Prague: A Walk in Heaven But A Driver's Hell

Rich:

Rolling hills and magnificent cathedrals, wide and powerful rivers with 7 picturesque bridges, narrow cobble-stoned streets opening up to market squares filled with vendors selling the most incredible offerings of food and drink you should completely avoid but don't -  Prague is a most beautiful city.  It has such a romantic feel, many Eastern European couples honeymoon/vacation here and take in the sights. There were not many children present, perhaps the reason for all the smiles.

Steeped in the deep history of the Charles IV Luxembourg and the Austro-Hungarian Empires, centuries before the Nazi occupation and Russian Communists plunged them into a dark and grossly unproductive gloomy existence, Prague is now a vibrant city - proud of its early heritage, music, writers and architecture - Dvorak, Mucha, Kafka are still ever-present in the city.  (and one must mention when in the Pubs, they are very proud of all Ice Hockey players that they produce!) 

We did get a chance to see a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Estates Theater in Prague. Mozart conducted and presented Don Giovanni here for it's first production.  The classic film Amadeus on Mozart's life  was filmed here and directed by the famous Czech director Milos Forman.  The Old Town of Praja gave the film it's late 18th century Vienna feel.

After walking for what seemed miles, I got hungry, "Wanda let's eat!".... so we crossed one of the many bridges and I chose Kavarna Slavia Cafe with a view of the Cathedral across the river.  I noticed a guy playing on his iPad who looked strikingly like Albert Einstein and thought it made a great photo in this 1950's era lunch crowd with cigarettes and beer, coffee and cake. Later, as we are talking to a local about places to eat, she mentioned this classic Prague cafe that in the past was known for all the intellectuals and writers hanging out and talking for hours - The same place with the Einstein look-alike!  About the only thing out of place were a couple of "intellectuals" from the USA. 

Kavarna Slavia Cafe - The finest Goulash I can ever imagine eating in my life...and of course Wanda would not share her Almond Schnitzel......

The optimist would say the Czech people are advanced in their public transportation and the abundance of trams and buses, the auto driver realizes nothing had been designed since the horse and buggy days and to drive here is to experience total road frustration. :-)  the confusion of roads and dead ends, ( I actually had to drive in reverse on city streets up to 50 yards to get out of a dead end, more than once) It even confused our Tom-Tom GPS.

Go to Prague, but do not drive there.

The Castle and Cathedral with our tour guide Tomash (a seminary and history major).  You can Google and read about the long history of Prague, but it is so interesting hearing it from a local who is so passionate about his country.

Something modern! The Dancing Building inspired by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire

Wanda:
Once the car was parked, Prague became less stressful - and I wasn't even driving!  One way we "De-Stress" after a long drive is to eat and drink. So we find out where the locals like to eat and funny enough a favorite spot is Lokál.  The menu has a variety of traditional Czech food and they teach you how to order your beer.  Beer drinking is taken very seriously here since it is the national beverage.  (Coke is more expensive than beer)

Foam in your beer mug is very important - it's your personal taste how much.  I will say upon observation that the middle beer "Snyt" is the most popular being served.

A local restaurant LoKal

Food pictures are from the Lokal restaurant - the view is from the Brenovsky Monastery - the first brewery in Prague run by the monks. 

Czech / Bohemian cuisine is influenced by a shared European cultural heritage - traditions combined from the German-Czech, Czech-Slavonic, even the Soviet Empire left their mark.  If you want to go back further to King Charles IV  brought wine grapes from Burgundy and Josef Groll introduced Pilsen beer from Bavaria.  Enough history.  The Czech cuisine that we sampled was hearty and rustic.  On a cold fall day - we enjoyed the Beef Goulash, bread dumplings (knedilky), pork schnitzel,  sausages, potato soup (bramborovy), and lots of cabbage!  We were not there long enough to sample everything - so we will definitely be returning!

