August 7 Saturday

We decided to get out of town today, so we booked a tour of the Karlsten Castle - a fourteenth century home of King Charles IV and the crown jewels. Our guide spoke Czech, Italian, and English to us on the bus - but in such a monotone way that nearly all 14 of us fell asleep! And what was worse (or maybe better, in retrospect), when the Italians weren't listening to the guide in their language, they were talking, so it was hard to hear what the guide was saying anyway.

When we got to the town, we could not see the castle. It is nestled up in the side of the mountain, and our guide hauled us off on foot at breakneck speed with no explanation. There are two in our party whom I assumed wouldn't make it - they are English, one beer-bellied and both looking in their mid-sixties. But as they huffed and puffed up the hill, I thought of the CPR sequence … 15 compressions to two breaths, or 5 to 1 if there are two people doing CPR …? But we all made it, though I wouldn't want to sit within smelling distance of that couple on the return! I had been hoping to find a bathroom on the bus (but it was just a mini-van), or just as we got off the bus, but never had the chance. Now, before the tour started, I spied a WC and though the guide said we barely made it in time for the tour, I just went without asking. I would catch up with everyone if I had to! What I didn't know is that the tours of the castle are divided up by language, and we made it just in time for the English tour. The next few tours were in other languages. And the guides close and lock the doors in each room so that people can't go from one tour to another! If I'd taken a few more seconds than I had, I'd have been stuck in a Czech tour or I'd have stayed outside to wait for everyone!

It took a while for me to tune my ear to our guide's English - she had a very thick accent, and she switched her v's and w's - saying things like 'svitch' and 'vhen,' 'wery' and 'westibule.' So we learned about the 'willage' and King 'Venseslas' - the castle was his. It is rather plain, and in each room our guide spoke of treasures and furniture that are no longer there - they are in a different museum now, in Nurnburg, or in Vienna.

There is one wing, though, complete with originals, but it is closed to the public, and she can only describe it to us and show us a model! We can, however, see the crown jewels (or a copy?) in its glory, and that is really beautiful. Of course, no pictures allowed!

But all in all, it wasn't worth the day. We arrived back in downtown Prague at 2pm, had a salad at a cafe where we were ripped off for the first time here in Prague (the menu said one price, but we were charged a 'sit down' tax and a 'street' tax, and the waiter didn't add our tab correctly either. But Warren paid it and tipped him nonetheless! I guess he just didn't want hassle ...)

We then walked a bit, caught the metro to the Hilton, to inquire about brunch the next day (no reservation required), caught the metro again toward home, stopping first at the 'Net cafe to get our fix. We wanted a short and peaceful rest at the hotel

Two hours later, around 7:30, we went back into a different part of town - east of where we'd been so far. We went to a restaurant called "Red Hot and Blues" for some cajun food. We again felt justified going to American restaurants since we aren't living there now - and we weren't dissapointed. I had a sauteed chicken breast with banana, tomato, and red pepper cream sauce over rice, with sweet corn. What a combination! But it was GREAT. There was an American blues band playing - a duo - they have been here in Prague five years, and are planning to return to San Francisco at the end of the summer. The restaurant is VERY New Orleans - andthe first near-American priced meal we've had. Worth every Crown, too!