Prague 2019

May - June 2019
April - June 2019 Read more
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  • Day 9

    Day 8 - Strahov Monastery

    June 4, 2019 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    This is a definite 'must see' for book and history lovers! And a private tour is the only way to do it. Why? Because you get to walk inside the rooms versus looking in from a doorway. And, more importantly to learn the most intriguing stories and facts you'd never find on the Internet.

    Our guide George was very knowledgeable and pleased to share his expertise during the 45 minute tour. We suspect he was a retired professor.

    Some of the following info was pulled from brochures he gave us.

    The Strahov Library has approximately 280,000 titles - 3,000 are manuscripts. The oldest manuscript is the Strahov Gospel dated in 860. It is not on public view due to the need for a climate-controlled environment.

    In front of the Philosophical Hall were 'Cabinets of Curiosities'. I learned that there is no skeleton of a dodo bird (despite hearsay on the Internet). There were, however, some pretty ugly and downright weird things in those old cabinets. Would have liked more time to examine the displays but that was not possible.

    The Philosophical Hall was built to accommodate the size and height of the book shelves. I loved the ornate ceiling. One of the beautiful globes in the middle of the hall depicted countries as envisioned at the time. Canada was missing, except for the east coast.

    The next impressive room we toured was the Theological Hall. George pointed out that the ornate mural on the ceiling was painted in six months by F. Anton Maulbertsch of Vienna with only one helper. There is a 4 volume work about the Louvre Museum, sent by the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. (More to that story.) And, there's a secret door to access the upper levels! Check out the last picture. The rows of books closest to the door are angled to accommodate the hidden circular staircase. Cool!

    Apparently, the librarian and archivist Prior Cyril Stratka, named the two halls. He was a Czech bookbinding expert who influenced making the library accessible to the public.

    Thank you, Cyril!
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  • Day 9

    Day 8 - Stellar Views & Other Neat Stuff

    June 4, 2019 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We had booked lunch at the monastery's Bella Vista terrace based on a Rick Steeves recommendation. The panaramic views of Prague were beautiful and having travelled around for a week we could identify some landmarks.

    Diane had shrimp for lunch and I had a really tasty avocado salad, followed by you guessed it - a cafe latte for Diane & cappucino for me.

    The wait staff were a bit of a gong show. They repeatedly asked us the same questions and had no idea when one of them had already been to the table. The female waitress forcefully plunked a bottle of sparkling water on the table but brought no glasses. It didn't spoil our meal - we just concluded they needed a good process consultant!

    We noticed people drinking green beer and learned that the monastery makes it.

    Upon leaving the grounds the van in the last picture caught Diane's attention. What an advertisement! Chris, do you see zombies or is it just me?
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  • Day 9

    Day 8 - Cafe Savoy Encore

    June 4, 2019 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Diane & I enjoyed our breakfast at Cafe Savoy so much the first time, we thought it would be a perfect choice this morning.

    And it was! Easily a 10/10 again! The presentation and flavours were out of this world. Any guesses what I had? Cappuchino doesn't count!Read more

  • Day 9

    Day 8 - A WOW Finale!

    June 4, 2019 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We had booked a dinner reservation at Mylnik, a short distance away.

    The pictures of our experience tell the story of an incredible meal, served by personable staff (Yulia & Tomas) in a gorgeous environment with a beautiful view. One surprise after another - we were absolutely delighted!

    The first surprise was being seated on a glassed patio with a close up view of the Charles Bridge AND having gentle misters overhead. So refreshing in the +29 heat. This, after walking through the main restaurant - check out the artistic flair!

    We had a glass of Czech wine which was very smooth. The bread and cheese spread starters were very, very good. Both of us chose the 'veal fillet mignon a la schnitzel' as our main course. The presentation and taste? O. M. G.

    Further surprises were the pre and post palette teaser/refresher, each amazing little works of art and full of interesting and pleasing flavors.

    We decided to try the strawberry marscapone pistachio dessert. Our plates arrived with a dramatic flourish - a tall sparkler & dry ice in a small bowl on a plate with 'Happy Birthday' written in chocolate script.

    When we booked online, we'd mentioned briefly that we were celebrating birthdays with a trip to Prague. But, never in a million years did we expect the restaurant to pick up on that and treat us as they did.

    The dessert was gorgeous and flavorful. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

    The last surprises were small boxes that held tiny squares of rich chocolate covered in raspberry dust!

    What a memorable finale for our trip!
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