Niña
nin-ya - Travel Bug-a-boo

First of the Many Firsts - Czech Trip

Sun, 17 Jan 2016 11:16:19 GMT

First time to...

be highly and obsessively organised. I was never a fan of making plans. I was all about spontaneity and winging it. But I learned from my boss that planning is one of the keys to success. And by success, means, on anything we set our minds into. I finally realised that planning is my best friend. Through experience, not planning only cost me more money, stress and lots of headaches. Back-ups for eventualities makes the stress a lot less. As one of the Podcast I was listening to yesterday said, "when you plan for something, it is easier for your inner critic to accept things when things eventually happen, rather than forcing your inner critic to accept the situation on the spot." It makes sense!
surprise my family with a big gesture. I love surprises, they give me such a high. It is totally selfish... hahaha! But really, it makes me so happy to make my family happy. The joy it brings to my kids are priceless. My hubby as manly as he is, he likes to be spoiled and I would like to do that for the rest of my life if I can. The only time they knew what we were doing wass, "we are going to Czech Republic during these so and so dates." The tours, itinerary, fine dining all unravels either on the day or 2 days before. I told them to "wear what you want to wear but make sure you have a nice jacket, decent jeans and shoes that suit some where fancy." That alone made my kids' eyes twinkle.
travel to Europe as a family. What an experience. to bond with the people you ought to be the closest, it was amazing.
travel with just one knap-sack each. As Rick Steves said, every time you travel, do you tell your self, "next time, I'll pack heavier" ? Of course not!
eat rabbit. prolly won't ever again. All I can think of while I'm chewing it is a cute faced rabbit. my kids were merciless, they were giving me rabbit petrified look the whole time I was trying to eat it.
eat goulash. I enjoyed this tremendously. I can see myself totally immersed in it during winter weather... brrrr! So comforting!
have a traditional Bohemian Feast. I would love to eat some more of these when we come back to Krumlov.
candlelit dinner like old times. I know it sounds romantic, just like other candle lit dinners but the dinner we had in Krumlov is because of necessity. There's really no light inside the tavern apart from the firepit where the meat were being cooked and the candles on tables. We found out it used to be an old jail house in the old times. Epic!
eat beef tartare. I'm supposed to try this in Paris, where it's a normal dish to enjoy. But, I couldn't stop myself when I saw it in the menu. It was served rare as it could be, then mixed with raw egg, spices, worcesterchire and bam! Everything was fresh, it was delicious!
to travel to a place out of the way. A country not along the way to visit home or relatives. It has to be done and I am so glad that we planned it and it happened the way it happened.
to leave in someone else's house. Never thought of it before but being a family of four with the expenses that comes with it, a 3-star hotel is a luxury, and don't get me started with laundry. We felt excited to make someone's house our home for a few days. It was one of the best choices I made in prepping for this trip and for sure the one I will make in our future trips.
visit a hospital for an emergency. It was terrifying but felt so triumphant when I came out of the hospital feeling all better! The language barrier was terrifying but as they say, action speaks louder than words. The doctor and nurse who attended to me tried so hard with hand gestures and sign language to communicate, it was almost animated. The nurse looked burly but she is good. The doctor has a very warm facial expression that I felt at ease. They might look all stern but I'm sure they are not. If anything I was assured of their competence.
venture out of my comfort zone. There are so many things that I don't know about this country, Europe is alien to me. Send me to UK, US, AUS, anywhere in Asia and I'd be just fine. I couldn't be any happier with my choice. We had a lovely time discovering a culture that is so unfamiliar to us, we had fun!
have Alex fly with us as a young man (which means full fare!) :D. It's nice to expose kids at a young age to traveling and understand different cultures but it's also so much nicer to have them appreciate what they are seeing, eating, hearing, like an adult. Alex was 12 when we travelled to Czech. He's in that borderline of childhood wonder and adulthood's wisdom. Fantastic companion.
use audio tour app to explore a city, Rick Steves, you are a genius!!! With a tour guide, it's amazing but self-guided tour is also great. It's like it's nice to have a nanny when I used to have one but without her, on our own is also wonderful. We get to roam around at our leisure, not worrying about time, stopping to eat or drink as we please or continuing the tour after a few hours or another day. Flexibility is priceless.
explore a city on a stopover. We have never done it before. The hassle of understanding what happens to the luggage in between if we go through immigration is too much to think of. But Amsterdam is just the place to do our very first city exploration in a few hours stopover. They have their own luggage section, fully automated to rent a small or big locker. Transportation is great. City centre is small. We'll be back to try the water cruise.
ride a double decker train. My kids were so happy to be in one, secretly, I was too. Nice to be so up there.

Things We Ought to Do in Czech The Next Time

Wed, 06 Aug 2014 08:05:11 GMT

PRAGUE

Go back to Vytopna Restaurace
Attend church service
Eat ice cream in Svetlor mall
Climb up to Old Town Hall's Tower
Go to Hard Rock
Spend more time in Hooters
Check out Coyote Ugly bar
Ride the Funicular to Petrin hill and have a picnic
Eat more Klobasa
Build a pyramid made of KFC chicken wings in Palladium food court
Have breakfast in Municipal House and adore the Art Nouveau decor
Rent Segway for a whole day and just roam around the city with no specific place in mind
Cross Charles Bridge with my two boys
Go to Kampa island and enjoy all the water activities
Dine at a floating restaurant by Vltava and hang out until midnight
Go back to Prague castle and spend half a day going through the audio tour
Chill and drink more beer

KRUMLOV

Attend church service
Spend at least 5 days in Summer
Learn how to kayak and kayak downstream for half a day
Eat some more of that Bohemian Feast by the river
Try the Vegetarian Resto next door to the Bohemian one
Find every street performer in town and have a photo taken with them
Visit Budejovice beer attraction
Chill and drink more beer

Menu Degustation at Mlynec Restaurant

Fri, 04 Jul 2014 17:48:24 GMT

Sous Chef, VLADIMIR PRIBRSKY. He has been with Zatisi for almost 14 years. Though Mlynec is now focused on modern Czech cuisine, Chef Pribrsky's favorite cuisine is Asian. He spent couple of weeks in Japan and in Taiwan, where he passed through several cooking courses (he apparently really does great Sushi! Yum!) His biggest hobby, except cooking is cycling and even successfully competes in local amateur cycling races.

Mlynec being part of Zatisi Group definitely offers amazing food and even wonderful views. We have only been to two and it seems like the unwritten rule is to tantalise guests by serving gorgeous dishes befitting to the fabulous view they have. As they say, location! location! location!

If the dinner at Bellevue was worth it because of the magnificent view of Charles Bridge from afar, Mlynec will hand you the bridge on a silver platter. Up close and personal.

Like Bellevue, the view of the bridge and being right next to Vltava river makes everything else a little less...noticeable. Oh well (it's not a full-on rant, just a tiny bit complain), service could have been more attentive, like Bellevue. A little more attentive, a little more explanation of what the order of dishes will be, a bit more smile, but whatever shortcomings there were that day, the view made up for it. Alright, that's a lie, the view and the FOOD, made up for it.

Basically, because Alex isn't really the "course" type of kid, he just wanted his main. I don't even remember if he ordered dessert.

Bearing in mind, I am still suffering from some health issues caused by an allergic reaction somewhere, so really I'm am not in the mood to be addressed to, any less than one would in a decent and nice place like Mlynec.

We all had our appetizers, then Alex's main course followed right after we finished our first course, which is the same dish as Jason's and hubby's.

Our mains didn't arrive for more than 10 minutes. It was a bit disjointed, and hubby, when hungry can be quite vocal. I guess most of us are. I on the other hand, didn't want to spoil the meal and this nice treat, I couldn't be bothered. I am more concern about finding a physician right after lunch.

Hubby inquired about the late mains and our designated server explained the logic behind the order.

Since Alex didn't ask for appetizers, they didn't want him to wait longer without eating. Empathy, that's good. Initiative, another plus. It was all good intention you see? As a parent and a mother, of course I appreciate it and get where he is coming from. But the way it was explained was a teeny tiny bit on the irritated side.

