Drink and Food in Prague

Please forgive my food-blogging skills. I truly love going into grocery stores in the various places that I visit. It is just facisinating to me to see the local food and drink. Here is a local Czech snack that I tried:

My dad is normally a cracker fanatic, but I'm not sure he appreciated the bacon flavor of these crackers. Kofola is something I heard about from various YouTube vloggers. The drink is a different take on Coke. It's good! 

I knew coming to Prague this is the time of year that Czechs have a mulled wine, svarak. I had this glass with dinner on the square in Old Town Prague:

A very unique dish in Czechia is Moravian goulash/Moravian stew. Yes, it is made with pork roast. It is garnished with bread and potato dumplings. I was able to have this dish at the brewery on the grounds of the monestary.

Currently I'm trying to figure out if it would be worth the hassle to get a bottle of Becherovka, a Czech vodka-type liquor through customs. I'm just not sure. 

Strahov Monestary in Prague

On our second day in Prague, Dad and I decided to explore Strahov Monastery, which is located next to the Prague Castle. 

The monastery was founded in 1140. Protestant citizens of Prague pillaged the monastery in 1420. After, the monastery flourished under Abbott Jan Lohelius. However, Swedish troops pillaged the monastery at the end of the Thirty Years' War. 

The Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady on the grounds of Strahov Monastery is grand:

There was a lot of maintenance and reconstruction carried out by 1994, after the end of the communist regime. Here is a sign in Czech showing you the way to the monastery and the way to Prague Castle:

There is an observation tower, Petrin Tower,  noted as a place of interest to visit, but, with my fear of heights, we decided to pass. You can see the tower in the background of the above picture. Yep, we were already up high and saw what we wanted to. 

Praha 1

I titled this post "Praha 1" as a lot of the sites I saw are located in this district and it was my first day there. My dad and I start off our mornings abroad with a brisk walk. This is what we came across when we stepped out of our hotel and onto the streets:

Below is the view you see as you enter the "Old Town" square with the famous Astronomical clock:

We got on a hop on/hop off and went to Prague Castle. Just to put things into perspective, Prague has prehistoric origins, but Christian imagery in the city can be dated to be as old as the 9th century. Here is where you enter the area of Prague Castle:

Below, St. Vitus Cathedral on the grounds of Prague Castle is very impressive: 

The mosaic on the Cathedral exterior is gorgeous. It depicts Christ with the six saints of Czech lands in the middle along with heaven and hell on either side. The mosaic was completed in 1371 with Czech glass:

After visiting Prague Castle, Dad and I had lunch at a cafe at Lobkowicz Palace on Prague Castle grouds. Here was our view:

I will always remember morning strolls with Dad on our trips. They may be unexpected and resulting from a bad GPS, but, if we didn't take them, I'd never see things like this:

Below is a picture I captured of a very iconic square in Prague, Wenceslas Square, where you are looking up at the National Museum:

Something so very, very special about Wenceslas Swuare is that in November of 1989, you had hundreds of thousands of people in the square protesting against communism and for democracy. This was known as the Velvet Revolution. Actual change came about because of citizens. This just makes a person feel hopeful and have a desire for Czech citizens to know that American citizens stand with them. The desire for freedom is fundamental and to pursue freedom truly is a human right. 

Our Swiss Time

Yes, we started our trip landing in Zurich, but, without doing much, we went straight to Lucerne early the next morning.

It was a very overcast, cold day making our way from Zurich to Lucerne. Lucerne is marvelous and has terrific, traditional architecture. 

 

There was a market going on this morning. Produce being sold looked gorgeous. After strolling, this was my view having a coffee with my dad beside Lake Lucerne:

Water coming off of both Lake Lucerne and Lake Zurich made the air cold. It is definitely October. My black jacket was a saving grace.