Prague, Day 5

On Wednesday, we trekked back to Prague Castle to visit parts we missed previvously. We braved the stairs up to the Castle since the target location was on the near end. The Lobkowitz Palace is not part of the Prague Castle tour, but I read online reviews that suggested it was well worth the separate admission.

The Lobkowitz collection is privately owned, by the Lobkowitz family that left the country at beginning of WWII, with all their property confiscated by the Nazis. After the war, they regained their possessions, only to lose them again a few years later with the Communist take-over. After the Velvet Revolution, the family gathered records to claim their belongings again. The audio tour was narrated by the Lobkowitz heir, who was raised in the United States on stories of his familie's palaces. The collections were very interesting, ranging from personal items such as family portraits (including pets) and jewelry to more public items such as arms and musical instruments.

The Seventh Prince Lobkowitz was one of Beethoven's patrons, giving him an annuity free of control of the music to be produced. We saw music in Beethoven's own hand for the Fifth Symphony and a dedication for it to the Prince. Also on display were handwritten music from Handel and Mozart. After the tour, we joined a small group of listeners for a midday classic concert, with works for piano, flute and violin.

We returned to the balcony cafe for a late lunch again, this time with sunshine over the rooftops, then decided to take an alternate route down. The hillside below the castle is filled with terraced gardens, reached by winding narrow pathways and staircases. Espaliered fruit trees, wisteria, hydrangeas, roses and irises abounded. This was one of my favorite areas of Prague. I could go there with a sketchbook and while away hours.

In the evening, we wandered via a new path back down near the Charles Bridge for dinner at a restaurant which seemed to be rated highly for its adventurous food. We weren't very impressed however, despite the bill. The goat cheese mousse could have fooled me -- pretty flavorless. Joren's duck was very tough. Keenan and I could not have told that there were asparagus pureed in with the mashed potatoes served with our salmon, because a sweet, black olive sauce dominated over all. Perhaps we should have stayed with the more traditional Czech food or the omnipresent Italian options. Consequently, we walked back to Old Town Square, to park ourselves before the astronomical clock for dessert. The fruit with chocolate fondue and raspberries with ice cream were tasty, but the apostles forsook us at ten o'clock.