Tag: czech republic

Erica, Prague, Madrid in That Order. Day #5 “Patrice the Lifesaver” May 5, 2019

by reissmd, posted in Madrid, Prague

Today is a travel day and usually not much happens on travel days.  Not much happened today except PATRICE SAVED MY LIFE!  Back to that later since I am sure you aren’t very interested in that.

Last night we had a wonderful dinner at Beseda a restaurant recommended by Patrice’s sister, Fern, and her husband, Brian.  At least I think they recommended it.  They gave us directions to the place but no name.  The food was excellent.  Beseda serves typical Czech food and after our evening with Patrik (hockey player Patrik not tour guide Patrik) we are now experienced Czech Republic cuisine experts.  I ordered the Svíčková, since that is the only thing I know how to pronounce. (Patrice the editor here: What Robert means by pronouncing is to point to it on the menu). Erica had the duck (since 3 of Patrik’s family members opted for that when we dined with them) and Patrice decided to be adventurous and had the Schnitzel (Isn’t that more German than Czech?).  All of the dishes were superb.  

The Svíčková ordered by me. The meat was maybe a little better than last night but the sauce didn’t come close.
Erica’s duck
Patrice’s schnitzel.

After dinner we did some exploring and found something of great interest. It was a massage parlor that had a specialty tank to cleanse your feet. Inside the tank were small fish that apparently feed off your dead skin cells providing you with a ” Marine exfoliation”.

Little fishies, look harmless enough, don’t they?
Can you see all the fish attacking, I mean “treating” this woman?

Apparently sometimes the fish can get a little too aggressive. Here is a photo of a woman whose treatment was more extensive than she cared for.

We did not see this client move at all. Clearly a case of over-treatment.

This morning we took a boat tour of the city along the river. It was nice but hard to get there since today was the Prague Marathon. It was great seeing all the runners and the excitement around the event. It also brought back some memories of my own running experiences.

On the way back to the hotel we had to take a circuitous route to avoid the runners. At one point we where crossing a street and Patrice screamed “ROBERT STOP!”. Being an obedient husband I did just that. When I turned my head a car was speeding directly at me without any appearance of slowing down. I quickly retreated and thus avoided being hit. After the car passed I looked back and saw Patrice was crying. I asked myself is she crying because the guy missed me? I knew better, with tears running down her face she said she was so scared she thought I was going to be killed. What a horrible event but what a wonderful outcome. I always say funerals are a waste. The one person who would love to hear all the wonderful things being said about them isn’t there to enjoy it. I got to go to my own funeral today, see my wife grieve, and happily get to tell you about it, myself.

Time to head for the airport. I will try not get myself killed today. If I do, please cry a lot because you know how much I would have enjoyed it.

Erica, Prague, and Madrid in That Order. Day #3 “Beyond Description” May 3, 2019

by reissmd, posted in Prague

After another great breakfast we were off to explore the city of Prague (known as Praha here) once more. Patrice, Erica and I were interested in seeing the Franz Kafka Museum. Unfortunately it was a big disappointment to me. Erica and Patrice have instructed me to say they were NOT disappointed. Well in that case, they must not have been expecting much. The most interesting part to me was outside the museum and had nothing to with Kafka. Outside the museum was a statue by David Černý called “Piss”.

“Piss” by David Černý. Note Patrice and Erica seem fascinated by the work of art.

Our guide explained that the sculpture was made after the Czech people voted to join the European Union in 2004. The piece consists of two sculpted men standing in a pool shaped like the Czech Republic. By making the piece the artist was saying that the Czech people were pissing on their own country by joining the EU. I was less concerned with the artist’s message than I was with Patrice’s fascination with the piece.

I have no idea why Patrice was so interested in this art work.

From Piss (that doesn’t sound right) we headed over to see the Astronomical Clock. This structure was was constructed in 1490 by clockmaster Jan Růže (also called Hanuš). It has a variety of unique qualities. At the stoke of the hour there is a skeleton that rings a bell counting out the current time. Also twelve apostles march past. A figure with a guitar, another counting his money and a third looking into a mirror all shake their heads “saying no to death”. The current astrological sign is displayed as is the number of hours until sundown. The current phase of the moon is also part of the piece. There were other things but they escape my memory. Clearly it was a fascinating sight; we weren’t alone as many others were there to observe the clock as the hour struck.

Astronomical Clock in Prague

Apparently after completion of the clock the royalty was concerned that Jan Růže might recreate this work of beauty for another region so they rewarded him by gouging his eyes out. Lovely reward system, don’t you think?

Tonight we are having dinner with friends but we don’t have anything planned yet for tomorrow.