Day 13: Wolfgang. Amadeus. Mozart.

Wednesday, Dec 2
Yesterday's busy day turned even busier when we got back to the hotel. We purchased a new luggage which will allow us to bring home more goodies for the kids. This is where Nancy's expertise comes in. Instead of packing before we head home, she started to pack last night so we can spend another day exploring Prague. Our typical day ends after midnight. We are 9 hours ahead. So at 12 midnight here, that's 3pm in California. 

We stayed up for another hour, that's about the time when all the kids make it home from school. With the help of FaceTime and Viber, we're able to connect with the family back home. We've been quite lucky with the Internet, the audio and video were quite clear.


Our morning ritual
We woke up around 8am, and I started to check on what's in store for today. I came across an incredible website, tasteofprague.com. The pictures were so vivid. The descriptions were so inviting. I checked on places to eat for breakfast and narrowed my selections to either Cafe Savoy, or Cafe Lounge. They were both within a few minutes from each other.

We left the hotel around 9:30am, and we walked towards Albertov, that's where we caught Tram #6 towards Uzejda. It took 6 stops to get to Ujezda (around a 10-min tram ride). Cafe Savoy was hard not to miss. It was an enormous corner establishment. It was busy, bustling with guests and staff. Since Cafe Lounge was just around the corner, we decided to go and check it out. It was on the next block to the right of Cafe Savoy. If Cafe Savoy was Goliath, Cafe Lounge was David. It was much smaller, more intimate, and I preferred to have a much quieter breakfast. I was glad with this decision. We ordered a cappuccino and a cafe latte' to start off our breakfast meal.

For breakfast, Nancy had  Omelette with Prague ham, Gouda cheese, bread and a side salad.

 I ordered Chickpeas with carrots, celery, tomatoes, and parsley topped with Bavarian sausages. This was such a welcome surprise. The chickpeas were perfectly cooked, not too mushy. It had a bit of firmness. The saucy vegetables brought a lot of the sweetness. Great, great, grrrreat breakfast.

For dessert, I ordered their Yogurt cake  with what looked like Mandarin orange slices. I was expecting a creamy yogurt, but no, it looked like it was whipped to achieve a firm consistency. I liked it a lot.

We enjoyed our visit at Cafe Lounge. The staff was personable, attentive, and it couldn't get any more intimate without making you feel overwhelmed. I highly recommend this place.

One more show?
I wanted to see one more show before we head home. We stopped by at Rudolfinum, seat of Czech Philharmonic, but unfortunately, no shows were playing on Wednesday night. 

We walked towards the Jewish Quarter, just a few minutes away was the Spanish Synagogue dubbed as the most beautiful synagogue in all of Europe. Scheduled in the evening - The Best of World and Czech Music (a mixture of Bach, Vivaldi, Verdi, Mozart, Bernstein). We were so undecided. 


Wolfgang. Amadeus. Mozart - Don Giovanni, Opera
We headed to Stavovské divadlo or The Estates Theatre. This is where we decided to watch our last show in Europe. Dubbed as the “Opera of Operas”, Don Giovanni, the opera that composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself conducted and had its world premiere at The Estates Theatre - the only surviving and functional theatre where Mozart had conducted. Since the show was scheduled at 7pm, and it was around 1pm when we inquired, the tickets were nearly sold out. Luckily there were a couple of box seats that were available, and we grabbed them. Don Giovanni it is!!!

We went back to the hotel, rested for a bit, and got out by 4:30pm. We still managed to have a FaceTime conversation with the kids while they got ready for school (it was around 7am California time). We had pasta at a nearby restaurant - Corto. I can't complain since the pasta itself was cooked al dente, the way I like it, plus it was served hot. 

Finally, we made it inside The Estates Theatre by 6:30pm. Remember, my points of references at this point were the State Opera House (Budapest), and The National Theatre (Prague). Both were beautiful, and spacious. The Estates Theatre was decked in blue and gold colors, and felt much more intimate when compared with the other theaters we've seen. It was a surreal experience to be in that theatre since I learned of the history of the show, and its composer.