It would have been nicer had he explained the order of courses as he deemed fit so we are aware and not left wondering. Then, we wouldn't have to ask for it. Or better yet, he could have asked whether Alex will mind if his main course arrives with the rest of our mains. Guests want to be taken care of but also in parallel, likes to be in charge.

Obviously, whatever appetizer we ordered, Alex had a taste of. That's how we are. We like to force feed them (just kidding). We like to open up our kids palate to different tastes, so really Alex was not starved. Frankly speaking, he was too busy taking selfies and photos of the bridge.

That minor incident aside, it was still a lunch we totally enjoyed. In the end we were all smiles. We're fed and we're happy with what we ate. Come bill time, I was more than willing to give a generous tip. I think it all boils down to cultural differences and hunger games.

Asians like us, no matter how exposed we are to different cultures, still appreciate warm and hospitable service like how it's done in our continent. We all have to compromise, I know. Be more flexible and understanding that sometimes, if not most of the time, "When in Rome, do what the Romans do".

Let's talk food, shall we?

Of course I have to have my wine, right off the bat. With it, whatever I can munch on while waiting for the main attraction. Some uneventful bread sticks, it's nice but not that exciting. Although, these sticks might have disappeared in mere seconds, since we were actively chatting and going through our to-do list for the remainder of our vacay before we leave Czech (with a heavy heart!).

Goat Cheese Gervais, Burned Peach, Homemade Gingerbread, Fresh Herbs. That is my first course. Just imagine church bells ringing when sweet peaches and salty and creamy goat cheese married in my mouth.

It was an explosion of flavours like .... well, let's not go there. I nibbled and savoured every bit of this masterpiece. Thinking of it alone makes my mouth watery.

Poached 62°Organic Egg, Smoked Duck Breast, Peas, Chanterelle. Jason had this and I dove into it a little bit. I am greedy! What can I say? Do you know what feelings you have when you see something so cute you want to pinch it? Well, I felt the same with this dish.

A little bit of the duck, a slither of the chanterelle, a good spread of the coulis on the concoction, a leaf or two, deliver them with gusto to your mouth and you will savour every chew. Honestly, the egg is an added twist, I wouldn't really say it's the main star, it's more like the honourable mention. By the way, this egg is similar to what we had in Bellevue, though Mlynec separated the yolk from the white. The cooking method however makes this dish safe for preggers to eat.

Green Lettuce Salad, Beet, Young Carrots, Orange with Coriander Dressing. Hubby ordered this for his first course. He wanted to try the duck confit but, knowing his taste, I advised him against it. He likes salad though and this salad looked inviting.

It must have tasted good since I wasn't able to even try it.

For the main course, Hubby and boys ordered fish. Preventing the boys from ordering another salmon for the umpteenth time, and hubby's been eating all kinds of meat, they settled for Seared Sea Bass, Vanilla Potato Purée, Dried Tomatoes, Capers, Olives, Baked Lemon Juice.

It was tasty. I had a bite of it but not so much, seeing it's a small piece and my boys love big portions if what is in front of them are yummy. I didn't want to get more dagger looks from Jason so I stopped trying to steal some of his food.

Hey you beautiful thing!

I didn't want to eat it. I just wanted to look at it and take a lot of selfies with it. If it looks tempting here, imagine how enticing it was when it was placed in front of me.

Any discomfort I was feeling because of my allergy, the pressure in my head that feels like it's about to pop, the irritation at the beginning, they all, melted away, dissolved into the abyss of the delectable creation I'm seeing. Obviously, the discomfort came back a few minutes after we left Mlynec but for now, let me walk you through this kind of production of a broadway performance.

Traditional Czech Duck Confit, Red Cabbage Foam, Potato Dumpling. To be brutally honest, I still am not fully sold with the idea of dumpling and sweet red cabbage type of slaw with a gorgeous meat like duck, but knowing Europeans, they'll retort with, "we don't need you to be sold with the idea of our traditional food, missy! You just have to get over yourself and understand that this is OUR dish". To which I will reply with huge apologies.

That being said, I can eat this dish, anytime, any day, anywhere. IF, only IF, it is prepared the way Mlynec Chef prepared it.

The less-flare dish I had in Karlovy Vary was nowhere near this one. I couldn't get passed a few spoonfuls of that plate. Mlynec's version? I wiped the plate clean! I find every component balance, not overpowering each other. Very complementary. Everything was well seasoned. It's like some jazz gig going on in my mouth when I ate it. It was perfection on a plate. Even hubby felt a jealous pang when he had a bite.

I long for the next time we visit Prague. I hope this dish will make a come back.

I noticed menus in both Bellevue and Mlynec change periodically, which is good. Season-based. Maybe I can make a special request for a price if this baby is not in the list.

For a boy who likes ice cream, he always complain about how cold it is! Jason asked for chocolate ice cream, nothing fancy for dessert. Alex had a taste and then went back to his phone. He is 12 years old any way, his priorities changed. On second thought, we all had a taste of his ice cream. It came with dagger looks of course.

Of course mine has to be better than just chocolate ice cream! I didn't come here for ice creams.

Deconstructed Apple Crumble, Apple ice cream, Walnuts, Caramel, Raisins, Cinnamon. I tell you, it was the perfect ending. Of course I have to have my coffee as the only ending in any meal but you know what I mean. The coffee is a normal progression. This dessert? Luscious beyond words. Look at it! It screams gratification on a plate! Yes, another on of my foodgasm moment. Oh don't be a spoil sport, it's all PG13 talk. It's just one of those dishes that I can't seem to get the hang of a better word.

This ended our sensational lunch at Mlynec. It was like a movie, a whole basket of emotions that we went through in one seating. Definitely unforgettable.

Mlynec Restaurant
Mon - Sun:
12:00 - 15:00
17:30 - 23.00
Telephone: +420 277 000 777
Telephone: 800 165 963
Fax: +420 246 013 713
Email: mlynec@zatisigroup.cz
www: www.zatisigroup.cz

[*I'll talk about my trip to the Emergency Unit in another post. Let's not ruin the foodie moment, shall we? And don't get any ideas, it has nothing to do with this to-die-for meal :) ]

Glassworks tour and Karlstejn Castle

Fri, 04 Jul 2014 10:30:38 GMT

By now the whole family is exhausted and I am in hellish pain (from my ear infection).

Traveling from one town to the next, tour after tour, information about different towns, one castle to the the other, a toss between centuries... it is quite a lot to absorb.

One thing I learned? I'm gonna have to take it easy in the next trips.

No doubt I have no regrets with the tour, the place, the food and most especially my chosen tour guide, it's just a matter of logistics the way I laid out the days.

I should have put a breather day every two tours or every other tour so it will be less daunting.

I would have also had time to at least write my blog piece fresh from the experience.

But no crying over spilled milk, what's done is done. We just have to bear the exhaustion as much as we can and push for it.

Today's tour is Glass works production, which is along the way to Karlstejn Castle.

Hubby and I felt like kids going on field trips, because essentially, it is a field trip!

I have never seen glass blowing in action, in person. The next one we'll see will be in Murano, Italy (God-willing our visa makes it to fly time, what with the holidays coming up, Murano might be moved to next year).

Wherever you go in this amazing country, one thing is for sure, you will always end up smiling because your heart just feels warm and fuzzy. A message that you receive from the universe through gorgeous nature surrounding you. It's like getting a big hug from your grandpa or something.

Today we get to see everyone in action at different stages. From initial glass blowing, to cutting, to designing to polishing.

The tour explained the process and how they re-use excess glass and rejected ones. It also explains the assembly type process where one designer is only responsible for one portion of the design.

Questions of the day which we haven't really asked and probably will ask our tour guide Eva to shed light on are:

If every production included excess glass, the trimmed ones and the rejected ones, how was the first production done? Was it through glass from somewhere else or through other composites excluding glass altogether?
If one designer is only responsible for a portion to ensure accuracy, do they get to do rotation, because, really, I think I will be bored to be doing the same sets of lines forever.

