Praha

For this morning's breakfast Judy decided to skip the eggs in favour of a second helping of Milan's yummy blueberry crepes.   Our driver, Daniel, a young Czech student, picked us up early and away we went on our journey to Praha (Prague).   Daniel was more talkative than Freddy, our first driver and we learned a lot about the Czech Republic.  

Driving through the outskirts of Prague we marvelled at the mix of old and new architecture.   Liz and Dana had recommended the Lokal Inn for a number of reasons but mostly for its location.   They were not wrong.   A better location would be hard to find - we are on the castle side right at the Charles Bridge.   As we arrived a little early our room was not ready.   Bianca, the lovely receptionist, stored our bags and recommended a good place for strudel and beer (Are you beginning to see a pattern here?). We walked to the Cafe Savoy, a beautiful Art Deco eaterie.  

Crossing the Vltava River we wound our way to the Old Town end of the Charles Bridge.   Here we were engulfed in a sea of writhing humanity.   Imagine your worst crowd experience, now double it, you're getting close.  We were swept along by the crowd until we arrived the at the old town square.  Praha is apparently the second most visited city in Europe.  Today, they're all here.   

I know we've talked a lot about the architecture on this trip, but this city ranks right up with Vienna and Paris.   A really interesting feature is the Astronomical Clock which not only tells the time but entertains the crowd.

A combination of the crowd and the heat wore us down very quickly so we fought our way back to our hotel, where we checked in.   A special thanks to Liz and Dana for their recommendation - this place is lovely.  After a wonderful dinner deep down in the stone-lined cellar of the hotel we went for a stroll for gelato and then strolled back along the river.