Day 35-36: Prague

Hello from Prague! We have had a busy couple of days. Let's start from the top. Saturday morning we got off to a bit of a late start (which seems to be the norm at this point). We ate our standard breakfast (check out the spread in the pic below). We left for our run around 11am, but with no real idea of where to run. While the Vitava River runs through the heart of Prague, there didn't appear to be a walking path that ran along the river. We left the apartment in our short-shorts and running t-shirts, a little self conscious as we walked through the crowds. We walked over a bridge to get to the far side of the river and struck off on a sidewalk to the south, since it seemed less touristy. While the road started in a nice area, it eventually led to a pretty busy thoroughfare. Regardless, we clocked our 4-miles (6.4km) and headed home to clean up.

After some Skype time, we made our way to the sister-restaurant of a place we tried on Friday for lunch. It was also delicious, cheap, and healthy...it might be a nice balance to the copious amounts of beer and stroganoff we are consuming.

We then struck out back across the river, walking across the Charles Bridge. The construction of the bridge was completed at the beginning of the 15th century and is one of the major landmarks in Prague. There are many artists and souvenir shops that set up along the bridge and it is super-touristy. Here are a couple of pics from the bridge.

Once over the bridge, we walked through the Little Town Square and up, and up, and up until we reached the Castle Square area of Prague, where Prague Castle (the largest in the world) and St. Vitus Cathedral, a gothic style Roman Catholic church, are located. We got some pictures around the castle grounds and inside and outside the church.

*Gates to the castle

*St. Vitus Cathedral

*St. Vitus Cathedral

*Inside St. Vitus

While interesting, we didn't hang around the castle long as we had heard about a monastery further up the hill that brewed their own beer. Of course, that was much more exciting. We found the outdoor beer garden and tucked in for a couple pints: a really good IPA (which has been hard to find in Europe) and a Dark Autumn Beer (which was both hoppy and unfiltered...who can complain about that).

*My beer on the left...obviously Daryl just can't keep up (to be fair, he was already a beer ahead)

We then headed back down the hill, grabbed some candied almonds for a snack, and got to a second bridge across the Vitava River to try to get a picture of the Charles Bridge and castle during dusk.

This morning, we got to an earlier start and headed out for our run. The training program calls for a long run once a week, and this week called for a 7-mile (11.2km) effort. Up to now, the furthest we have ever run is 5-miles. We were pretty worried, but ended up completing the run. A positive note is while we set off in the same direction as yesterday, heading further down the road led to a running path along the river, which was much appreciated. Fun fact: this distance is equivalent to running between my Mom & Dave's house in Waterloo and Daryl's Mom & Dad's house. All we know is it felt pretty damn long.

We set out around 12:30 to pick up some tickets to the Prague Symphony Orchestra, which was playing at 16:00. We had heard very positive reviews of the Orchestra and the scheduled show was a Best Of Czech composers. We scored a pair of tickets and then set out to find some food. While we intended to eat at a well-reviewed cafe, we couldn't locate it and instead ended up at the one of the two vegetarian joints that we patronized the previous two days. While not new and exciting, we are starting to feel right at home and the food is delicious.

We then headed back to catch the show, which was held at the Municipal House, a landmark building in Prague and well known concert hall. The hall was beautiful and the performance was excellent. It also seemed to be a pretty great value: $30 CAD for a pair of tickets to hear a world class professional symphony play for about an hour in a gorgeous venue.

We also got a shot of the two of us in a mirror on the way out of the Municipal House.

After the symphony, we walked through the Old Town square of Prague and got a couple of pics of all of the tourists, and another shot of the famous Prague clock.

We are finishing the night by staying in, drinking copious amounts of beer (celebrating our milestone run and recent job acceptances) and watching football (unfortunately, the Bills game is not on ESPN).

Before we end the post, we thought it would be fun to include a new comparison game in some blogs, where we evaluate all that we can purchase in a city for the price of two pints in Oslo (to remind readers, that was $33). Here goes:

1) 1 piece of 8x10 artwork by a local Prague artist

2) 2 tickets to the Prague Symphony Orchestra

3) Dinner for two, with appetizer, two entrees, and 2L of local Czech beer

Till next time :)