RÜCKL CRYSTAL a.s. located in Nižbor have been around since 1846. It is a family-owned and managed business, which I think is awesome.

At the end of it all, we get to do some shopping from their own showroom. Since I came up with the idea of one-back-pack-each, I have to be content and happy with cute earrings.

I got lilac, blue, clear and pink. I gave the three as gifts while I kept what's not chosen for me. Glad because I really wanted the blue one but didn't want to be greedy :P

Hubby was eyeing some wine glass sets and I would love a water pitcher, but unfortunately it won't be possible in this trip, if he's not willing to check-in a bag.

As a side note: he got sold with the one back-pack each idea when he saw tourists dragging their wheelies all over the cobble-stoned streets. It was a sorry sight especially in our last few days, it wasn't as cold anymore and mid-day you'll sweat bullets. Imagine arriving in Prague taking the train or tram with suitcases? It's such an effort.

Not to mention if you end up in an accommodation that has no lift? God bless you. In Europe, being an old world beauty and all, most buildings don't have elevators.

Honestly the one back-pack each is a great idea especially towards the destination but coming home I think it's fine to check-in a bag because at some point you'll be having souvenirs and shopped items (lady talking here!). I guess on this case because I want to pass by Amsterdam, no luggage to collect is indeed a good idea.

Going back to the tour, let's just say, we had a "blast!" Get it? Glass works? Blast? Pfft! please get it so I don't sound ridiculously sad.

After the glass works tour, we traveled forty-five minutes to reach Hrad Karlstejn.

Once again, King Charles' popularity proved itself. Karl is a German term for Charles.

But first, we have to climb the steep hill, the old way. Horse drawn carriage. Obviously you can hike up, walk on the road, do what you want, but we're not coming here every year. We don't even know if we'll manage to come back to this town in the future... so might as well do the right thing. Arrive like a queen. Did you see my wave?

The carriage will drop you off up to the area where transportation are permitted to pass, the remaining distance you'll have to cover by walking.

We have a video clip of this ride but still need to locate it in the abyss of videos and photos.

*to rent the whole carriage is CZK 1,000 which is AED 200 roughly. For a 15-20 minute ride for the five of us, it's not so bad.

The castle was initially built to be the treasury of royalties but ended up like the Summer Palace for some royalties while some made it their home base. The castle now is pretty much how the castle was centuries ago. Some of the interiors were refurbished, restored, replicas and some originals from hundreds of years ago.

The real crown jewels used to be in Karlstejn but now was moved to Prague Castle. The jewels in this castle are now just replicas.

In it are exquisite designs, furnitures from all over the world and a lot of them from the Orient. Makes you think, I thought "made in China" is only popular nowadays? Apparently not!

Being able to afford importing of furnitures from the Far East used to be a sign of wealth. Today, if your stuff is made in China, people smirk.

In one of the castle's room, locked in (at least for the duration of her duty), there was a beautiful lady who performed for us. She was wearing traditional garb and had a beyond-words voice of an angel who also played the flute. We were in a trance for the whole duration. Somebody could have robbed us and I'm pretty sure no one will notice whether items are missing. It was like Liv Tyler's elf enchantment in Lord of the Rings.

The way the tour happened for Karlejn and Cesky were: tour guides have their own set of keys. Every time they open a door, once the last guest is in the room, they lock the door we entered from. Then they continue with their information bit while you are all locked in that room. Once they're done with their bit, they'll open the next door and the same claustrophobic practice happen.

A bit eerie, much like in the movie Twilight were a bunch of tourists were led to the dungeon thinking they'll be seeing historical artifacts but actually ended up as snacks? Yikes!

As a side note: Czech people are blessed with amazingly gorgeous features, they do look like they came from vampire movies. Unfortunately, whatever shots and videos (including the singing awesome lady!) we managed to take inside the castle can't be published here. Sowee. Trust me, you have to visit the place to understand our fascination.

Natural red hair women with healthy, rosy and porcelain skin are everywhere! I mean of course brunettes and blondes were also mingling around and they're also gorgeous as hell (ask my hubby), but somehow the most fascinating ones are the red hairs. And don't get me started with their guys. You kinda have to stop yourself from offering your neck and stupidly saying "please bite me". Everyone is strangely captivating.

The castle is surrounded by greenness. There were a lot of stairs to climb but they were all worth it. Czech in general is a walking country, so much so that my bum hasn't been this toned since my exercise obsession days.

One of the best room in the castle is where the King's Throne is situated. It is by the pillar in between big windows.

A tactic used, we found out. The King has a very good view of whoever is in front of him while you can't see his face at all. The center throne's detail is zero from where we were standing. The glare from the big window is so bright, it was almost blinding.

Going down from the castle's hill is another experience. The streets werelined with different restaurants to choose from and items for sale that are just downright cute. There were clothes, wigs, bags, clocks, etc.

My boys had fun trying out knight's helmets. Even my hubby has to join in.

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She and Adrienne (our designated driver) fetch us from Krumlov and brought us to the destinations today.

Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

For more information on Ruckl Crystals, please visit: http://www.ruckl.cz/en/

Karlovy Vary

Thu, 03 Jul 2014 17:32:10 GMT

And you will think this is the main reason we came here... to hob knob with the stars, eh?

It was a coincidence that I booked our tour to Karlovy Vary the day before the International Film Festival. It was a pretty busy town that day which is quite nice. Everyone was gearing up to THE BIG DAY.

IFF aside, Karlovy Vary is a known spa town in Czech. They have one of hottest concentration of healing springs in Europe.

Citizens can get a prescription from their doctors for a 2 week spa time and they will automatically head down here. I think Germany has the same practice and Germany has a town for spa as well, a "medical" "relaxation" spa. Just don't know if it's as good as this one.

In Dubai, we don't need hot springs... we have have a natural "sauna". Tee hee hee!

Typical Eva, the day has to start with either a background of the town or a full immersion at the onset.

On our way to Karlovy Vary, she took out her Becherovka and asked hubby and I to drink it. It is apparently a herbal bitter. The taste was so strong, I don't even know whether it is an alcoholic drink, if it's not, it gave my head a spin for sure!

With the drink, she offered us the traditional wafer of Karlovy Vary, Oplatky. It comes in different flavours but we opted for the chocolate ones when we bought boxes to bring home. I loved the wafer, the Becherovka, not so much.

Straight away, from the parking lot we have to pass by Grandhotel Pupp. If you don't know what is Grandhotel Pupp, it is just the hotel where the stars stay at during IFF and the hotel that was featured in Queen Latifa's movie, The Last Holiday.

You still don't know what it is? Watch these clips and get entertained!

So of course, one in the list for this town is a dang photo op by the Grandhotel Pupp's grand facade. But we need to stay focus, we came here for the hot spring, eh? So understanding why the town is so popular lesson, here we come!

From Grandhotel Pupp, we walked our way to the Hot Spring Colonnade which houses Vridlo, Spring 1. On our way, we did our competition for the day... paper boat race!

I can't really remember who won. I definitely lost. My boat succumbed to the flat waveless body of water. I think Alex's boat had a head start, then Jason overpowered his, must be the unconventional folding the boy did. Then hubby's boat for some reason went against the stream?

His is the only one that floated upright so he got a special award for that. It was fun. People were wondering "what are these cuckoos cheering about?"

Whoah it was hot! Honestly, the sunny weather was a little too hot for me so going straight away to Hot Spring Colonnade was exactly like sauna :)

The original temperature of Vridlo spring is 73 degrees C, too hot for us! So we opted for the cooled down temp of 30 degrees C. The taste was .... honestly, if it's cooler, it tastes.... well to put it mildly, I didn't really like it. It's like drinking water from a corroded water pipe. Harsh but true....

I know I came from Dubai where summer is hell but the good thing about the UAE is that A/C everywhere is on full blast, summer or not!

