We continued on up the type of hill that merits an "I walked uphill both ways" comment in search of the Strahov Monastery and Library. It was a serious incline, but with each step and every glance back past our shoulders, more of the city bloomed. Unfortunately, the monastery and library were closed for unexpected repairs, but the view was totally worth it!
We then went to St. Nicholas Cathedral in the Little Quarter. Bookstores and churches have been mentioned quite a few times in these posts, and I'll admit that we're trying to keep our books-to-church ratio close to one. We realized instantly that this was yet another church that should force us to reevaluate these parameters. All of the churches we have visited are totally different than the ones I remember from Western Europe. The St. Nicholas Cathedral is constructed with Baroque architecture. Bold colored paintings, speckled marble, and gold statues surrounded us. The day before we were dwarfed by the age of the church, and this one humbled us in its beauty. At 49 meters high, one has to completely crane their neck backwards - like viewing a skyscraper in a big city - in order to view the ceiling's frescos. We learned that it took three generations - a father, son, and son-in-law to complete its construction.
With my apprenticeship as "map girl in training" complete after week 1, it was time for the master to let her student showcase newly learned skills. Basically, we were destined to have more not-according-to-plan adventures as I led Melissa on what could only be referred to as the scenic route through Prague (thanks for your patience, my friend). Once we finally arrived at three of the next locations (ticket travel agency, another library, and a coffee shop), we found that the tickets weren't ready, the library didn't take visitors, and the coffee shop was closed down! A mouthwatering pre-dinner dessert and cappuccino were well deserved after this day of extra aimless wandering.
The name of the restaurant where we ate dinner was "Il Trí Ruzí" and translates to "the three roses." This made me smile as I thought of an often mentioned sibling reference in my family. It was a simple, casual environment not flocked by tourists. Melissa described it as the Dock Street Brewery of Prague. For the non-University City friends, this would be the Great Lakes Brewery of Cleveland or the Surly Brewery of Minnesota. The beers are brewed in the basement, and neither the Viennese red or the traditional lager disappointed. We both had a goat cheese and beet salad that was wonderful. Anything with goat cheese makes me happy, but this was especially good as I have given up on eating the nation's food at every meal just because I'm here. It also must be mentioned that we ate lunch at another fully vegetarian cafeteria. Our membership in the clean plate club has officially reached gold platinum status! We're ready for our black cards, AmEx.
To finish off our day, we *planned* a very classy bar crawl in search of the remaining famous Czech beers left on our list. Not only did we find ourselves in yet another cave, but we only made it to the first stop on our list. To be fair, we didn't leave because the beers were fantastic and only one dollar. There also happened to be a 20% off mid-evening happy hour special or free drinks when you smiled at the bartender (again, sorry dads). This was a day that wasn't what we expected, but we found ourselves smiling the whole way through!
Tuesday is sure to be an adventure. Here are a few simple hints for our day: bus, mud, wine.
To be continued...
Love,
Map-girl-(still)-in-training and her teacher
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