Monday, May 11, 2015

Prague day 2

We started off the morning with a lovely breakfast at our hotel. We took off by foot and looked around the old clock in the square. 

Legend about clockmaster Hanus

The origin of the Astronomical Clock was misrepresented for centuries. It was believed, that the author was clockmaster Hanus, also called Jan of Ruze, who lived in the 15 th century. The story said that the clock was admired by many foreigners, but Hanus refused to show construction plans to anybody. When Prague Councillors found out that he was going to make another, even better clock, they became jealous and blinded him so he could not finish it. Later he allegedly damaged the astronomical clock in revenge, and nobody was able to repair it.

The view from th top was beautiful



Real history of the Astronomical Clock

The real author of the clock was discovered in 1961 in an old document, which describes the astronomical dial and says it was made by Mikulas of Kadan in 1410. He probably cooperated with the astronomer and Charles University professor Jan Sindel.


I had booked a food tour with the company "eating with locals". 
We met our guide Martina in front of a huge mall. 
The first stop was closed but she had brought open face sandwiches chlebíček along with her for us to try. 
It was a piece of sour dough bread, with potatoe salad, meet, cheese, and egg and mayo. 
If I would have had 2 I would have been full, but this was just our first stop. 
Next we stopped by a butcher shop ( it was also closed because it was Sunday). She described the time of communist rule, quality of food did not matter, just quantity.  Much of the food was terrible and there was very poor food safety concern.  
Our first stop was katr - a newer resturant that has a new take on classic Czech cusine. 
From left to right.
1. Trout with cabbage and new potatoes. Although I am not normally a trout fan, I actually enjoyed this dish. 
2.“nakládaný hermelín” (pickled cheese) - sounds weird, but it was actually very good
3. “tatarák” (beef tartar)- better then I thought it would be. John was disappointed that there was no other favors in the meat
4 “tlačenka” (aspic / headcheese)- definitely not my favorite 
 The samples were served with a Pilsner beer. 


After we left we started walking back towpawrds the town center, all of a sudden the we stopped and our guide pulled out a small bottle of liquor. Called Czech Slivovice - alcohol made of plums

It is thought to be a cure all when you are sick. It was strong and brunt a bit on the way down. 


Next we stopped at  Mincovna restaurant – we fried “Romadur” cheese with cranberries, 

It was very stinky cheese, ( john had a hard time stomaching it at first, but it was actually very flavorful and smooth. 
Next we hadroasted beef with traditional creamy sauce and Carlsbad bun dumpling. We learned that proper gravy is made without flour, and instead thickened with veggetables. 
The gravy was beige with hints of lemon. (This was my favorite plate we had that day) 

For dessert we had traditional apple strudel

Our next stop was  Choco Café – you got a chance to taste unique Czech “Hořické trubičky” (Hořice rolls) filled with fresh whipped cream dipped in a hot chocolate and Becherovka –  this place was so good I came back today to blog and get more chocolate. 



Czech digestive liquor made of secret combination of herbs and spices this seriously tasted like pinesol or a Christmas tree. I couldn't finish mine so John did. 

We then set off across the bridge to taste some local Czech wines. 



Our last stop wasVinograf wine bar with a nice selection of Czech & Moravian wines. We enjoyed a glass and talked with put guide about her life.. She had 4-5 different jobs. 


She pulled out of her purse a  Kofola – Czech “coke” drink. The recipe changes every year. It has more caffeine, less sugar and no phosphate. It think it tasted a bit like a coke that had been left out for a long time. 


We said pur good byes to our guide and headed back to the hotel. We wanted to make the ballet by 6. 

The theater was stunning. And for 10 dollars a ticket we sat front and center. 


 





Prague day 1

We took off by foot with no particular place to go. 
Through a back corner we found this little Czech wine store. 
We sampled a few wines and got a glass
For two glasses of wine it cost about $2.25.. It was cheaper then most bottled water. 
The old town square is beautiful, I felt like I was in a fairy tale.
We walked across the bridge and up a Huge hill to get to the castle, but it had just closed for the night. 
Although it's not high tourist season, here were so many people on the bridge and on the streets. 