In Czech, A/C is not on full blast. It's just barely there to make sure you have the artificial breeze but not too much to overpower the natural one. Actually Europe in general, I heard is like that.

We bought these babies as a souvenir but also to drink the spring water, local style. We saw everyone carrying these while walking around town, chatting. We should try it too. We asked what it's called, nothing special, it's a "sipping cup". Literally, you can only sip.

The Springs

There are 15 main springs to be exact, I'll just trust that and wouldn't want to actually challenge it. Few of them are far from the rest so we skipped them. We have visited the springs that are located in the colonnades nearby. Those are free, not commercialized, it actually look quaint, if only there's not a herd of tourist in ALL of the colonnades.

The sun, the walk, the heat, frankly I couldn't wait to eat lunch! Let's finish the colonnades and hunt for a shaded place (preferably with A/C) where we can seat and eat fooood!

I'm a foodie after all.

These mugs come in different shapes, colours, materials. The only constant in its design is the spout. In the end, we understood why the spout was so small and why really the most you can do is sip from it.

We filled them mugs up, placed the tip to our mouth and sip we did... bleh! It's mineral spring water alright. It tasted like all sorts of metals. You'd think you'll drop down dead from lead poisoning or something. As I said above, the cooler it is, the stronger the after taste is.

Surprisingly, we're all okay. We survived tasting a few of them, I think I tried 5, I got a little dizzy afterwards, not sure if from the heat or the big surge of minerals into my system. Either way, I didn't feel good for awhile.

1. Vridlo spring is the first one we visited. At 73 degrees C, it is the hottest and obviously the most pressurised of them all. It is the geyser in the photos above that shoots up to 12 meters. (Hot Spring Colonnade)

2. Charles IV spring, 64 degrees C, Market Colonnade

3. Market Spring, 65.2 degrees C,
Market Colonnade

4. Lower Castle Spring, 55 degrees C,
Market Colonnade

5. Libuse Spring, 63 degrees C, Mill Colonnade

6. Mill Spring, 56 degrees C, Mill Collonnade. This is the first spring to be recommended for drinking in 1705. This spring is bottled and distributed all over the world. I am yet to find out if this bottling practice still exists until today.

7 and 8. Prince Wenceslas Spring 1 and 2, Mill Colonnade.

9. Rock Spring, 46.9 degress C, Mill Colonnade

10. Rusalka Spring, 60 degrees C, Mill Colonnade

11. Freedom Spring, 52.4 degrees C, Freedom Spring Arbour Colonnade

12. Upper Castle Spring, 55.9 degrees C, Castle Colonnade

13. Park Spring, 41.6 degrees C . Popular with guests due to its high carbon dioxide.
Park Colonnade

14. Snake Spring, 28.7 degrees C. Less minerals but higher in carbon dioxide. Snake because the spout's shape is a snake.

15. Stepanska Spring, 13 degrees C. Coldest mineral spring among the lot with a high carbon dioxide concentration.

Colonnades were built as masterpieces by architects and designers to house the springs for locals and guests alike. Comfortable and convenient during harsh weathers. Some of them were initially temporary structures but became a fixture like the Market Colonnade. When we visited, there's a small coffee shop serving snacks and cakes. You can sit down there and people watch, it looked very inviting. According to Eva, that shop is very new, she hasn't seen it before (and she's a local and a tour guide!). As for us, we moved on (though I would have loved to people watch).

Mill Colonnade's original plan was supposed to be a ginormous two story structure but the locals didn't want anything too big for their small town, even so, Mill's arch is still impressive and very much pronounced. If the original plan was bigger than what they have now, THAT IS REALLY BIG!

After sipping a lot of spring water and me feeling a little drunk, we walked some more around town.

We saw a Greek Orthodox church, sadly I'm not sure whether a photo was taken. There are a lot of gold designs in it. Apparently, whenever a prayer is answered, parishioners show their gratefulness by donating an item that is either gold plated or gold leaves wrapped or stuck on them. It's very different from Catholic Churches.

We also saw an Anglican Protestant church. We didn't go inside though Jason surely tried.

We head back to the main boulevard and in the street we saw a couple of musical steps. We couldn't figure out which note is which so we mostly just jumped on it and made some awful clanging sound. Some Germans made use of them better by dancing some folk steps, all with interlocking hands and what not.

But it's been a long couple of days, tired and by now, I was really hungry, frankly getting cranky. I was already seeing stars!

Aaaaand speaking of stars, hungry or not... my priorities are straight... red carpet needs its due respect... so I and Jason must grace it with our presence. I can almost imagine the swarming paparazzi the next day. International stars everywhere? Oooof, heavenly!

Finally food! I enjoyed my ghoulash and enjoyed bits and pieces of everyone's food. It was my first time to have ghoulash, it felt like a warm hug in a cold weather.

I ordered the duck with Czech version of dumpling and cabbage stuff but I tell you, I am not a fan of how they combine salty duck with sweet and sour cabbage side dishes. It's an acquired taste and my taste on this particular meat is the Oriental one.

For sure it's a big hit with the local since our guide seems to be in love with it. I mean, separate each part, I can appreciate it. Together, it sort of put me off and it's nothing to do with the dish, my palate needs more training. So yes, we have to come back to Czech after a year.

It's not over until it's over. Eva book us for our last field trip. A tour of the innards of the hot spring itself. Our new guide showed us the geyser of Vridlov first and explained how the springs were discovered and how it works.

A miniature version of town is in display with indications of where the pipes were inserted.

According to legend, it was by accident that the spring was discovered. Prince Wenceslas was walking through the vicinity when a donkey fell into a water. When they tried to save the donkey, they discovered the hot temperature of the water the donkey is in. That's the legend.

Going back to reality, for a period of time the water was only used for bathing and external healing until it was proven safe to be consumed and proven to be healing.

Initially they let the hot springs where it want to "spring out" but a number of accidents occurred when the pressure is too much and explosions became inevitable.

They then helped eased the hot pressure by inserting pipes that distribute water to different Colonnades and hotels around town.

Any hotel the bears the seal means they are connected to the towns pipe for natural hot spring.

The guide led us underground, in a really, hot tunnel. Fumes and calcification and build ups of minerals is everywhere.

She showed us a sample of pipes that is replaced where a thick build up of minerals will be impossible to take off. A scheduled maintenance and replacements of pipes is a must to ensure health, safety and hygiene.

In the tunnel are some photos of colonnades and the building stages it went through.

Souvenirs processing was also shown where a rose made of a strong paper material is drenched with the hot spring for a few hours and dried for a day. The stages of mineral build up is shown. The white rose turning into rusty-like covered rose. These souvenirs are available for sale in the shops around town.

Souvenirs covered in hot spring mineral varies from vases to mugs to other decorative items that can withstand the process.

She let us walk outside where we can actually see hot water bubbling from the ground. The whole wet area seems to be abundant of bubbles. She said that there are more springs coming up everyday, everywhere. It is just how the nature of town is. I was drenched in sweat and it's mostly because they are not kidding! It is hot spring! 73 degrees C worth of hot springs everywhere!

Algae were also very visible and so we asked how it affects the water supply. Since algae requires sunlight, water in pipes does not have them.

After literally a hot day, hot springs, IFF, jam packed with activity day, we wrapped our last out of town tour and our last day under Eva's guidance. It was indeed a wonderful and memorable journey.

We celebrated the first of the many things we discovered and tried by having a sit down at Grandhotel Pupp's coffee shop. I had coffee ice cream, hubby and Eva had tea, boys had some ice creams and juices. It was a glorious day.

We couldn't be more happy and grateful for the sunny day (though it was hot), our every patient and accommodating guide, Eva and our lovely and wonderful driver Adrien.

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She and Adrienne (our designated driver) fetch us from Prague and brought us to the destination and back today.

Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

The Magical Place called Krumlov

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 18:27:11 GMT

Where do I start, where should I start?

We have fallen madly in love with Krumlov. So much so that we have already planned for August next year to spend at least 3 nights if not more in this magical town. One lousy overnight stay in this town is just torture.

