Prague: A walk to the Castle Quarter and Lokal

The day after returning to Prague, we started things early. We'd been to areas like Wenceslas Square, the Charles Bridge, and Old Town Square countless times. But after all of this itme, we hadn't visited one area, Hradčany - the Castle Quarter. Located up the hill from the Little Quarter, it seems that the Missus was "saving" this place for our last day in Prague.

Of course, the Missus couldn't just head on out to the Castle Quarter....ooooh no. Just like the day before, we started out at the Powder Tower and the Municipal House. I gotta say, it looked much prettier sans the crowds, cars, buses, and tour groups.

The sun was shining brightly, even this early in the morning.

Though it was kind of weird seeing the Old Town Square so empty. Kind of eerie in the bright sunshine.

We had gotten used to the crowds, which made us fell like we were almost on a movie set. Strange, we usually enjoy having a place all to ourselves, but it just didn't feel right. Though it was great for taking photos.

Not dodging folks ocming right at and past you, we had a chance to notice other things....like this sign I love; "Techo! House! Jungle Rap ! disco duck?" You gotta love it.

The Charles Bridge was sedate, peaceful, sprakling in the morning sunshine as we looked up at the Castle Quarter.

The Missus decided we'd walk up the hill to the Castle Quarter (of course). Walking up steep Nerudova Street, you can't help but notice the charming buildings that line the street, various restaurants, embassies, hotels, most of which sport very distinctive signs above doorways.

These signs used to indentify the location/residences. Thing of them as addresses of a sort.....

Soon enough, we'd made it to Castle Square.....

Th courtyard area is quite impressive, though nothing tops St. Vitus Cathedral whose spires rise high above Prague and can be seen from quite a distance.

We had arrived pretty early and the ticket offices weren't open yet.

We wandered around just taking in the area, relaxing, grabbing a cup of coffee.

And then, one of those "only in the Czech Republic" moments happened. Every hour, there's a changing of the guard. Nothing odd about that. The band was playing, the sun was shining....then the music stopped and a motorcade appeared, though the car only had a driver. A demonstration of precision driving I assume?

They drove around the courtyard doing figure eights, loop-de-loops, and other patterns from the precision driver's handbook......

Then the motorcade drove away into the distance and the Castle Guards appeared, looking quite dapper and cool behind those shades. They went through a drill routine and marched to music from the band. I stopped when I recognized the music....I swear, it was the theme to "Mission Impossible"! Da-da-da-duh, da-da-da-dah.... Yikes! I actually filmed part of it on my iPhone but it never came out. Bummer......

A few minutes later, we had gotten our tickets and headed off...with the theme from Mission Impossible still playing in my head. Quick, try not to think of that catchy tune right now. Couldn't, could you?

The very Gothic looking Cathedral has quite an history. It was started in 1344, but plagues, wars, deaths of the various Master Builders, and lack of funds delayed the completion of the Cathedral until 1929, almost 600 years!

There's quite a bit to see here; the Royal Mausoleum, amazing stained glass work, The Czech Crown Jewles reside here, displayed once every 8 years. I was especially taken by the wood carving of Prague, which was done in 1630. You can still see familiar landmarks.

As we left, a visiting choir, walked to the middle of the cathedral and began an impromptu performance in an area that seemed to have perfect acoustics....it was amazing; beautiful and haunting. It actually gave me "chicken skin".

The view of the Cathedral form the back is no less impressive....

Close by is the Old Royal Palace, once Bohemian Princes governed from here. The most impressive part is huge Vladislav Hall.

It is so large that it was used for jousting tournaments. In fact, that large stairway used for exiting the building was where the Knights and their horses entered the Hall.

The views of Prague are quite tranquil. It hard to believe that in 1618 two Catholic Governor's were thrown out of the windows of one of the offices in the Ludwig Wing by angry Protestants. Luckily, a dung heap saved them from certain death. This act, called defenestration, started the Thirty Years War.

As you exit the Palace, you can't miss the understated, yet stunning in its own right, the oldest existing church within Prague Castle, the Basilica of St George.

Originally founded in 920, the interior is fascinating and haunting, built in the medieval Romanesque style.

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A few steps downhill and to the left is a small street of tiny dwellings called "Golden Lane".

Named for the Goldsmith's that originally worked and lived here, this tiny street also housed castle servants and was in use until World War II. Number 22 is quite popular since it was inhabited by Franz Kafka from 1916 - 1917. Ah, if those walls could talk.....

You exit via a staircase and thru a cannon tower, cum prison which is stocked with a few examples of....well....let's just say "devices".

I  know, it's a loooong post and you're wondering "where's the food?" I know by this time we were getting hungry. Though the Missus has a way of making me earn my calories and this was no different. We walked the couple of kilometers to Dlouha, pretty close to Kolkovna to a place I'd read about perhaps 2 dozen times. A pub named Lokal.

The interior itself is quite interesting.....one long hallway....the smoking section is (thankfully) in the back. We arrived a bit early so managed to get a table with no problem.

I had read that the Servers here were actually supposed to be gruff and short with you....it's part of the...well, theme, I guess. But the guy serving us didn't have a nasty bone in his body.

It was a pretty hot day as you can tell by the photos. If there's anything Pilsner Urquell was made for, it was to quench your thirst.....amazingly, the Missus had two!

We started with the "Pork terrine with onion and vinegar dressing". This basically a head cheese, a very nice head cheese!

This was lovely, they don't screw around with flavor here. This was nicely porky, sour, pungent, and probably the best head cheese we had the entire trip.

The House Sausages with Mustard and Whipped Horseradish was fine, if not particularly memorable.

Meanwhile, the sausage made from Prestice Pig, a Czech breed, was very nice. Moist, very much like a tender Kielbasa....a very tender and moist Kielbasa.

The pork neck was very nice as was the gravy. You can order bread dumplings as a side.......which is all you can eat. Even though these might be the best I'd had in Prague, who could eat more than one serving of these belly bombs?

A pretty nice meal.

Lokál
Dlouhá 33
Praha 1, Prague, Czech Republic

We rolled out of the place and walked, quite slowly back to our apartment.....those bread dumplings meant a nap was in order. We'd enjoy our last evening in Prague after a nice nap.

Comments

[kat]

great adventure!

[Jason]

Belly bomb indeed, that meal looked like a great reward for all that siteseeing!

[Kirk]

It was Kat!

Hi Jason - LOL! We really needed a nap after all that food (and beer).

[Ed (from Yuma)]

Another interesting travel/food post. By the way, there have been at least 2 or 3 defenestrations of Prague, which is pretty amazing and I'm sure a record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague

[Kirk]

I had read about the other incidents both involuntary and voluntary (Abraham Lincoln!!!!) and found it quite odd Ed.

[janfrederick]

That head cheese sure looks good.

[Kirk]

That was very nicely done Jan!

[caninecologne]

The food was a nice "reward" after all that walking! I enjoy your travel posts and always learn something new.

[Kirk]

It was quite a delicious reward CC! I'm glad you enjoy our travel posts.