Day Thirteen - Prague

Start the day with complimentary breakfast at the boat restaurant, it's a beautiful sunny day and the view from the boat can't be beat. We trek towards the Charles Bridge and cross over towards Prague Castle. During this uphill and winding journey we stop at the John Lennon memorial wall, which to be honest we were hard pressed to find much association with the man, but it was pretty nonetheless. We continue our hike and finally reach Prague castle. The view from the higher elevation is expansive and you can see the river and bridges and old town area. We walk through St. Vitus Cathedral which is packed to the walls with tourists herding in and out. So we decide to make our way back over the bridge into old town and grab a drink.

We spot outdoor seating at the Kafka cafe so we sit down and look over the menu. Turns out the only beer they have is Budweiser and something called Radler. So we order the Radler. Turns out Radler is half beer and half lemon soda. Still better than Budweiser.

Next stop is the Mucha museum. A beautiful collection of Alfonse Mucha's art nouveau works. From posters to sculptures to paintings, it was nice to get to see the pieces up close and in so much detail. It was also nice that the museum offered free toilets and wi-fi. This is life now as a traveller, these are the things we are thankful for at most points.

Now more beer. Prague Beer Museum will do. We order a flight a taste 12 different beers, all absolutely delicious. We also order food. Pretzels and sausage and chicken and yum. We are thankful to have a good amount of cash in Czech koruna on us as we notice many places do not take credit cards or Euros.

We decide to head back to the hotel to rest for a bit (at this point we had walked over 5 miles and mostly uphill!) but on our way we see a traditional trdelník pastry being used as an ice cream cone - this is a new spin on a traditional treat so naturally we have to try it. Like all dairy I have had in Europe, it's perfection. Fresh and rich but not too sweet.

Just as we are finishing our treat we see a man walking up the cobblestone alley carrying a huge owl on his arm. We stop dead in our tracks and naturally just stare. He is just a few feet from us and so I ask if I can pet the owl. He obliges then offers to let me hold it. I ask the owner what the owl's name is but of course now I can't remember (I was too busy freaking out about holding an owl). It has such a soft belly and captivating eyes. And talons, big huge talons.

We rest up at the hotel, take a nap then wake up and get ready again - it is St. Patricks Day after all. We walk back down to old town determined to celebrate although we are not quite sure what exactly that means in the Czech Republic. Turns out you can never go wrong with an Irish pub! Which is of course packed to the brim. We take seats outside and enjoy a pint. After some time and a few investigatory laps around the inside of the bar we spot two open seats at a table with another couple. We slide in and enjoy being out of the cold.

We are immediately forced to notice a group, well really one person in a group. It's St. Patrick's Day guy! There's one in every pub on March 17th. He was a very rowdy, very Scottish hooligan who also happened to be very drunk. If he wasn't scream singing in random people's faces he was busy backing into bewildered waitresses and almost knocking over their trays. All we could do was hope we weren't next in his reign of terror.

Luckily we finished the night unscathed and had a really great time chatting with our table mates, Prague locals out for the night. They asked if we wanted to share a joint and go with them to another bar, we declined but how friendly of them to ask! We decided we had our fill of St. Patrick's Day, we also have quite a drive to Munich in the morning so we head to the hotel, pack our bags and crash out.

Note: The picture of me with a Guiness included as evidence of my face turning bright red when I drink certain alcoholic drinks.