It is hard to explain how beautiful this place is. It's like Disneyland but for the whole family, without the rides. It's like one of those enchanted towns in Disney movies. It was very quaint.

Summer time I can imagine us trying the downstream kayak that lasts for a few hours to longer than half a day. Or walking around town listening to artists all over the world trying their hands on street performance while trying to break-in to a much bigger audience of the industry. All over the world, because the songs came in different languages, some familiar, some not.

We can also just spend the days pigging out, sampling dishes near and far, traditional and new, a mix of cuisines that would have made the place tacky but surprisingly, didn't one bit.

It's a place of breakfast buffet at a nearby hotel or a bohemian feast by the river or a Chinese restaurant by the town square or a feast in an old jail house with only candles to keep your table lit. But then again, you can try your own cooking at an apartment equipped with modern gadgetry, a WiFi to connect with the social world, then you open your window and you're greeted by the majestic castle's tower confusing you if you are still in present time.

Krumlov is such an amazing place that there is not enough words to describe it. Anyone who dare asks me how my vacation was, my answer will always be, "one heck of an adventure". Czech Republic is not to be missed. Krumlov should be a place a person should visit at least once in their life time. It is that enthralling.

How did our tour start?
2nd day out of town tour, the adventure of the first day started to take a toll on all of us. We start dozing off en-route to Krumlov. Eva noticing how knackered we were, took the orientation lighter this time.

She patiently waited for all of us to be awake to give us a little history of the town. It's always great to have some information under your belt to understand what you are looking at. Basically we were mostly asleep from Prague to (Ceske) Budejovice were we did a pit stop. Half an hour away from Krumlov, just enough time to be armed with some history.

I only refer to it as Krumlov because we are already in the country. Cesky Krumlov somehow means Czech's Krumlov, so Eva pointed out that it will be redundant to call it with it's full name.

Our competition for the day was to find as many 5-petalled rose symbol we can find. Every valid symbol is worth a minted coin. At the end of the day, we'll count who won the most. Of course my team (with my big boy Alex) won, again.

The 5-petalled rose is the symbol of the Rosenberg family who used to rule Bohemia in the olden days. They did beautifully and bountifully for 300 years from the 13th century. Their coat of arms (as above) has the red five-petal rose and so is every street's house and shops adorned with it even more so in the present day.

The kind of adoration and pure appreciation of this noble family's history is up there (picture me, pointing to the sky).

They're in almost every door, water pipes, road drainage, paintings, gates, windows and the list goes on.

We didn't realise how much walking we've done until the time we reached the end of the day. We walked and walked and walked, looking up, down and under just to make sure we get to call the rose first. My hubby was a little sneaky so Alex and I have to be sneakier.

We started at the parking lot (on the map, it is on the top right of the castle and walked every where in this little town, visited the church, crossed couple of bridges which are essentially the town's border and we picture how the castle was protected from previous invasions. We walked so much that we have viewed the castle from different angles.

Were we tired? Knackered. Every shred of my flesh were crying murder. Does it matter? No. I always muttered under my breath whenever I feel exhausted, "I didn't come here to rest, I came here to get drowned with information, be bathed with culture and be oriented with how life is and was in Czech".

A write up about Bohemian dish on the back cover of the menu...

By the time we finished criss-crossing roads, wide and skinny, it was time to eat.

Lunch was at U DWAU MARYI. A restaurant with magnificent views to offer, the castle, the town, the river, the kayaks passing by, the ducks, the birds, the sky, the everything you appreciate outside the stern wall of cities.

U Dwau Maryi I believe is also a Pension. Pension is pretty common in Europe, it's a type of accommodation that is cheaper than the chain of hotels most are familiar of. I have never been in one, nor seen one so that's as much as my knowledge about Pension is.

Going back to lunch. Since we love to try different type of dishes, our guide, Eva brought us here.

She recommended OLD BOHEMIAN FEAST for 1-8 person. Each of us chose the type of meat we want. I and hubby went for pheasants, Eva chose rabbit and the boys pick chicken. Each chosen meat comes with smoked meat (which in this case was pork ham), millet, potato cake, dumpling and salad.

This is the first time we had dumplings that is different from the oriental type we are so used to. Their dumpling is a type of heavy, thick slices of moist bread.

We could have easily ordered this centuries ago, the only difference is, we wouldn't have used knife and fork, it will be our bare hands.

*By the way, the restaurant beside U DWAU MARYI is a vegetarian restaurant. Although Bohemia is all about meat, vegetarians will never go hungry anywhere in this country.

Eva nudged me to visit the washroom and take the liberty to roam around the house which is now turned into a Pension/Restaurant.

The restaurant has a wonderful character to boot that even just going to the washroom is like a time warp.

Shiny wooden stairs with all its bumps and corners, walls as uneven as the cobblestone road outside the premises, ceilings that whispers events it witnessed, kitchen in a small archway, every single piece screams a period of time when life was a lot simpler.

The restaurant overlooks the Vltava river and so it is just but plain fitting for my husband to go down there and have a photo op. It is not a quiet river, in a sense that there will always be a group, a couple, a family of kayakers going down stream to wherever their destination ends. Or it could be adorned by a group of ducks or a few sparrows flying low, playing like they are almost touching the water.

While waiting for the rain to die down, Eva gave us a new competition to keep ourselves busy. A puzzle! I love puzzles and once again, Alex and I won. I always start with the corners and sides, once those are sorted out, pieces within will fall into place. Just like life.

The puzzle is about the four seasons. Seasons that this place has. Winter, Autumn, Spring and Summer. Isn't our guide such a clever lady?

As soon as the rain stopped, we toured the Castle. We were not allowed to take pictures or shot videos inside the castle and so we are only posting shots outside, as a respect. Of course we could have taken pictures or videos inside but if we did, we won't be posting it anywhere on the net no? After all, we want to encourage anyone able, to visit the place themselves and get lost in Krumlov's beauty.

The castle has it's own garden which is massive by the way. It has it's own under-the-stars auditorium/theater. It's such a genius theater because the whole seating area is the one revolving into different scenes on a 360 degrees.

The garden in the end has a pond above the hill where the castle is practically perched on. The pond is full of wild ducks which isn't really that wild. They're quite friendly and Jason had fun engaging with them.

After all the climbing and walking and at some point during the day, dragging our feet from location to location, we finally reached our bed for the night. Castle View Apartments.

I booked this through booking.com so many months before. My focal point was the view.... and the fact that Rick Steves mentioned it in his books and featured it in one of his tour videos.

I must say, it is indeed Castle view.

Before the dark night came (which was sometime after 9PM), hubby and I roamed around town looking for Droggerie, I needed pain reliever for my ear (sadly my ear infection re-occured, because I started smoking heavily again).

What I found out, to my utmost pain and discomfort was that shops in this town closes like crazy early. By 5:30 PM, half are already closed. We were informed that we'll have to come back the following day as it is too late for the drug store to still be opened.

As we desperately look for any mini-market who might miraculously carry the ever elusive pain reliever, we came across a mini-market who's owned by a Vietnamese man. Language barrier you say? Hubby's good with sign language. The answer is he doesnt' have pain reliever. He did however offered us fresh cherries.

We hesitated in the beginning but the minute we tried a piece, we were sold. Funny enough, it is the first time I ate unprocessed cherries. Didn't realise how gorgeous it is in its original state. I couldn't stop munching it and I was not sure up to this day if there's any after effect if you eat too much of it. At that moment, I couldn't care less and frankly if I see a box right now with something as nearly as sweet as what we had in Krumlov, I wouldn't waste time searching the net for after effects. I will just dive in and eat the lot!

For dinner, we decided to go to the tavern across our apartment. Apparently it's an old jail house. Eva, our tour guide suggested the place if we want to stick to traditional, and we did. It is called Krcma v Satlavske. True to being traditional, the restaurant's glow either came from the spit-fire, the candle on tables or the cigarette from the man who's dining by the back of the door, enjoying his dinner solo.