Picture taken while having a beer at an outside cafe.  Beer is cheap here, unless you are in a tourist area such as this. The view and people watching made it worth it.

You must make Czech Gingerbread cookies for Christmas if you can find a recipe.  I'm sure there are many on the internet.  The secret ingredient has to be the honey instead of molasses.  I'm not sure - but I did put one under the recipes section.  They were so yummy!!

Vendor selling a traditional Trdelnik -like a toasted cinnamon roll or a Churro.  They are paired with warm Gluhwine and can be deadly strolling the cobble-stoned streets.

Not such a great shot of Prague's most beloved St. Charles Bridge.

(Someone on the internet took a much better shot of the St. Charles Bridge. - so I stole it)  30 +baroque statues line the bridge, most of them Saints and Martyrs.  Prague being an ancient city going back as far as 5500 BC when various Germanic and Celtic tribes settled in the region., one hears a lot of "Tall Tales" about the ghosts that wander around Prague....

Saint John of Nepomuk was one of those Saints and a Martyr.  He was tortured to death and his body was thrown off the bridge into the Vltava River below.  I think most of the saints lined up on the bridge were thrown off the bridge for some reason.  

I tried talking to a few of the locals (that spoke English, since my Czech was horrible) because locals and tourists alike were lined up to touch the reliefs - as pictured above by the daughter. A young local told me it is a Prague ritual that is supposed to bring you luck  "By rubbing the relief - your wish will come true, but  you must concentrate very hard - and it really works " she told me.   ( I'm not sure why rubbing the relief is lucky after the way this Saint was treated.)  But hey - I'm game,  my wish:  I wish our return to Prague will be sooner rather than later because our time here was much too short!

On The Way To Vienna ........

Wanda:

Quick stops in Muenster, Kassel, and Leipzig Germany. 

A vegan restaurant in Muenster called Peperoni?  Looks scary but tastes great!  Owner told us he cooks 2 dishes in this huge split cast iron pot.  When it's gone - he closes the restaurant. 

Vegetarian daughter gave this hole-in-the-wall 5 stars and meat-loving husband even gives it two thumbs up, 

......Ok, I had seconds!

Searching for Muenster Cheese in Muenster Germany.   Everyone thought we were crazy.  Found out later Muenster Cheese originates from the United States. (Who knew?)  They looked at us ( especially after our attempts at speaking German) as if we were the Munsters..

A not so great view from Mount Hercules in Kassel, Germany, while we were there.

How Mount Hercules should look when one visits.  (Found this picture on the internet)

We stopped for a bathroom break in Leipzig Germany and came upon where Bach's remains are buried by following a bunch of tourists into the church of Saint Thomas.  He was originally buried in St John's Cemetery in an unmarked grave, with the help of his admirers he was moved to a sarcophagus in St John's Church.  The Church was destroyed by bombing in World War II, so in 1949 Bach's remains were taken to his present grave inside the church of St. Thomas.  I guess you could call it Bach's "3rd Movement". 

Of course we know his best work - Toccata and Fugue in D minor - all those years of Disney's Fantasia!

Dylan and Friends in Amsterdam

          

"How does it feel 
To be on your own 
With no direction home 
Like a complete unknown 
Like a rolling stone?" 




Rich: 
Bobby Dylan wasn't singing about our experience in this classic, but it still fits, and the answer is "Feels Pretty Damn Good".   Seeing Dylan with old friends in Amsterdam was cool, (I won't review here, but the band was tight even though much like our ability to understand Dutch, Dylan is pretty incoherent on new songs you are unfamiliar with, but he still blows a mean harp). I doubt there is a better poet/songwriter to represent Amsterdam.

In this beautiful city of canals and narrow buildings, people from all over the globe come here to taste the experience. From the cultural magnificence of the Rijksmuseum and it's architecture and Dutch Masters (the new displays housing the Rembrandts' are stunning) the Van Gogh Museum - a tribute to one of my favorites, or maybe the Hemp or Sex Museums, Amsterdam feeds that need with nearly 100 museums.

