Prague, 6 August 2013

  Last night I ate at a place I remembered from the last time I was in Prague.  It is on Aneska 2 and is called U Cerveneho kola.   It is just lovely!  You go through into a court yard to eat.  There are about 14 tables out there and last night there were only 4/5 used, including me.  It is very peaceful and nice.  The food is very good.  I had 2 starters, one hot and one cold.  The cold was the pate with bread - very good.  The hot was asparagus gratin.  Also very good.  My main dish was goulash with bread dumplings and a small salad.  I drank a Campari and 3 glasses of wine.  It all cost 1010 kc.  The service is very efficient and nice and I enjoyed the peace and quite and being away from all the crowds.    Today all I did was take the tram up to the palace hill and go to the Sternberg collection.  The collection is very nice and it took a while to go through although there is no big block-buster piece.  After I walked back down the hill and stopped for 2 beers.  When I got back to the Hilton it was about 2 o'clock and I went to the pool because I was so hot.  The pool was great!! I had it all to myself and went for 2 swims and read a paper.   I do have to say that Prague is filled to the brim with tourists.  You almost can not walk down the street in the touristy areas.  There seem to be two types.  Low rent southern Europeans and well heeled retired Americans on a tour.  It does not matter really.  They are all dressed like idiots and are totally inconsiderate of anyone else.  My advice to someone traveling to Prague, and it is still worth a visit, is to try and avoid the major tourist attractions.  There was basically no one but me in the art museum.  Last night after dinner I walked down to the Charles Bridge and it was terrible.  You could not have walked across if you wanted to there were so many people there.