Although it looks like a walk-in kind of tavern, it's highly recommended to make a reservation. We were lucky because we arrived before 9 PM. There were 2 vacant tables left on the ground floor, right where the spit fire was cooking meat. We wanted to move upstairs and enjoy without the smoke and flames but were informed of reservations.

In the end, it was actually good that we were seated where the action was. We enjoyed watching the cooking process. Boys think cooking meat without all the marinades to masque it's real taste was pretty cool, I think so too.

If shops close at 5:00 PM, taverns and restaurants like this have their last order at 9:30 PM.

I felt really bad for some tourists who came last minute to the tavern, looking quite hungry, only to leave empty stomach, they missed the last order for the night. They can still order drinks, just no food and when you're hungry? Where's the fun in that?

So off to bed we went. The only downside with the apartment is it can get pretty hot in the middle of the night if you don't open the windows. Since I was a little unwell, I asked for the windows to be shut. I woke up sweating rivers!

The boys were okay as the electric fan was on them but my poor husband slept without a blanket and nothing much else because it was deathly hot!

I got up and opened all the windows that I can reach hoping I am not inviting insects let alone vampires in. After all this is bohemia, I won't be surprised to wake up with a creature in the room. Luckily for us, nothing weird like that visited us.

The morning after, we had our buffet breakfast at Grand Hotel.

The hotel rate included buffet, a decent and filling one. We were very happy with the meals we all had. It is not as elaborate and grandiose as Dubai but when you're in a hurry, running late and is off to another old town in a few minutes, you really don't have time to complain. All you have is gratefulness that you have something in your stomach for another full day. Life is really that simple. The buffet have everything we need for the day, a balance diet. What else should we ask for?

Since I eat really slow and I can see the boys back to their iPhones for some games to catch up, I told them to please spend sometime by the town square and enjoy the place. And what did we see? They went to the square alright, did by the bench but still playing :)

Kids!

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She and Adrienne (our designated driver) dropped us off in Krumlov. Eva got us oriented with the town. Then she and Adrienne fetch us from Krumlov to our next destination the following day.

Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

Vltava River Dinner Cruise

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 22:08:48 GMT

After a full day tour of Kutna Hora, our day ended with comforting food, 3-hour dinner cruise on Vltava River.

Picturesque view, just rained weather, live music in the house, it was perfect!

Eva arranged for everything, all we had to do is walk from our house after a change of clothes, show the staff our print-out booking and board we did.

We weren't super hungry, we were mostly exhausted and needing a really big rest. But how else do you wind down better a full packed day but to sit and relax and choose to eat or not in the next 3 hours.

We have seen Charles Bridge through Riksha tour on a bike, from afar when we dined at Bellevue Restaurant, now we passed by it twice, daylight on our way out and evening when it was fully lit, on our way back. Soon we will walk atop it! That ish zhe plan!

Although it was cold, we can't help but go outside. It would be a shame to miss the view. We saw everything that we didn't see (river side) for the last two days, and probably will not see for the remainder of our vacation here in Prague.

The warm sunset, the clouds after it cried, Fred and Ginger (dancing house) building, the family of swans and ducks, floating restaurants, Kampa island up close and personal. The only thing we didn't mind missing were the huge battalion of mosquitoes. They were atop the wall where our boat has to wait in line to cross a higher part of the river.

Basically, boats go to one side, get locked in, the boat gets raised by flooding the section. Once we are on the same level of the next part of the river, off we go!

By the time we came back to the port, it was dark. We are fed, quite rested and now just need a 5 minute-walk to our house and then doze off time right after a cup of coffee for me and tea for hubby.

That wrapped our third night. Wonderful four days in this enchanting place.

Tomorrow's tour is Cesky Krumlov! Dying to see it!

Kutna Hora

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 09:52:50 GMT

When I finalized our trip to Czech, this is one of those "must" see in my list. Not just because it's unique but because I want to understand the reason behind it.

The very first day of our out of town tour was a good one hour and half drive from Prague center. An hour and a half drive and the difference in the way of living is pretty massive.

It is still touristy, but take away the tourists? It really feels like time stood still here.

Kutna Hora started as a silver mining town. The silver rush happened and everyone in the guild settled wherever they can. There's no proper planning of town, it just happened.

We passed by their town center and it doesn't even feel it's the town center. All the effort and financing went into the churches.

The reason why Kutna Hora has so many churches for a pretty small town was because during the time of silver mining, miners understood their field as a very dangerous job. They can die anytime performing their work and they don't want to die without the last confession. So they asked for church to be easily accessible, they even financed some.

The trip was very educational, with a pre-tour video to watch for us and the boys while in the car en-route to the location. We also had fun-time with the boys as teams, having a friendly competition.

In this trip, we had to stick our hand in a pretty tight container and try to collect as many nuggets of gold (pretend) mixed with hay. It wasn't easy, Alex and I lost over Jason and Daddio. It is to show our boys how hard a miners' job is, adults learned it wasn't easy too!

The second competition for the day was throwing the gold nuggets within three plates, each has a value. Every time the team wins, we get minted coins which used to be the coin of the town. In the end, because to the total, Alex and I won over Daddio's team with Jason.

Our guide is Eva of Sightseeing Prague. She is amazing. Our tours were a mix of education, fun and relaxing moments. It's never too much of everything.
Email: tours@sightseeing-prague.com
Mobile phone: +420 728 880 367.
Website: http://www.sightseeing-prague.com/en

Our first stop was Sedlec Ossuary where the Bone Church is, which is actually St. James church.

The skulls are real and they came from different places. Churches before used to have big cemeteries surrounding them, when the cemetery has to be trimmed down to a much smaller scale for hygienic reasons, the skulls and bones were used to decorate the church.

Another source were the war between Catholics and Hussites and of course the plague that hit Europe.

It used to be a working church, even before the skulls and bones were added. Nowadays it is a museum.

The idea behind the bone church is not to scare or shock people. The idea was more pragmatic during the conceptualization of the church's architecture.

It is a reminder that at the end of it all, we are all just skulls and bones. What matter is what you have done before you reach the end of your life. Everything in this life ends, so make it count.

It was freaky but my boys understood the reason behind the design and they thought it was pretty cool. Boys will be boys :)

The second church we visited was Our Lady's church. Compared to St. James, it was pretty plain. Though it is in Gothic style, it didn't have the elaborate structures as the third church we visited.

The church residents believed that parishioners should't focus much on designs and distractions, but concentrate on prayers.

The highlight of this visit was when we were shown the loft. It showed how the vaults are held together. We walked the loft on the length of the church until we reached the balcony facing the altar on the other side. We also tested the natural acoustic of the church.

A solo singer can sing her heart out in that balcony and the whole church would be able to hear the song loud and clear.

An interesting shot was shown as well. One sunset in a year, during equinox, when the whole church is dark, the sunset's reflection goes straight into the altar, like a natural spotlight. Shame I didn't take a picture but trust me when you see it, it's awe-mazing.

The thought that comes into creating a surprise like that must be great. Because the altar is always on the east, they have to calculate at a particular time of day and season when will the sunset create a spotlight effect to the altar.

There are also relics of Saints in the church, two of them actually, Pope's gift to them in one of the anniversaries.

The faces are of course not real but the important bones like ribs, hands and feet are intertwined with the clothing are real.

The last church we visited in Kutna Hora was the Cathedral of St. Barbara. My most favorite.

It's also a gothic church but the most elaborate of them all. The spires, the flying buttresses!!! It's an enchanting church, inside and out.

The Cathedral was the miner's answer to the church of St. James. It is built by the hillside where the monastery's ownership ends. Supported financially by the miners, the original design was supposed to be bigger than what it is now. They wanted to show the Cisterian monks that they can do a more grandiose church design.

Though it's not as big as planned, it already is humongous even in today's standards.

You know how important the miners are during those days when you see designs, paintings or etchings on the walls that are miner-related and not religious or bible related.

The vaults in this church compared to Our Lady's church is the total opposite. It is adorned with various coats of arms which is both symbolic and historical.

