Prague - Take 2

Yes, Bear + Gun = Communism

Yesterday, August 6, was a throw-away day in terms of sight-seeing.  We were just returning to Prague for the convenience of being able to catch a direct train to Budapest.  Yet yesterday was a great day nonetheless.  Alex Loucks was truly our hero for the day.  He generously used the massive amount of Hilton points he has amassed through working for “The Family” to get us a free room in the hotel for the night.  Staying in a real hotel for an evening was a treat we had not anticipated.  We had a comfortable bed, a nice shower, and privacy.  After an afternoon of shopping (We got Kati a new camera) and quite the adventure at the Czech post office, we decided to celebrate our last night with Alex.

We started the night at an underground Czech pub, frequented by “locals” and “tourists in the know” that Alex’s lady friend recommended to us.  Next, we stopped for dinner at a ritzy looking joint called Lary Fary for our last meal.  Kati, still entranced by her lunch in Karlovy Vary, again ordered svíčová na smetaně, while Alex got a steak and I got an amazing lamb knuckle, in the Czech style.  We also took our first foray into Czech wines with a fantastically light (yet full-bodied) and fruity red wine called Zweigeltrebe.  It was a great way to end the trip.

We finished the night at the Hilton sky bar, called Cloud 9.  Coincidentally, I had been looking for a place that we were told had an ice bar in Prague.  Before we had left, I had determined that the ice bar was a temporary gimmick set up at a bar called Cloud 9.  Little did we know that we’d end up there at some point on our trip.  The view of the city from the roof of the hotel was alright—not breathtaking, mostly due to an obstructed view of the old town, but still pretty cool.  We’re now on our way to Budapest (Via a 7 hour train-trip).  Hopefully our Hungarian leg of the trip will go as smoothly as our Czech leg.  We will miss Alex though, Kati and I both had a great time with him and we were really glad it worked out that he could meet up with us over here.  Thanks Alex, for the hotel, for being the greatest Czech-magnet around, and a great week overall!  I’ll catch you all on the other side of the Hungarian border.