Guys. GUYS. Listen up, I gotta tell you about Czech snacks. (Also real food, but mostly snacks.)
So today I was hanging out on Old Town Square, and I had some Czech crowns burning a hole in my pocket and nothing but a bunch of acid burning a hole in my stomach,and I saw all these snack booths and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to check them out. BEST IDEA EVER!
Exhibit 1: they just call it "potato". Which is pretty boring, because potatoes are kind of boring. Until you cut them so that they spring out into a spiral like a Slinky, deep fry them on a stick (the stick is crucial), and add salt and chili powder. BAM:
Exhibit 2: if you're walking around Prague, and you think you smell a churro, then yes, you're hallucinating. You're in the Czech Republic, not Mexico. But if you think you smell something almost like a churro, but not quite, with a bit less cinnamon, then congratulations, you're still sane. Meet the trdelnik, sweet dough wrapped on a cylinder then barbecued over coals (!) then covered in more sugar:
So, actually, the trdelnik was merely OK. Churros are probably better. But the spiral potato is a big winner!
There was real food today too. $9ish gets you this massive piece of work at the Hybernia "Needle House" restaurant (nicknamed for the skewers, not for heroin addicts). Chicken skewer, horseradish sauce, thousand island-ish sauce, and for a couple bucks more, some horseradish mashed potatoes:
Ok, so I did things other than eat today too. Since I was already eating in Old Town Square, I would have been remiss to not see the sights there. The most famous is certainly the Astronomical Clock, or Orloj. Apparently it will read off the time, time of year, Zodiac, and who-knows-what else. I had to consult the normal clock just behind it to the left to tell the time. At the top of the hour, the skeleton on the right pulls a cord and you hear the bells ring. At the same time, the two blue windows above the clock open up and the 12 apostles run by. There's a huge crowd of tourists standing by just before the hour, but the spectacle is really not that amazing. Just seeing the intricate design is more the point.
Right next to the clock is St Peter's, a cathedral in the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. The Hussites are one of the early Protestant sects, and a homegrown Czech phenomenon, founded by Jan Hus. The church itself is small but pretty, with a chandelier modeled after the crowns of the czars:
You can also see tour groups heading into the church, sometimes with interesting group leaders:
The buildings around the plaza are clearly very old, and it's interesting to see how much people have grown since they were built. I'm not particularly tall, but...:
After seeing the sights it was time to rest and recharge with a latte at a cafe on the square. While I was sitting there, I had the opportunity to see some Czech street sweepers come by, with a really clever street vacuum. It seemed quite powerful, but was super quiet, and vacuumed straight into a garbage can. This seems way more efficient than the brooms and other manual contraptions you see in the States.
Another highlight of he guidebooks is the Museum of Communism. The Czech Republic has had quite a bit of experience with Communism, and the curators of the museum were clearly not happy with this externally-imposed phenomenon. The museum forms a walking path with a number of exhibits showing the rise and fall of Czech Communism over time...but it could have been done quite a bit better. The museum itself feels very dated and could use some refreshing; there were a handful of interesting exhibits but they weren't presented all that well. Somehow, they managed to take a very interesting slice of history and make it almost boring. But then again, I was also jet lagged and sleepy. It was worth the $3 to get in.
The last sightseeing stop of the day was Frank Gehry's "Dancing House", with a shape designed after Ginger Rogers dancing. Nice building, but shame that it's not occupied by someone more interesting than Accenture.
After the Dancing House, it was time for a quick nap...which ended up being not so quick. It was once again too late for a proper dinner, but luckily there was a burger place on the same street as the hotel.
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