Restorative

Today is Memorial Day in the US and I was glad to take advantage of the long weekend to join everyone in Prague. We had our usual breakfast and then I called an Uber to the airport which took less than 30 minutes. My flight was a little delayed, but the airport was easy in the sense that we go through immigration first and then security at the gate.

At the gate, I probably had the most exhaustive screening of my life. For whatever reason, my stuff was flagged and my items had to go through the machine several times. They separated my umbrella, sunglasses, and of course all my electronics. Actually my electronics went through several times as I had taken them out, but not realizing I was getting another screen, had put them back in the bags to only have them segregated and screened again. I had a detailed pat down and waited while all my items were scrutinized. They even fanned my books as I sat along the wall.

For someone who travels all the time, it was a bit of a surprise, but I just sat and admired my own packing skills and how easily I was able to repack all my belongings across 6 trays from the re-screens. I also think the screener was new as someone was coaching her.

I was sad to learn, although I had purchased Comfort Plus, my flight wasn’t upgradable. But the flight home was smooth, and I took public transit from the airport fearful of the holiday weekend traffic and hit my transfers perfectly. From runway to apartment, it was just about 80 minutes. 

These last 4 nights were restorative as we had wonderful quality time enjoying meals and relaxing in the apartment. It was a great weekend and I’m so grateful to have been invited and by friends who know me so well. So until next time, look forward to more adventures for us all as I continue to be the youngest!

Quality Time

After our usual lattes and breakfast pastries discounted from downstairs, we headed to Strahov Monastery which was founded in 1143. It’s most known for having one of the most beautiful historical libraries in the world and houses “over 200,000 volumes, including over 3,000 manuscripts and 1,500 first prints” per Wikipedia. We couldn’t agree more as our mouths dropped when we first peered in. If there’s another opportunity to come back, you can make reservations for a limited spot to enter, but that would require some planning.

We first saw what they call Philosophical Hall:





And then here’s Theological Hall:





In the corridor in between the library halls were impressive exhibits and adorned ceilings:





After the library, we went next door to the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady:





And then around the corner was the abbey itself which had the traditional halls and chapels of a monastery. But they also had a fun cartoon that felt like something you would see on Sesame Street of priests eating dinner and walking. They also appeared to have an exhibit about a famous astronaut as well as some Japanese prints, but all the signs were in Czech so we breezed by them. Here’s a photo of the abbey:



Within the complex was a small beer garden where we enjoyed beers, Greek salad, and a chicken schnitzel next to some Koreans longing for kimchi:





After the Strahov Monastery, we took a short Uber to Prague Castle where I was returning from our walk Thursday night when the sites were closed but the complex was opened. It was very different with the crowds and activity:





My main reason was to visit St. Vitus Cathedral, which is considered the most important church in the Czech Republic. It houses the tombs of Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors:









Here’s a photo of St. Wenceslaus Chapel which has relics of him. We continue to hum the famous Christmas carol:



Our ticket allowed entry into the Old Royal Palace which we visited before a horde of tourists:



As well as St. George’s Basilica:



After our visit, we descended the hill and walked by the Polish embassy to find the Wallenstein Palace and Gardens. The main palace building houses the Czech Republic Senate:









We were in search of the famous Dripstone Wall which was a part of the grotto they were trying to build in the garden. It’s made of stalactite-like rocks and kind of looks like skulls:





We then walked across the bridge and through the Jewish quarter back to the apartment where we rested, and saw Rachel off to the airport for her return to Denmark. I had a quality day with Rachel and was so glad we were able to make this rendezvous happen. Thank you for coming!

En route to dinner, we found David Černý’s sculpture of “Man Hanging Out” which is Sigmund Freud hanging by one hand with one hand in his pocket:





We had reservations at Mozart which was near the Charles Bridge. We had a lovely meal of soup with 63° egg, beef tartare, pork belly, and cod:



For dessert, we walked to Crème de la Crème for some gelato:



And then walked to find Michal Trpák‘s “Slight Uncertainty” which are sculptures of people hanging from umbrellas. Originally, I thought these were David Černý’s, but still cool nonetheless:







On our way back to the apartment, we saw the butterflies on a department store. They are made of fuselages of Spitfire World War II aircrafts that are most likely done by David Černý, but there have been some questions of authorship:



On our way home, the streets and the old square were packed with those watching the Ice Hockey World Championship playing in the O2 Arena a few miles away. There were screens in the old square and huddles around pub televisions. The Czech Republic had made it into the final after beating Sweden yesterday and played Switzerland tonight. We watched in the apartment as the Czech team finally scored in the 3rd period and the streets were loud with honking and cheering with flares. I took a quick snap of some of the fans before entering the apartment building:



I had a quality evening with Michael as we did lots of walking and talking and even back at the apartment as we stayed up until 1 am, while hearing the celebrations outside!

Kafkaesque

Just like yesterday, we had morning pastries with lattes, but was able to take a snap before we housed it:



After another lazy start, we took an Uber to the Museum dedicated to famed artist and sculptor, David Černý:



He’s known for his crawling babies:



Here’s a self-portrait:



And one of Albert Einstein and Andy Warhol:





William and me in front of a sculpture head on the terrace:



Here’s a hanging man off the building, but there’s another similar one in the city:



For the 2012 Summer Olympics, he created a massive “London Booster” which is a bus doing pushups. Here’s a model:



Here’s also a model of “Entropa” which stereotypes the various countries and was created to mark the Czech presidency of the European Union:



After the art museum, we took a tram and headed north to the Franz Kafka Museum. After getting off, we detoured into a park called Vojanovy sady which is known for its peacocks:







We found a Trdelník shop to enjoy a spit cake made with dough and sugar walnut mix with ice cream:

Or



In front of the Franz Kafka museum, there was a David Černý sculpture called “Piss”:



Inside the museum, you’re not permitted to take photos which chronicled Kafka’s life and writing. It was also very Kafkaesque as the museum “features strange and absurd design elements that are inspired by Kafka’s unusual ideas” per Wikipedia. We definitely experienced this as we got a little lost and didn’t known how to advance as there were awkward crowds.

However, we made it through the small museum and I posed in front of the “K” sculpture which could be for Kim:



After the museum, we walked home and rested by watching our friend Diana in the show “Tires” on Netflix and opened a bottle of sparkling rosé. On our way to dinner we took this elevator selfie:



Mikey ordered us a Bolt which is like Uber to what he thought was the restaurant, but it ended up being the metro stop. So we walked the same amount of time as the ride to Dejvická 34 and giggled the entire time. At dinner, we started with a round of Hugo Spritz’s:



And here’s a collage of our delicious meal:



We successfully returned to the apartment where we relaxed with Korean masks and reliving our youth through nostalgic music videos.

Indeed, there were several Kafkaesque moments today as it was absurd, but it wasn’t frightening as we laughed so much!