We're now getting a bit more comfortable with watching an opera. With this show, there were 2 acts, 1 intermission and it ran close to 3 hours. The acoustics were amazing. Nothing amplified when compared to watching a Broadway show, just pure voices of the cast and the sounds from the musical instruments. It's an evening we will never forget.

Kogo Bistro
After the show ended, we then had a very late dinner at Kogo, the same restaurant where we had lunch a couple of days ago. It was conveniently located around the corner from the theatre. We had seafood risotto and minestrone verdidura (a vegetarian soup). We knew we wanted to go back here and sure enough, we did. Thank you, Kogo.

That's our Day 13, I'm exhausted! Good night!!!

Day 12: Imagine (Lennon) - Never in my wildest dreams that I'd be in Prague

Tuesday, December 1st

We're now on our 3rd day in Prague, and for a change, we woke up to a great deal of sunshine. No complaints here. As always, today's agenda was decided when we woke up in the morning.

Globe Bookstore and Cafe
First on the list, Globe Bookstore and Cafe, Prague's first and best English bookstore. It was recommended by one of the TripAdvisor regulars so we just had to check it out. It only took 1 tram ride and about a 3 minute walk once we got off of Novomestska Radnice. We wanted to visit this place last night, but it was already getting pretty late when we left the Opera. Upon entering, there was a quaint little bookstore with a loft to the right side as we entered. We were advised to head towards the back where the actual cafe was located. We started our day quite late, it was already past 10am.

 We ordered Belgian Waffles, and an All American Breakfast, for a change something quite familiar. Not sure what it is, but I'm loving all the bacon I've had in Europe (from the cafe in London, and to the one here in Prague). It wassoooooo uber thin and crunchy, and not salty.

When my waffles came, I was given a teeny weeny syrup cup, smaller than a shot glass. My waffle wasn't drenched with syrup. Well, once I took my first bite, I learned why. The waffle itself was already flavorful and was already sprinkled with powdered sugar, thus, it didn't require much syrup. Breakfast was done. Yes!!!

After leaving Globe Bookstore, we walked towards the National Theatre and that's where we were picked up by tram #22. It only took a couple of stops and we arrived at Hellichova. I followed my iPhone's GPS, and we were first led towards the riverside. It was a beautiful morning, and we kept taking pictures of the area.

Lennon Wall
We then headed to Lennon Wall. This, by far, has been the most moving part of my visit in Prague. I'm a sucker for anything Lennon or The Beatles. When we approached the wall, there was one guitar player/singer who provided entertainment. He actually sounded pretty good (video link below). It reminded me so much of Strawberry Fields, John Lennon's memorial in NYC's Central Park. There was always a singer or musician who played whenever I visited the park. So what's the big deal with Lennon Wall? 

I found out that John Lennon never visited Prague in his life. So why? According to prague.net, "Prior to 1989 when Communism ruled, western pop songs were banned by Communist authorities, and especially John Lennon´s songs, because it was praising freedom that didn’t exist here...he became a sort of hero to some of the young and his picture was painted on this wall...back then the Czech people had few opportunities to express their feelings with their lack of freedom...they came to paint their own feelings and dreams on the wall."

There were many things written on the wall that stood out, and a couple of them still rings true. Stop racism. Find your peace. Nancy and I just stayed there for awhile, we watched people, and just listened to the guy who sang a bunch of Beatles songs.

Are you from Camarillo?
After leaving the Lennon Wall, we wanted to go back on the other side of the river and we found ourselves on Charles Bridge, one of the most picturesque bridges in Prague that I've seen. No cars here, but vendors and mostly tourists, I'm assuming. One of the many pictures we've taken during our trip to Europe is a picture of us holding a copy of the Camarillo Acorn (a local newspaper in Ventura County). My plan is to submit my pictures to the paper and be entered in a contest. Anyway, I held up the paper, while Nancy took the picture, and a guy approached me and asked me, "are you from Camarillo?" What gave it away? HA!!! He said he was from Ventura, and we both had good laugh since we're practically neighbors! Such a small world.