To those wanting to party, the bars and "Coffee Houses" (which are not Starbucks as Wanda discovered, but do sell a variety of blends, "Everybody must get stoned") are plentiful and people use Amsterdam as a "party destination" - from UK Bachelor/Bachelorette parties to reunions and assorted gatherings of friends looking to get loose. Summer or Fall, people were having fun. I know we did, and 32 years later it felt like yesterday. Amsterdam has that welcoming feel, accepting of all cultures, religions and beliefs, and it is making new friends everyday. Although with 900,000 people and 1.2 million bikes (crazy bikers rule the streets) I am not sure how many more vagabond/nomads they can accept.

 You have to go here in your lifetime. It is a living breathing work of Art.

I do have one negative comment - and that is about the "Red Light District". It is part of their legalized prostitution, (which has it's pluses including a lower crime rate, the Netherlands is actually closing prisons due to less crime) however, to make it part of your Tourist Maps, and openly and grotesquely market and promote an industry that encourages the sex slave market and denigrating women is wrong. Amsterdam doesn't need it and is the worse for its continuation.

 

Wanda: 
We have visited Amsterdam before, and we didn't come back because it is a culinary Mecca. However, because it is such a diverse city (you can go way back to the Dutch empire and their conquests) there is a global food presence here. I prefer the Indonesian influence more so than all the fried snacks such as the Frikandel, Krokets, and Bitterballen. (Though I loved that fried meat mixture 30 years ago, somehow my tastes have changed or the meat mixture has).


The visit was very special because we were able to spend time with old and new friends. We were invited for food and drink in a wonderful Dutch home - where the entire bottom floor of a 4 story typical Dutch home is the kitchen. (My favorite room!) We were fortunate enough to have Chef Richard Messina who rivaled Martha Stewart for not only a beautifully set table but menus that would make her extremely jealous.  I would also like to congratulate Chef Messina as a new member of "Swine and Dine International"!  A Murano glass pig is coming your way.
(See the Swine and Dine Tab for more info)

We didn't get a chance to steal all the recipes from the meals Chef Messina prepared - but here are the ones where we scraped the bottom of the bowls:

Vegetable Dip: (I've never eaten so many vegetables with a dip like this!) 
1 cup Mayo 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
1 tablespoon chopped/minced dried onion 
1 teaspoon dried ginger
2 tablespoons milk
Mix well, refrigerate and cover. Stir frequently. (The secret ingredient is the ginger!) 

Italian Chocolate Amaretto Torta:  (good luck in the conversions) 
 110g Dark Divine Chocolate
 2 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur 
110g unsalted butter at room temperature 
110g caster sugar plus 1 tablespoon 
3 large eggs separated 
60g Amaretti biscuits, crushed 
60g plain flour 
Sifted icing sugar, or your favorite canned chocolate frosting, whipped cream, fresh berries to serve 

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas4
Butter and line a loose-bottom 20cm sandwich tin, then butter again and dust with flour. Put the chocolate and Amaretto in a bowl over a pan of steaming water and leave to melt - do not let the bowl touch the water. Remove from heat, stir and cool. 

2. Put the butter and 110g caster sugar in a bowl, using a wooden spoon or a mixer, beat until very light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the cooled chocolate. When thoroughly blended, fold in the crushed biscuits and flour with a metal spoon. 

3. Put the egg whites into a clean, grease-free bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the remaining 1 tbsp. sugar to make a stiff, glossy meringue, then fold into the cake mixture in 3 batches. 

4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until just firm to the touch. Let the Torta cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

5. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve slightly warm or at room temperature with whipped cream and fresh berries. 

P.S. We are museum people, so if you are here for only a short time - as Rich said the "Don't Miss" museums are the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, and the Tropenmuseum. If you don't get to these museums, then you probably spent too long in the museum below:

Thanks Amsterdam!!