6.23.2007 Karlstejn

We went on a short excursion 30 km southwest of Prague to see the Karlstejn Castle, which was built by King Charles in the 14th century. We walked around the village at the bottom of the castle, and had some delicious soup, goulash, bohemian dumplings, beers, and apple strudel dessert for about $6 each.

The village was charming, and the whole Karlstejn area was lush, and probably a perfect place to go camping. The castle was marvelous, but we did not take a tour.

6.22.2007 Night in Old Town

We didn't do much this day because we woke up ridiculously late. We went out to Old town at night and took some pretty nighttime pictures. It's some amazing sights at night, enchanting indeed.

6.21.2007 Boat Trip for Kyle's B-Day

Today we woke up and tried to find a place to use the internet which was damn near impossible. The internet cafe was ghetto and did not have wireless, and was in the basement level of an un-airconditioned shopping center. It was 8 computers in a tiny ass room.

At night we went on a boat ride around Vlatava River. The views were great, and there was good food and live music. The Goulash was especially scrumptious because the meat was ridiculously tender. We met a nice couple from Norway and talked to them a bit.

We went to Karlovy Lazne disco afterward with our hostel mate. Supposedly the building used to be an old Roman bathhouse, and was 5 stories, with differently themed rooms and separate lounges. It was fun times, and the drinks were cheap but we still managed to spend a lot of money.

6.20.2007 Poor Man's Tour, Joos, Drinks & Food

We started out on a tour that was supposed to take 6 hours, but we were having second thoughts since we had already seen a lot of the sights anyway, and there was another activity we were considering anyway. The decision was made for us when massive foot traffic separated us from the group before we had paid. We got about 30 minutes of a free tour out of it, haha. Picture above is of Jenn at Wenceslas Square shortly before we lost the group. Other picture is of Grand Europa Hotel, where Mission Impossible 1 was filmed.

We moved on to the Jewish Quarter, and visited some museums, synagogues, and the old Jewish cemetery. The museums were not that thrilling. Not like communism or anything. There was not enough history, but an overabundance of collections of pots and cups and trinkets.

Then we went to eat at a restaurant we had been to before, and had some Devil's stuffed chicken breast, and some beers.

6.19.2007 A Whole Lot of Nothing

We walked around, decided to eat at a cafe with a great view of Prague Castle. However, we couldn't get service, but it wasn't a big deal because you're paying for the view, not the food anyways, and we got to sit there for free for a while. We decided to go over to an island where there is supposed to be some beer garden, but we didn't realize that the only way to access the island is by freeway, and that you can't walk over. We walked around forever trying to get across before we finally realized this. It was a little frustrating, and it was not a nice area of town either.

The picture posted is from earlier in the day when we walked by a park near Vlatava River.

We came back, cooked some food, and watched Hannibal Rising which was a terrible movie. It's getting really hot here, which is why there is a water bottle in our hands in most of the pictures.

6.18.2007 Museums

We took the metro to Wenceslas Square to walk around a bit. The architecture of the national museum is very impressive, like many buildings in Prague. Wenceslas Square is a nice walk with flowers and a million casinos along the way. We ate some great Bavarian sausages on the street.

We went to the Communist Museum first, which was very interesting and informative. We were there for a while reading up on history. Then we went to see the sex museum, but decided against it because it seemed kind of stupid and not worth the money.

Next was the torture museum, which had a display of various devices used to kill people painfully or torture them into "confession" throughout European history. Some of the stuff was so disgusting only someone completely sick could have thought of it. There were definitely a lot of sadists in charge of "delivering justice".

We came back, made some dinner, and went out to bars in Prague. We went to trendy cafe, then a place called the M-1 Lounge, and then to a dive with lots of Americans.

6.17.2007 Bus Tour and Concert

This day we went on a bus tour to see some sights. It stopped at the castle which we had already seen. We also drove by the national museum and Wenceslas Square, which is the main square where the Czechs protested against the Communists.

We wandered around the Jewish quarter for a bit afterward. We had Goulash at a cafe, and did some more walking

At night, we ate at the Italian place again and went to a concert at Smetana Hall. The program consisted of Dvorak's New World Symphony and a Smetana piece. We bought the cheapest seats but somehow that section included the balcony which were some of the best seats there. The symphony was really good and we both enjoyed it thoroughly. The concert hall was beautiful, but we forgot the camera.

We came back afterward, met a hostel mate and did some drinking and talking.