August 8 Sunday

After a nice LONG sleep, we wake up ready for a slow day. We have coffee at our hotel - by now, we've really confused our waiter, who thinks he knows what we'll order each day. Each day, we order something just a little different. He is so nice - we have a hard time thinking of his wages - they can't be very much since everything is so cheap here - and he works all the time!

The 'Net cafe is closed until 11, so we take the metro up to the Hilton for brnch. We had heard so much about the atrium restaurant, and the breakfast, but it is so busy that we are shuffled off to a different restaurant. The buffet is the same, though. We are seated in a little smoke-free cubby hole, nice and quiet. We have soft-boiled eggs (real ones) and nice bread, yogurt and fruit (for a nice change) and coffee cake. It is very pleasant - we want to stay for hours! But then we would just keep eating, so it's time to go!

We searched for quite a long time for someone to pay, but there was no one around! Oh well, we tried. Thank you Hilton, for a nice brunch!

We walked along a different road than we'd done before, taking in new sights. We finally see the Marriott - a lovely, classy hotel - and I file that away for future reference - a good place to blow some Marriott points I'd stored up over the years.

We found the little shop we'd seen last night, and I bought all the gifts on my mental list - a decanter and six crystal glasses for our cat sitters, a crystal beer glass for my friend the veterinarian, and a crystal decanter for us - all for under $100!

We then have a nice rest next to the astronomical tower, and a huge Coke in the shade! It's actually hot here, for the first time.

We get back to our hotel and see what we can do to pack all our purchases, wondering if it's better to send or carry them. Then we read and nap a few hours before heading out once again - this time, south, to a church and fortification up on a hill. We take the train one stop and begin our walk up a steep hill, when suddenly we hear a bunch of excited yelps. Racing down the sidewalk come six cocker spaniels - three black and three tan - running together to the bottom of the hill. There is a grassy area there, and they do 'their business' and then race back up the hill, happy and still barking, and quickly they duck into their apartment. The entire scene took about a minute and a half, and it was hilarious!

Up on the hill, we walk on top of the wall - about 10 feet thick and maybe 30 feet tall - all around a large grassy park. In the center is a beautiful church: Vysehrad. We take in the church and a bit of the cemetery, and head back, hitting the 'Net cafe for a half hour. We then walk uptown (through the 'Lesser Town') on the west side of the river.

The architecture is as varied on this side as it is on the other, with the line of what's been refurbished/refinished very clear. We guess that in three years, the area around our hotel will be beautiful!

We walk until we can no more, and then settle across from St. Nicholas Church for dinner around 5pm. I order a marvellous potato and mushroom soup, salad, and a dark beer, and Warren has a steak with creamy pepper sauce. All of it is great, and we have to roll ourselves onto the train to the hotel. We collapse at 7:30pm, but make ourselves stay awake until 9 or 10. That's all we can manage!