Driving to Prague

We left early Saturday morning and headed east toward Prague. I am happy to report I was much more comfortable driving in Berlin. City traffic was much lighter then when we arrived. We made it to the highway without any issues. 
After drving nearly 425 miles we needed to stop for gas. Gas I. Euope is sold by the liter. 
I have a 17 gallon tank so it took a lot of liters... Probably the most expensive tank of gas I will ever put in my car. 
Yes you read that correctly, nearly $100 to fill it up. 

We made it to the Czech boarder without any hiccups. We needed to purchase a sticker to drive on Czech roads. I believe it was 12 euros for 15 days. 


The city of Prague is absolutely stunning. Small cobblestone streets lined with beautiful buildings. Driving in Prague was stressful. The cobblestone is slippery and bumpy and the drivers were more aggressive then in Berlin. 
We found our hotel thanks to the garmin. But we had a police car fallow us the entire way in turns out there is a police station across the road for our hotel. 

This is the very narrow driveway I had to get my new car through. I m happy to report there are no dents in my new car, although I am not sure how we are going to get it out of the small courtyard. 
The court yard is very small but I felt like my car is safe.
We were welcomed with a glass of sparkling wine and given a map and details of our room. 
The room is very clean, but there must be something wrong with the air conditioner, because it was very hot. 
We left our bags and went out to discover the city. 






Friday, May 8, 2015

Berlin - the memorial of murdered Jews and farmers market.

We felt like we saw most the the big tourist atteactions in Berlin other then the holocaust memorial. It was so powerful to see the stone structures.
The Memorial takes up an entire city block (4.7-acre)  and is covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The slabs are about 8 feet long, about 3 feet wide and vary in height from 8 inches to 15. They are organized in rows, 54 of them going north-south, and 87 heading east-west at right angles but set slightly askew. 
 As you walk through people seems to appear and then disappear. At the deepest level it appears the only way out is up. 
After we walked through the memorial we went through museum underground, it was somber and dark and I couldn't spend much time there. There was a room where they read names of those killed and a bit of their story. In all the readings take over 6 years.

We decided to get a bite to eat after. 
John had his first curryworst. 
We then walked around the city. 
I had in my head that I wanted to buy some sort of art while I was in Berlin and we finally found some. 
We paid 50 euro for a student painting in front of the art college.
 And then I found a pretzel! That checks off all the things I wanted to do while I was in Berlin 


We were looking for something different for dinner so we found a farmers market (it was a bit off the beaten path. It was so fun to see and try all the local things. 
John and I had a blast. 
We picked out cheeses, meats, breads, fresh pasta, olives, wine, beer and dessert. 

First we enjoyed appetizers in our apart,met over looking the garden. 

Then we prepared the main course together 
It was so yummy! 
John was too full for dessert... So I am snacking on it while I write this blog. 
We have had a wonderful time here in Berlin. Tomorrow we head 4.5 hours southeast to Prague. 




Potsdam


After traveling around busy Berlin for a day john and I were looking for somewhere a bit slower pace for our second day. We decided to take a short road trip to Potsdam. 
John started his day by finding a local crossfit gym. He did the workout called Frane and got a PR on it 
I had found a small bakery near bye and got breakfast sandwiches and coffee to go. 
Then we started out for Potsdam 


It was a beautiful little city with a sweet downtown shopping area and a huge park. 
We found safe parking for my car and we were off again by foot. 
(The Dutch quarter)
There were so many streets and shops. John let me stop at a few.
(The old town square Brandenburger)
We had a light lunch in front of the gates and then were off to walk in the park.
(Potsdam Brandenburg gate)

Then it was off to see the sites within the park.

We entered the gates.
Sanssouci- the former summer palace of Fredrick the great , King of Prussia
John and I decided that if we won the lottery that that house would probably do just fine for us. 
John also requested that out next house have a bathtub that size. 

We walked and walked and walked (1.5  miles to be exact) to see the 




The New Palace was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years' War, under Frederick the Great and was completed in 1769. It is considered to be the last great Prussian baroque palace.
(Also under construction) john did find where they hid all the statues, just incase one breaks 
Across the street from the palace there was the landmark building of the University of Potsdam. 
We then walked the 1.5 miles back to our car and headed home. 
Traffic into Berlin was pretty terrible. It was stop and go most of the way with lots of road contrustion.