Gelato and Trdelníks

25 March

We started the morning with another enormous ham & cheese omelet at a cafe next door to our hostel and then wandered slowly towards the Lennon Wall. It’s kind of tucked away. The wall was really colorful and peace oriented – go Beatles! We took some photos and then watched a street performer start his Beatles covers before moving on.

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We saw the church near our hostel which is also called St. Nicholas Church. The dome was painted spectacularly and all the surrounding streets were filled with colorful buildings.

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Our next stop was the castle so we worked our way up the hill stopping for a Trdelník (chimney cake – they have a different name here) along the way. The walk to the castle gave us some nice views of the other side of the city.

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When we finally arrived at the entrance there was an INSANE line. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get through security and then we could finally buy tickets. I can’t imagine it during peak tourist season. We bought one of the package tours that included tickets to St. Vitus Cathedral, the Golden Lane, the castle, and the monestary.

The St. Vitus Cathedral was closed for a funeral ceremony for the day so we unfortunately didn’t get an opportunity to see the inside. We did go into the monestary though.

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The inside of the castle they allowed us to see was a tiny portion and we weren’t allowed any pictures. It recapped about the rulers and their ancestory mostly. We stopped at the post office to mail some post cards and then walked to the Golden Lane.

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The Golden Lane talked about all the peasant workers and their jobs showcasing their living quarters and shops. One of the buildings showed all the different sets of armour which was cool but everything there was crammed with tourists – if I ever went back to the castle I would skip the Golden Lane.

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We walked down from the castle on the other side and picked up potatos on a stick. We then crossed the bridge and saw the opera house. We found a little spot for lunch and I ordered some Goulash and a coke. Sitting next to us was an American and Austrian who striked up a conversation with us.

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After bidding the couple goodbye we walked around endlessly eventually reaching Petřín Hill. We wanted to take the funicular to the top since it was a long way uphill but it was closed. As lazy tourists we decided to settle for some more gelato in the park. We saw the US Embassy and right as I wanted to take more pictures my camera stopped working.

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We walked down to the water later to the spot where all the swans hang out. I think we counted 11 swans. We stopped back at the hostel before getting dinner in a nearby traditional Czech restaurant. I just got the chicken schnitzl and we finished the night with gelato again…

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