strawberry margarita was also great. But I'll write more about that in another blog.

And then we headed back to our hostel to rest because we had big plans for the next morning.

Prague Adventures Part I
Prague Adventures Part III

Prague Adventures Part I

A picturesque walk across Charles Bridge

Sooo I originally wrote this as one longgggg blog, and then I realized that there is no way anyone would have the attention span to read the entire thing. Hence, I decided to split the blog into 3 parts, 1 for each day spent in Prague.  I'll also have a Restaurant review or 2 because some of the restaurants were good enough to warrant their own posting.

The Easter Market

Just about 2 weeks ago during my work break I went to Prague for 3 days. It was an absolutely gorgeous city and I can definitely envision myself living there one day. It is the biggest city in the Czech Republic but it's still on a considerably smaller scale than NYC or even Rome. It reminds me of Florence in size, beauty and feeling (it oozes comfort to me). The city is very walk-able. It has art, history, culture and of course incredible food.

Delicious sausage and beer

I'm going to be honest. I didn't love Czech food, I liked it. It was tasty. But the things I tried were quite
heavy and there weren't many vegetables involved (which I know would thrill some friends of mine).
When I first got to Prague the first thing I did was try sausage from the Easter Market. It was served simple with a slice of wheat/whole grain bread and some mustard.  I loved it because it was simple and full of flavor.  Plus it was great with my Pilsner beer. I'm not the biggest beer drinker but while in Prague beer drinking is an ABSOLUTE must. Prague is the beer capital of the world. It's where Pilsner originates and I can

Potatoes of delight

absolutely confirm that beer costs less than water in some places.  Soo I had a lot of beer there.  It was necessary for a proper Prague food experience.  Sadly, I never made it to a beer tasting but that ill just have to wait till next time.  I think it would be worth it simply because I know next to nothing about beer.  I know there's light)blonde beer, red and dark beers. All other classifications are lost on me.
So my first meal involved Pilsner and then I switched to cider (there was a cider shop in the Easter market that was utterly adorable). They had Kingswood which is a Czech Cider. I love cider and had it again with dinner too. It is delicious and sweet but not too sweet. We also got this lovely, spicy potato salad that had sausage, bacon and lots of great spices. It was heavy and delicious and went really well with the rain. It rained that afternoon, so cider, sausage and potatoes really hit the spot.

Kingswood cider

At dinner I stuck with my cider. It was great but I must admit beer probably would've gone better with my Goulash. Goulash is a typical Eastern Euopean plate and quite common in Prague. It is a kind of stewed beef. The sauce is full of flavor and quite heavy and it is served with a variety of different traditional dumplings. Goulash can also be served as a soup sans chunks of meat  (we tried it the next day).
We had our first sit down meal at a restaurant called "U Vejvodu" which I kept pronouncing incorrectly as Dejavu. I'm going to review the entire meal in a separate post because it was delicious.
After dinner we were going to get cocktails or ice cream made with absinthe but sadly we were too full and tired. Absinthe is competely legal and there are a lot of absinthe bars foating around. I was very tempted but I also wanted to enjoy the intense schedule of walking tours we had planned without a hangover or migraine.  I think I made the right choice.

Prague Adventures Part II
Prague Adventures Part III

Good Friday Salad in a Jar

I made another salad in a jar on Good Friday for my day trip to Ostia Antica. I figured that it would be a great picnic lunch.
I'm not really a practicing Catholic although I usually do follow the traditions of Lent.  I usually give something up. One year it was the elevator in my building (which was great because I still don't use elevators unless I'm actually completely wiped out). Another year I gave up ice cream. That one didn't work out nearly as well.  I kept forgetting that I'd given up ice cream and wound up deciding to tack on days to my lent to make up for it.
This year, Lent seems to have flown by and I never actually got around to giving up anything. And since my awarness level wasn't particularly high, I'm sure that I also ate meat on Fridays as well. I've never been a stickler for these things, but I do try to follow along... This year I seem to have dropped the ball.
For Good Friday, however, I decided to follow tradition and have no meat all day.

So my salad was vegetarian.
My first layer was fresh olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction and some oregano (grown and dried by one of my roomie's family).  Then I added white cannelloni beans with a little salt. Then came a layer of strawberries (I'm seriously starting to enjoy my roommates reaction when I put fruit into salads, it's utterly hilarious). Then a layer of delicious Asiago cheese because I really love its creaminess and how well it pairs with strawberries. Then I added a 1/4 of a small red onion diced coarsely because I adore the bite that the red onion adds to the salad. It adds a bit of kick and texture at the same time. Finally I filled the rest of the jar with mixed greens. I got an extra large package at the super market that has arugula, lettuce and some dark green and purple leaves that I don't know the name of. It's seriously one of my favorite mixes of salad.
Voila. My salad was amazing as I sat among the ruins of Ostia Antica. It was a truly memorable and delicious picnic lunch.

The Amphitheater and Temple