As you can gather, my internet friend Ralf came to meet up with us in Prague. Thanks again to Captain's Voyage Forum for linking friends all around the world! Ralf has business interests in the Czech Republic, and arranged his work schedule to coincide with our visit. It was so wonderful to finally meet him in person!
Is Ralf an axe murderer? Of course not. But it's my brother Ed's way of expressing--um......concern--of my making friends around the world via the internet. I love my brother to pieces for being so protective of me, and can't thank Ralf enough for thinking the whole thing rather funny. I think it's absolutely WONDERFUL to have this whole group of friends scattered all around the world- Germany, Asia, Europe. But I digress. Back to our wonderful and interesting day in Prague with Ralf.
After Ralf collected us, we were off on the tram. We boarded the funicular railway to Petrin Hill.
I caught our reflection a mirror as we began the trip.
At the top, the park was lovely.
I should have stopped to smell the roses more, because soon we were looking at our next hike.
Up the observation tower. Yes, there is an elevator, but ever practical (and FIT) Ralf tempted us to try the ascent on foot. Yep, we made it.. and the view was SO worth it.
Now, so all of you can see, here is Ralf with Alix....
(I TOLD you he doesn't even LOOK like an axe murderer....)
After walking UP....
and DOWN...
this beautiful and ancient city, Ralf took us for a treat.
A wonderful pub so far off the tourist map that there's barely a sign.
The Black Bull.
Oh, my, it was SPLENDID!
Here's a link to a panorama of the small room in the back where we sat.
And Ralf introduced me to probably the best dark beer I have ever had...Kozel.
Seriously (and remember I used to brew beer.......)
This stuff was sublime. Even amongst all the top-shelf Czech beers. I couldn't get enough of the stuff. It's all I drank after that pub visit. I am still craving it, almost eight months later. Yes, it is that good.
Ok, after a couple of pints, we were off again, this time to ride the antique electric tram.
Ralf knows I LOVE adventures like this- the slightly slower pace of the antique cars lets the rider look out the windows, find all the unusual details that make Prague unique. Then it was the fast tram back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
On the way to a "classic" Czech dinner, we took a detour to look for another famous David Cerny scupture-St. Wenceslas Riding a Horse.
Kooky, I know...but that's what interests me. Was so glad we found it. Then it was off to dinner (I wish I had the card from the restaurant- it was great!) Goulash and dumplings. Definitely Czech. Definitely great.
It was an absolutely brilliant day with one of the kindest guys I've had the pleasure to know. Thank you Ralf, for an amazingly memorable day!
**ps- Cecilia...this is just for you! We passed the Trilobite Bar!
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