Prague - Day Three - Sansho

I read about Sansho restaurant (http://www.sansho.cz) in several different articles including one on the Context Travel blog 48 hours in Prague (http://www.contexttravel.com/blog/?p=5364#more-5364) by Jessica (the office manager in Rome). I was especially pleased when Brewsta included it on his short list of 10 recommended restaurants for our trip.







Salmon Sashimi

Soft Shell Crab Slider


Pork Belly Watermelon



Lamb Satay

Raw Beef Rendang


Papaya Salad


Pork Red Curry

Prague - Day Three - Veletrzni Palaca

After viewing Mucha's Slav Epic, we took a quick walk through the permanent collection at the Veletrzni Palace located on the North side of the Vltava River which meanders through the city. By most  definitions the collection here is modest. A few of the masters are on display. Most of the artists were unknown to us - making them all the more enjoyable. 

 Veletrzni Palace National Gallery

 Frantisek Kupla, 1871 - 1957

 Arnost Hofbauer, 1869 - 1944

 Ludek Marold, 1865 - 1848

Prague - Day Three - Slav Epic

Mucha spent many years working on what he considered his life's fine art masterpiece, The Slav Epic (Slovanská epopej), a series of twenty huge paintings depicting the history of the Czech and the Slavic people in general, bestowed to the city of Prague in 1928. He had wanted to complete a series such as this, a celebration of Slavic history, since he was young. Since 1963 the series has been on display in the chateau in Moravsky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. After a heated battle - the works were recently moved and are now displayed at the Veletrzni Palace in Prague.


If you are in Prague - you need to visit this exhibit of Muchas works they are amazing to see up close and in person. It is easy to see why it too him 15 years to complete these large canvases. They tower over you. Together they overwhelm your visual senses and fill the museum space. I was really impressed by these works.

Mucha's masterpieces at Veletrzni Palace 

A close up from one the Slav Epic works - the boy symbolizes the unity of Czech people

Prague - Day Three - Potrefena Husa Lunch

Our tour guide Eva recommended this local eatery for a quick lunch at Patnerska 88/9 after our morning walk. It is located a few streets off the busier tourist area and near the Charles Bridge so a prime location near the Vltava River. The food was tasty and reasonably priced.

 Carrot Soup

Goulash

Special of the day - Chicken Kabob with chips

Prague - Day Three - Rainy Day

Okay - so I couldn't resist posting a few pictures taken during our walk today with local guide Eva Bartuskova.




Saint James Church




Old Town Square

Prague - Day Three - Old Town, New Town and Jewish Quarter

Eva is a terrific your local tour guide. The rainy weather kept most of the other tourists indoors and let us have the city to ourselves. We spent most of the day looping down side streets, alleyways, and hidden passages. I have to admit that I was lost during most of the walk.

Eva shared Prague's history and educated us on hundreds of years of rule, conflicts and victory. From religious changes to conquests and rulers, the Czech people have proven their ability to withstand all forms of peril and hardship. They have a rich and intriguing history - no wonder they proudly sought independence in more modern history.

Rather than share rainy pictures of Prague - I found these pictures more interesting from our walking tour.










Modern sculpture by Matej Kren in the public library. Named Idiom and made up of over 8,000 books. The interior mirrors create an endless effect.

Prague - Day Three - Walking with Eva

Our local guide Eva Bartuskova from Sightseeing Prague ( http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en ) greeted us in the lobby of Hotel Josef promptly at 9 am. I found Eva and her company a few months back after flying on Southwest Airlines (USA) from Dallas to Houston. Read the article here ( http://www.spiritmag.com/click_this/article/vayable/ ).

Southwest's Spirit Magazine encourages businesses to pitch their company for a feature in their monthly publication. While perusing the magazine I read about new company Vayable ( http://www.vayable.com ) . The Vayable's ad says it all "Book an experience when you travel" and they specialize in tours, trips and other things to do.

Today we enjoyed a 4 hour walking tour of three neighborhoods - New Town, Old Town and the Jewish Quarter. All three are located on the right bank of Vltava river which divides and winds itself through the city.

Hats off to Vayable for a terrific business concept and to Eva for registering her tour with them.

Prague - Day Two - Hergetova Cihelna

A local foodie known as Brewsta shared a few dining recommendation with me for our trip. His blog site is Czech Please is a terrific resource and offers reviews of hundreds of Prague's restaurants ( http://czechoutchannel.blogspot.com ). He also writes restaurant reviews for the English-language newspaper Prague Post ( http://www.praguepost.com ). This trip I relied on his advice in choosing our dining spots.

Hergetova Cihelna is located on the right bank of the river and offers outstanding views. Our first night in Prague. I thought the food was average but the view was worth a million dollars.

Prague - Day Two - Lennon

The Lennon Wall is one of Prague's newest attractions which sprang to life in 1980 after John's murder and represents the ideals of youth. The wall is constantly changing thanks new ideas and a bit of paint. I love graffiti. The wall is located on the left bank of the river.

Day Two - Prague - Hotel Josef

We enjoyed a warm welcome from Hotel Josef on our arrival to town. My endless stream of emails with questions has made us old friends with the hotel staff. It was great fun being personally greeted upon arrival.

Hotel Josef shows off a modern design in the heart of Old Town and Jewish Quarter. It does a good balancing act in fitting and standing out. I am looking forward to trying this place out.




Room 809


View from balcony

Location:Prague

Prague - Day Two - Arrival

Suspicious that we would be exhausted from our long trip over the Atlantic Ocean and knowing at least two of us have ailments that require some extra TLC (Tender Loving Care) - I arranged for a car service with the Hotel Josef versus testing our cost-saving wits on local mass transit.

I was a little apprehensive of whether our driver would be at the airport or not. This arrangement took the most effort to confirm and then re-confirm again. The whole process left me with a queazy uncertain feeling that we would disembark our British Airways flight at Prague's Ruzyne (PRG) and not be greeted by our driver.

The cost was 35 Euros for three people in a private car - so $14 USD per person. We will find another way to save a few extra Czech Crowns (CZK) on this adventure. It was a great treat after a long day!

Prague Ruzyne Airport (PRG) 

Prague - Day One: Getting There

For us Texans, Prague is a destination where the idiom 'you cannot get there from here' couldn't be more true. While we mapped out a route to minimize our time at an intermittent stop along the way - at least one stop is unavoidable. We chose a route through London (with hopes of grabbing some official Olympic 2012 swag) in making the 5,388 mile journey from Dallas to Prague. Our trip begins with a overnight flight to London, a reasonable lay-over at Heathrow Airport and a short 2 hour flight on British Airlines over to the capital of the Czech Republic.

Prague or Praha, in Czech, has several nicknames including "City of a Hundred Spires", "Golden City" and "Mother of Cities".  I rely Wikipedia as a fairly accurate source for my research needs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague .