…three days of rain in Prague might be pushing it but nevertheless we have been thoroughly enjoying the sights with and without our umbrellas, hats and coats. Currently we are sitting in a café in the Old Town area of Prague enjoying the thickest hot chocolate I have ever had while warming up from the blustery 30 degree weather outside…at least the rain has taken a break! Time to update the blog now, one day at a time…
Our first day in Prague was quite a short one as we did not get into our hotel until the afternoon. We still grabbed our things and wandered around seeing the famous Charles Bridge – our hostel is actually on this street a mere 5 minute walk away – explored the immediate area around the bridge and took what must have been 100 pictures of the river with the Prague castle as a backdrop. They say Prague is the most photographed city in the world and it is so easy to see why standing on the Charles Bridge as the lights turn on at night, seeing the castle looking all dreamy with the river tying everything together. So romantic! We really enjoyed just getting lost, trying out various side streets to see where they led and actually ended up at some pretty awesome squares and points that led you right back to the river for another spectacular view. For dinner that night we had intended on trying out a vegetarian restaurant that has great reviews on trip advisor. This little sucker was quite difficult to find as it is on a dead end street that only one other street leads to which, of course, has fourteen different intersections on the way. Oh yea, and the signs are all in Czech (a very different looking language). We finally found it and eagerly stepped inside only to discover that it is a tiny restaurant (8 tables) and they were already all booked for the entire night. We settled on making reservations for the following night and the hostess asked us: “will 2 hours be enough time?” Enough time for what?! Grocery shopping, prep work, eating and cleanup? Sure, sounds good!
We wandered back out looking for a good spot to eat when we ran into the R. M. Rilke restaurant which we remembered was actually another favorite restaurant of Gary and Katie when they visited Prague in September. We stepped inside and grabbed a cozy table. After meeting a couple from Dallas who had also just arrived in Prague we decided on splitting our meal for the night having heard about the enormous portions. To be on the safe side we ordered a starter, delicious goat cheese on grilled vegetables. For our meal we split a half roasted duck with potato cakes, red cabbage and dumplings. Our plates arrived and we could not believe that even after splitting the entrée we were uncertain of our ability to finish our plates. The food was so, so good. I mean it was “I’m having a conversation with my food” good. As in “Hey there duck, oh yea, you look so good to me”. It was quite dirty. But oh so good.
Anyhoo, we were NOT able to finish our entire meal, although we gave it our best shot. However when our nice waiter came by we couldn’t help but ask about the desserts. “Don’t worry” he says “we can do half portions for those too”. That sold us on their specialty – a honey cake drizzled with caramel sauce and whipped cream. We should have known that this portion was going to be laughably huge and it did not disappoint. It was so so so delicious, all kinds of dirty talk ensued between myself and my food, I’m surprised Adam wasn’t blushing all throughout dinner. Completely stuffed we thanked the waiter profusely and waddled out into the night to head home.