Czech One Two

Days 11 and 12 - 9/14/07 and 9/15/07 - Prague

We've had two great days in Prague.  Our little hotel has been a fun experience and the sights are Prague are awesome.  Train from Vienna to Prague was about 4.5 hours and passed through some beautiful mountains.  Some of the cities we went through were ugly communist sprawl, but the mountain towns were nice.

We covered Old Town in the evening when we first arrived in Prague.  It's a fun and pretty plaza, but it is absolutely overrun by tourists.  Unbelieveable really.  Definitely a sight to see, but we only needed to see it once.  If you have a guide that covers a lot of the history of these busy places, it makes them much better.

We ended our night at a pub called "U Zlateho Tygra", which means By the Golden Tiger.  We walk into this place and it's full of people sitting at tables drinking.  We're told by the Czech speaking waiter that there were no seats and are shown the door.  Margie finds two spots next to some older men and asks if we can sit down.  The men nod yes.  Waiter is not happy.  We learn that the weekends are really for locals.  This was made even more clear when Lauren stands up to order a beer and the waiter drops a shoulder into him as he passes by.  Obviously on purpose, but we hold strong and end up having a great time with the men we're sitting with.  They keep track of your beer on a piece of paper in front of you with a tick mark for each beer.  Between the four guys sitting with us, their paper had no less than 50 ticks...and it was 9PM.  Rockers.

On Saturday morning, we walked around New Town and Little Quarter.  In our opinions, they are much better parts of town.  We saw the Mucha Museum and loved the Municipal House.  A lot of the Czech sights and memorials are in honor of their rise against communism, which was not too long ago.  Hard to imagine this town, with all it's commerce and tourism, was dominated by a communist government less than 20 years ago.

Against our hotel owner's judgement we decided to head to the local Prague soccer match in the evening.  Slavia Praha is the Czech league's biggest team, basically the Yankees of Czech soccer.  We had a great time.  Cheap tickets, cheaper beer, a rowdy "student section" with organized yells, smoke bombs, and unecessary riot police lurking in the stands.  Of course, the game tied at 0-0.

We ended our night at the local pub by our hotel.  Tomorrow we'll own Prague Castle and get ready for Germany.

Comments

[GuapoRandy]

You look so happy. It's great that you enjoy libations with the locals. It will add memorable character to the trip. Get names and address' for a lifetime of friends.
Be respectful of the "Soup Nazi" if you should visit his establishment.

"If it's not fun don't do it".-1969 Guapo Dad

[Karina]

Margie & Lauren,

Wow - I am just LOVING your stories. I am so happy that you decided to create a blog. It is truly special to follow you on your adventures. You both look SO happy! I LOVE them pictures. Keep them coming! :) Wow - lots of beer drinking between the two of you! ha!

XO Karina

[I.K.]

Piekne zdjecia!!!!
Bardzo ladnie opisaliscie wasze wycieczki.
Do szybkiego zobaczenia.

[XXXOOO]

I've shared your blog site with most of the fam. Rosie says you two should have a show on The Travel Channel. I think we all agree. Fun to share in your adventures. Like riding along in your messenger bag!