The guy from Ventura who recognized the Camarillo Acorn newspaper I was holding

c

Charles Bridge 

All things Lokal

the scene at Lokal

It was already 2pm and it was time to eat lunch. We were in the Old Town Prague area, a very tourist-plagued area. I looked at Yelp and was directed to a restaurant with lots of reviews. We opted for a more traditional selection, so we chose the Goulash Soup, Fried Cheese with Homemade Tartar sauce, moravsky vrabec with braised cabbage, potato dumplings, and chicken broth with noodles. We added homemade lemonade and homemade orange soda. That was a feast - all for....drum roll...less than $20 USD!!! It was a great lunch and the unforgettables were the soup. It was served piping hot, and it was just perfect for this 45 degree day.

Goulash soup

Lemon and Orange Homemade soda

moravsky vrabec with braised cabbage, potato dumplings,

Can we say cheesy?

Not your average chicken noodle soup

Cobble stones

After our late lunch, we walked around some more towards the Jewish Quarter. One thing I didn't mention. I'm amazed at all the cobble stoned pavement. Almost everywhere we went, there were cobble stones which added such character to the place.

Wenceslas Square
After hanging around the Jewish Quarter, we took a subway (metro) to Wenceslas Square. It was another strip of stores and restaurants plus the National Museum on the tip of the square. What I enjoyed most was finding our way in to this long bookstore, it was palatial. It was Neoluxor Palace of Books. Very nice!

Wenceslas Square and the National Museum (from a distance)

Neoluxor Palace of Books

I think we need one more luggage
If you knew me, you'd know that I like to travel with a carry on luggage and a backpack. Even when I travel for work, I don't check in any luggage. I like having it with me, so I can leave the airport immediately without having to go to baggage claim. Well here's the difference with this trip when I compare it to our Europe trip last Spring. Back then, we flew Ryanair and EasyJet - both airlines were conspicuous for charging you per item or by the weight of the luggage. So for that trip, all of us had a carryon and a backpack in order to avoid any other fees associated with a checked luggage.

For this recent trip, we flew United and Lufthansa (on the way here) and we're flying Lufthansa on our way back home. Both airlines allow one checked luggage per person (up to 50 lbs each), and also one carry-on luggage per person, plus another personal bag (backpack, purse, etc.). When we fly back home, we'll be bringing goodies and trinkets for the kids, and we've come to realize that we needed another luggage, and it actually all worked out. We won't have to pay any fees for an additional luggage.

We found ourselves at Tesco near the National Theatre. It's a department store (with a supermarket, too). Once we we entered Tesco, it was so meant to be. A black and white luggage, the kind that's made to be checked in, and it also has the 360-degree spinners, was on sale for 70% off!!! Bingo! Sold! It was a hard-shell luggage and was only $20 USD. We killed 2 birds with one stone by buying this new luggage and shopped at the supermarket downstairs.

Cafe Louvre'
Funny how time flies. It's now dinner. And just around the corner from Tesco? Cafe Louvre, another recommendation from TripAdvisor members. The ambiance is what sells here. It's hard not to be reminded of Paris. The food selection wasn't too bad either.

The scene at Cafe Louvre

We ordered Roast Beef with Cream and roll dumplings. plus Gnocchi with Salmon, and basil pesto and cream. We had such a long day that it was good to unwind here, and enjoyed our meal. The desserts were so eye-catching. It was tempting to order something, but honestly, I have no more room! Yes, I skipped desserts! (clap-clap!)

Gnocchi with Salmon and Basil Pesto Cream

Roast Beef with cranberry and roll dumplings

So there you have it, that's our Day 12! Thanks for following our journey!!!