Tag: Prague

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 #4 “More Fun in Praha” May 4, 2019

by reissmd, posted in Prague

Followers of this blog are already aware that my favorite part of trips is mingling with the locals. If they are people we already know, all the better. Last night we had a wonderful dinner with my friend Patrik (not our tour guide), his wife, Pavlina, and their sons Patrik (yes another Patrik) and Alex. First of all, in spite of the fact that in our short time here we have met 3 Patriks, I have been told it is not a common name in the Czech Republic.

I knew Patrik when he was one of the stars of the Long Beach Ice Dogs and I was one of the team doctors. If you are saying you’ve never heard of the Ice Dogs, that is the reason they no longer exist. I had not seen Patrik since about 1999 before he was married. We met the family at a local restaurant a bit off the main drag and thus devoid of tourists. We had what Patrik described as typical Czech food. In a word it was spectacular.

Left to Right: Patrik, Patrik, Alex, Patrice, Pavlina, Erica, Robert





I had Svíčková. A meat dish with bread dumplings. It was superb. My mouth is watering just thinking of the sauce.

Erica had the goulash and loved it. I thought it was a bit too spicy for me (and I like spicy)
Both Patriks and Pavlina had the duck with potato dumplings.
Patrice had “Pig Knee” that came with caramelized cabbage and pickle salad. Sounds disgusting but it was amazing.
Alex showed he was a true 14 year old and had a burger and fries.

It was a great night catching up with an old friend and meeting his family. I was aware that they did not live in the city and thought they were about 20 kilometers from town. I found out that they live about a two hour drive from the city. I was shocked learning they were coming from so far. That is like someone visiting Santa Barbara and asking if I want to meet them for dinner. They are an incredible family and it gave us one more reason to return to this lovely city.

Today we considered taking a day trip to a couple of towns that had been recommended by some friends. We were slow to get started and by the time we did it seemed like it was too late to make the trip. Instead we decided to buy tickets for one of the “Hop On, Hop Off” bus tours. I am sure you know the type. We did it in Boston on a rainy day and since today’s forecast was rain we thought it might be a good idea.

Patrice and Erica learning about the city while I stalk them.

The tour took on a little excitement when our bus was blocked by another tour bus. Honking ensued making me feel like we were visiting New York. Not to digress but Prague is a lot like most of Australia in that there is very little honking of horns (unlike New York). Back to my story, for some unknown reason the bus in front of us had stopped and was blocking our path. Our driver continued to honk with the same results (Isn’t that the definition of insanity? Continue to do the same action while expecting different results?). He started to go over the curb to get around. It made an awful sound and quite frankly scared me (I later heard from Patrice and Erica that they were also feeling a bit scared).

Our driver trying to “Hop On” the curb to get around another bus. He gave a new meaning to the name “Hop On Hop Off” tour.

After the tour we walked back to a sight that interested Erica. On the bus we passed the Church of Our Lady Victorious which Erica has heard was famous for “The Infant Jesus of Prague”. The church houses a doll of the baby Jesus and people have crafted exquisite clothes for the doll to wear. The church has a series of cases displaying previously used costumes. The church has received costumes from people all over the world.

The Baby Jesus on display in full costume,
Costume from Mexico
South Korea sent this costume for the baby Jesus.
What do you think about this outfit?
Wait a second! What is that Jewish star doing in there?

That has to be all for now, Patrice and Erica are saying they want go to dinner. We head to Spain tomorrow.

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.