Prague, Day 2

We committed the second day to Prague Castle, high on the hill above the river. We took the approach of going up past it on the Metro, then walking down, for the sake of my leg. Unfortunately, there are no guided tours or audio on Sundays, so we muddled through with a guidebook.

Most impressive was St. Vitus' Cathedral, started in the eleventh century but not finished until 1929. The stained glass was gorgeous, especially the window by Alfonse Mucha in his totally unique style, painted panels instead of mosaic.

Another highlight was the view from the Lobkowitz Palace Cafe balcony table, looking iot over the red-tiled rooftops. We ate tomato soup with basil and parmesan along with ham and brie sandwiches while thankfully sipping large bottles of hard-to-find iced tea. Afterward, we went through the National Gallery's painting and sculpure, the Royal Palace History Museum's relics from mammoth bones to crown jewels (with huge stones!), the Royal Palace with its immense ballroom with arched ceiling, and the Powder Tower with a history of the Palace Guards. The Golden Lane, supposedly the king's alchemists' location, was closed for renovation, along with all its shops.

Finally, we wandered down the hill, through Wencelas's Vineyard, stopping for a trdlnik snack. Dough was wound thinly around a wooden treadle, rolled in sugar, then baked while turning continuously, and finally rolled again in cinnamon sugar. The aroma was irresistable. We sat on a stone wall amongst the tiny, new grapes, listening to the bells and mysterious bird calls of Prague.

Eventually, we faced the steep decent down the hill (1400 ft vertically) to the Metro station, stairs and switchbacks with incredible views down into the hillside gardens. Once back to our hotel, we couldn't face walking any further and ate dinner on site. Asparagus risotto with rabbit for me, salmon and veggies for Keenan, a rib-eye steak and fries for Joren. We stayed up too late, having difficulty getting into the proper bedtime ritual seven hours ahead of normal schedule.