Beyond Prague

So it turns out the Czech republic is more than this gorgeous city of Praha (Prague.) We took a guided tour (AJ & I and a gal from NY) out into the country for a 32 km bike tour out to the most beautiful castle in of all the Czech rep.. The tour went along the Valtav river with beautiful vistas of old country homes, and acres of wild poppies. Aaaah, glorious. We stopped for refreshment in a very European way and then off again. Every once in a while our guide Zdenek would point out some little thing of interest and then off again. We arrived in Karlstejn (named after King Charles the IV - the most illustrious of all Czech kings - the Charles Bridge in Prauge, probably the most photographed bridge in Europe- is also named after him. Again we ate. Czech food is all about meat and most meals feature it even lunch. But it is well prepared, tasty and not too filling - avoid the sauces. They serve dumplings with everything but they are not the round doughy things we think of in fact they look like bread - steamed bread - think Chinese steamed dumplings but flat.
I kept up with the guide and the Jia (the gal from NY) in spite of yet again being stung by a bug in my armpit this time. It flew into my top and then tried to sting it way out. Ouch! Then we went down a very steep hill onto a bridge where I did a very graceful slide and got a zig zag tattoo from my knee to my ankle. Charming. Some people seem to attract disaster.
But the castle. We though we were castled out with Ireland but this castle had a magic about it. Built in the 13th century, there was this air of calm and majesty about it that is hard to capture. It was a strong and bracing corrective to the vigorous bike ride.
And then, as it has done so often in Prague the clouds called to each other, gathered together threw a little lightening and thunder around and then the rain fell. I call it rain but itwas more what Noah would have experienced. HUGE rain drops that soaked you to the skin in 30 seconds. We scurried into a door way where a very kind woman took pity on us and drove us to the train station. I think she wanted us out of her doorway. An uneventful train ride back to Praha followed by several subway trips and a final tram ride got us home to our own little caslte in the city.
We stopped for provisions -yougurt, cheese, buns, and decided for the first time to buy some chips to eat with our drinks. We didn't check the price - we should have for 43g of Pringles we paid $4.00! We bought two. Oh well.. the food here is still so much more reasonable than Ireland that we think we can suck it up.
We've put miles and miles on our sandels since we have arrived - walking is the best way to see this city. Tomorrow a boat tour of the river for a different perspective. On June 5th we leave for Vienna - by train to stay in another apartment for a week.
Things to love about Prauge:
Everything. It is clean, the people are very kind, the stores are always open when we need them. It is an ancient city that, like a grand old lady knows what she has to offer and doesn't need to sell herself.
The women all stride around beautifully dressed (except for the tourists) in lovely dresses and high heels on the cobblestone streets - cell phones attached to their ears or arm in arm with friends laughing and talking as they go.