The interior is adorned with designs that are in harmony with the whole church.

It is a gargantuan structure indeed but what will make you feel so ordinary and small is the artistic flair that went into it, inside out. I would love to attend a mass in this church. It looks and feel so heavenly.

The outside balcony gave us a wonderful viewing point and photo op. It's high, scary and a little skewed on the floor but we cannot and will not miss it for the world.

We then walk around town, leading up to an al fresco place for lunch. But before that, there are a lot of viewing point to enjoy this lovely town.

Streets are steep, houses are authentic, roads are cobbled, everyone is walking. Makes you think about period movies, ladies wearing traditional clothes walking back and forth in this road, bidding neighbors goodbye or greeting them hellos. Horses would be really useful in this road.

For lunch, we stopped by a restaurace that offers a mix of traditional and international dishes. I went for the roulade which is pretty common in Czech, while Alex chose salmon, Jason chose chicken cordon bleu and hubby of course went for pork barbecue.

After lunch, we walked and walked and walked.

There was another church of St Nepomuk that has adam and eve on the facade which is unusual. Usually they don't adorn churches because their story is so basic, everyone knows about them, there is no need for a reminder. Because of this, this church is quite unique.

There is the plague post which we found in a lot of towns in Czech Republic. It's a symbol that once upon a time, this town was hit badly by the plague.

During those times, they create post because they believed that plague is a punishment for the evil deeds committed by the community.

Offering a post like it will show how much they are repentant and that they ask for their patron saint to heal them and help their town.

On top of plague monuments will always be Virgin Mary. Her devotion to helping us his children in her intercession to God and the triumph of prayers over plague.

In most of plague monuments is a Saint with a dog, always with his robe lifted showing his leg. It is St. Roch. His dog during his ailment, was the only one who comes close to him, bringing him bread to eat.

One of my hubby's curiosity is why are all the letters that we also consider Roman Numerals highlighted in gold?

Something to find out.

The last bit of find we saw was an old water dam. They used to keep clean water for drinking purposes. 1497 it says, that's how "4" used to be written in the old days. Even in the astronomical clock of Prague, 4 was written this way.

Then... [click here to find out how our day ended...]

Prague City Tour and Bellevue

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:44:29 GMT

We got lost enough on our first day that we felt we can finally venture a bit further and be lost some more.

Armed with a couple of maps and Rick Steves App and off we go.

Light showers? No biggie, it doesn't look so bad.

I said "let's just do the Old Town Square now and then do the Wenceslas another day". I was thinking about our dinner and the distance.

Sure enough we got lost again and actually ended up at Wenceslas Square. Apparently our house is no-kiddingly close to every single place that matters.

First things first, foodie call. We have to try some hotdogs, streetfood way, standing and while walking.

The sauce made the difference. It's a special mixture with lots of onions and a REALLY generous amount of mustard. I meant REALLY GENEROUS.

Chilly weather made me enjoyed it, Alex did and hubby too,,, Jason had to order another one of a different type because he had to run to his cola after the first bite!

So he got a very plain one with just bread, hotdog and ketchup. They have no mayonnaise!!! Surprising, but hey, welcome to Europe and welcome to something new.

Suffice to say I ended up eating his first sandwich.

Bravery is good but European weather demands smart wanderers. For which we were initially not.

Hubby had to go back home to get some more armour for the now becoming heavy drizzle. Our house comes with umbrellas and raincoats. How awesome is that?

An excuse for my boys to have their desserts, coffee for me and a shmoke while enjoying the square get damper and damper. People watching was also pretty nice. Some were so used to the cold drizzle that they don't really care... they looked like they were walking on sunshine.

We hang out at Kolkovna Celnice Restaurant, somewhere in the alley towards the Powder Tower/Gate.

Since we are gluttons, after a few minutes walk, the hotdog happiness wore off. We stopped at Como for a nice lunch. Did you see my dessert? (fine, I'm keeping it parental guidance!)

Delicious lunch, pricier than the usual Czech fare but reasonable for Dubai standards.

Its location with a terrace sticking out to the side walk, it's a fabulous way to people watch. Stalkers, guard!!!

Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen.
When the snow lay around about, deep and crisp and even.
-Christmas Carol

THE HORSE'S A**

The start of our tour is in front of the National Museum, under the horses a**... I meant tail. That by the way is how the locals meet up at the square. "I'll meet you at the horses' tail"

King Wenceslas is a historical icon for Czech. A smart and benevolent 10th century duke who Christianiased and lifted Czech culture and who the Christmas carol fame refer to when they say "good King".

He was canonised as a saint after his death.

Next to him are four statues. The nation's patron saints with its focus on books. A symbol that enriching their culture is through thinking, rather than fighting.

National Museum is the imposing building overlooking Wenceslas square. 19th century Neo-classical architecture built to show everyone that they are unique and deserves independence from others.

We haven't been in, the facade is beautiful and apparently the interior is rich too but the collections inside are boring.

We will still visit to pretend we're the cast of Mission Impossible where the Museum stood for "the embassy". Where's my evening gown!!!!

I WILL SET MYSELF ON FIRE!

Just a few walk from the good King Wenceslas statue is a patch of green. Looking at it it says Jan Palach and Jan Zajic. Two students who were two of the many heroes who fought for Czech revolution.

Jan Palach in particular was the student who stood in front of the Museum and set himself on fire because he cannot take the oppression anymore and felt no change will happen (if people don't do anything drastic).

All throughout the square are remnants of Czech's period architecture. Neo-gothic, Neo-Rennaissance, Neo-Baroque, Art Nouveau and Functionalism.

The Grand Hotel Europa is the bright yellow Art Nouveau building on your left as you thread down the square.

The scene was set in November 1989. The Velvet Revolution happened here. Every night, people gather in front of this grandiose structure and jangled their car keys. Hundreds of thousands of them, Symbolically telling the communists to pack up and leave their country.

Velvet Revolution, no force were used, no blood were spilled. It was sheer boldness and standing tall and proud together as a nation while demanding freedom from the dictators..

The balcony of the now Marks and Spencer was the same balcony were the famous individuals of Czech, stood to greet and cement the success of the uprising. A rock star, a well known priest, a poet, Alexander Dubcek and Vaclav Havel to name just a few.

Following our guide to some secret nuggets spread across the city, we were brought to an art deco mall of the 1930s. The Lucerna Arcade.

We found Wenceslas riding an upside down horse. It was huge and funny and we're glad to be led to it.

The last side trip before The Old Town Square was a Franciscan garden hidden within another popular place to the locals. Svetnor Mall. If you want ice creams, this is "the" place.

The Franciscan garden is from the 1600, boasting a playground for kids and offers a romantic rendezvous for couples or... as what we saw, two boys hiddenly smoking cigarettes.

Our tour was cut short because we have dinner reservations at Bellevue. We will resume our self guided tour on Saturday after a series of out of town tours.

Our night ended with a meal to remember. Dinner with a view of Charles Bridge.

The food were great but I think the captivating beauty of the bridge, lit or not, overwhelmed the gastronomic creativity.

That and the fact that for the first time I ate rabbit. There were the usuals but I wanted to try something new, so rabbit it is!

It doesn't really help that while I was eating, my two boys were making cute sad bunny rabbit faces. Aaaargh!

Amuse Bouche - prawn in tomato and strawberry sauce

specially prepared egg, not poached but cooked at a certain temperature where it's cooked to a certain point that even pregnant women won't worry about salmonella but it's still oozing with awesomeness egg greatness

Foie gras terrine with seasonal berries, elder flower, brioche

Best end of Irish lamb, cassoulet, herritage carrots, fennel jus

Pan fried sea bass, crushed potatoes, bok choi, lemon caper velouté

Roasted saddle of rabbit with serrano ham, sweet garlic purée, provensal vegetables, kalamata olives... RABBIT!!!

palate cleanser, yoghurt of some sort

Valrhona "Araquani" chocolate Cremeux, caramel, banana ice cream, sweet popcorn

Tahitian vanilla Panna cotta with tropical fruit delight

Deconstructed cheese cake with strawberries, basil and Voatsiperifery wild pepper

alas! we managed to prolong dinner to a record breaking 4 hours... the bridge was finally lit by 10:15... THANK YOU!

Grainy photos and all, this wrapped our second night in Prague. We are undoubtedly having a blast!

The Frogs in Prague

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 09:57:41 GMT

Vlatava River and Prague Castle

Aptly called frogs with all beautiful things and people surrounding us. We can easily get lost in this city, literally and figuratively.

We flew KLM, and so the journey was pretty long but it's all worth it. We enjoyed the adventure and are looking forward to our quickie tour of Amsterdam on our way back.

Let's begin from, well, the beginning!

*please bear with the photos and typos.. I am writing my updates via iPhone and let's just say I am all thumbs!

I'll fix the photo collage and typos when I come back to home base.

One back-pack each!

It was hard, a definite challenge but it's needed. This is a 10-day trip to 2 cities, essentially. In August we will be touring 8-10 cities and so it's good to practice now and not be stressed out later on.

Granted I and hubby still carry the boys' bags now and again, I still say it's a must to stick to the one bag each. No check-in luggage, no wheels to worry on cobbled streets. Rick Steves is correct when he said, "everytime you travel, do you say, I should pack heavier next time? It's always I should pack lighter, right?."

Really, you don't wear all of your clothes you brought for "just in case". The best strategy is to have a mix and match of attire for different occassions. I actually found out, 6 of the items I brought, I didn't use and 2 of the items I bought were used once.

For ladies, the pack is longer but we can still trim down.

Knowing my bare minimum as a lady is the best gauge.

I was supposed to only bring 2 footwear but the weather is confused at the moment so I gotta prepare for yes, the "what ifs".

I got my blue suede heels for a dressy dinner we have booked tonight. I got my Timberland boots for those rainy days. Got my Keds for the sunny occassions and got my rubber slippers for the bathroom. However, I can count that slippers for my oldest boy, his feet is the same size as mine. I didn't bring him house slippers so we share it.

I only need it when I'm in the cold floor bathroom. All around the house is wooden flooring or carpet so I'm good.

My footwear then is a total of 3.

Different passengers have different experiences to tell.

With the big plane, from Dubai to Amsterdam, everyone was happy. Then we had to do the transfer.

But first, my loving hubby went to the women's washroom at Schipol airport. He dashed across to the men's side so quickly, I wasn't able to capture the Mr Bean moment :) "I was wondering, why are there women all powdering their faces?.. yikes!"

We transferred to a smaller plane, Fokker, it's called. The name made my boys' giggled a bit,,, fine! A lot! They're the ones who read the airline magazines and told me about it.

It was a nice small plane, used specifically for short distances. KLM calls them City Hopper.

Jason got scared while Alex loved it. It was a lovely cloudy day.

Clouds are mesmerizing.

Of course my boys asked, if it is possible to stand on them?

The mustard ham, egg and cheese they gave us on the plane was so organically tasty that my boys (including the big one) actually wanted more. Of course I am a spoil sport, told them it's only a little over an hour flight, let's reserve our tummy for Czech treats.

The plan was to take the public bus to the train station and then take the metro to Namesti Republiky and walk.

It's true.. altitude makes you bloat! My face before boarding in Dubai was starved.. landing in Prague? Like I was fed really mercillesly!

But because we are tourists and the lady at the shuttle's counter was pretty with blue eyes, my hubby made me believe that's the counter for the ticket to the Public bus. Apparently not.

It cost Koruna 600 for the 4 of us, which is practically AED 30 each. Darn cheap compare to their European counterparts.

Shuttle bus was actually a saving grace because when we get off Namesti Republiky station and started walking, we got lost... for about 30 minutes.

Yup that was a loooong time searching for a small street. We were armed with 2 maps, but we were so disoriented, the map just didn't make any sense.

After the jet lag wore off, we found the street then the house, then the bed and we all collapsed!

Our home away from home was sourced from AirBnB. It is a very comfortable place.

Honestly getting lost at the start and walking in streets we are not familiar of, I was a little disappointed when we finally found the house street.

It was hidden. There were few grafittis on the street's wall, the main door looks old, we were tired and hungry and apparently I was dehydrated (from Dubai, I had a few sip of water, bad move!). I didn't fully appreciate how lucky we are to have this place.

We went up the stairs and were greeted by soft beds. It's clean and has all modern amenities and of really good brands. Coffee machine, washing machine, full size fridge and freezer, hot plate cookers, electric blinds, security camera, dishwasher, got my point, everything we will ever need while staying in Prague.

So one by one, we slept until 2 PM. We have to go out and buy groceries and have lunch.

As we walk along getting ourselves oriented with our temporary neighbourhood and as we venture out to other streets, we realised that our house is a short walk to everywhere. The house is a real gem. We cannot be any happier.

There are graffitis everywhere in the city! It is their own way of saying, "we are a progressive and liberated society". Coming from WWII and going through communist era, the habit of writing their messages on the wall is ingrained in their souls.

We ended up going to Palladium, which is a 5 minute walk to our house.

Unfortunately we have a tradition of having the first few meals in a good old fashion junkfood chain. It was a toss between MickeyD's or KFC... we went for KFC and enjoyed a different way of frying chicken.It was tasty.

I know it's bad and a sad thing to do in such a beautiful country, but it was so tasty. We discovered that chicken wings are a big thing here. They sell wings in buckets! And we witnessed buckets per person as a meal, everyone nibbling on them, no utensils, just finger licking meal. The way some people build pyramid using pizza crust, I saw in Czech were wing bones.

We will have to do it too, tomorrow. Probably SHARE a bucket.

For our groceries, we got them from Alberts. It's connected to another mall opposite Palladium and it's in the basement. It looks like it used to be a train station or something, I will find out in the next few days!

We are fed, we have supplies and so we head back home to wait for our tour Riksha.

Hubby and Jason, look at how happy they are!

our big boy Alex.. always taking videos

The beautiful Prague Castle

Old Town Square and the beautiful municipal building that hosts the Astronomical clock, surrounded by tourists [and pick-pockets alike :) ]

The Old Town Square and St. Nicholas Church

The picturesque Vltava River and the famous Charles Bridge

It's way better than hop-on hop off bus because we were not in an enclosed van. We can feel the breeze, there's a feeling of no barrier from the vicinity at its most natural setting. It was worth it.

We had them pick us up from the house which is really great as getting lost again on still tired body was not ideal. And they dropped us off to the restaurant where we have a booking for dinner. Perfect!

The owner is a half Sudanese, half Czech entrepreneur who personally lead our tour. His name is Arman.

Riksha cost 850 per bike, 200 per drop off or pick up so it cost us 2500 Koruna in total.

1 and a half hour of light tour with a few bits of history and introduction. So ideal for first timers in Prague. Not diluted with facts we can get from books and frankly speaking, we weren't ready for information overload.

We went to important places to get oriented to. We even went further across the bridge and got some tips of more things-to-do in Kampa Island.

Look at where they even brought us, right next to Vltava river to understand how high the last flood of 2002 was! It was a whoaa moment... I mean I know I am small but even a tall person will have a hard time with such high water?

The dropped of point is at Wenceslas Square, Vytopna Restaurace (that's restaurant in Czech). Our drinks are delivered at our station by a miniature train.

I was the supercool mom who researched and booked it.. my kids love me!

We enjoyed our meal to the brim and went walking home.

On our way, a light drizzle accompany us until we reached home. As I drifted to a supposed to be light nap... apparently the rain became heavy.

The plan was we'll rest a bit and then hubby and I will hit the streets at night. I fell totally asleep, missed night altogether and woke up past 5 in the morning with make-up still on, unbrushed teeth, unshowered me and contact lens sticking to my eyes!

That's first day for you! Knackered but totally happy.

I hope to write a food review of Vytopna . Their food deserves a full post, if only I can find the photos!

Niña​nin-ya - Travel Bug-a-boo