We had an uneventful and smooth trip over leaving Rochester a few minutes late but making up the time to Detroit and then arriving Amsterdam and Prague a bit early. We were met by the manager of the apartment where we are staying who drove us here and helped us settle in. We are in a large, pre-war building right behind the National Museum which is at one end of Wenceslas Square, a major center of activity. (Picture of the building above.) The apartment is spacious, with extremely high ceilings and huge windows looking out over the museum building. We have a nice sized bedroom, a living room with kitchen area and breakfast bar and a full bath. After we unloaded our luggage into the apartment, we went off to find the local grocery store to get in provisions for tea, drinks and breakfasts. There is a Tesco market just around the corner and we had fun wandering through trying to figure out what things are when everything is in Czech! After we returned from the food shopping we decided to crash for a couple of hours as neither of us had slept on the way over and we were bone weary by then. After a two hour nap, we roused ourselves and went out to explore the local area. We walked over to the national museum and then on through Wenceslas Square. The Square is teeming with visitors as it is still high holiday season and Christmas decorations and Christmas trees are everywhere and carols are playing all over. As we walked through the square there was an outdoor food market with all kinds of delicious hot foods - sausages, potatoes, dumplings- lots of good, hearty Czech winter food so the aromas in the air as we walked through the square were tantalizing. I promptly treated myself to a cup of hot mulled wine and a special treat called trdelnik that they make out of sweetened dough that is roasted over an open charcoal fire until brown, then rolled in sugar, cinnamon and walnuts and served piping hot - it is delicious!! Sort of like a fresh doughnut, but lighter and not fatty like doughnuts can be because this dough is roasted not deep fried. (See pics included!) Wenceslas Square is like a cross between Trafalgar Square and Times Square with all kinds of historic buildings and monuments interspersed with stores and fast food restaurants. (Honestly, the number of McDonalds', Burger Kings and KFCs we passed is mind boggling. Why do we Americans export our trashiest commodities???) I was delighted to see a Marks & Spencers right in the middle of Wenceslas Square! I noticed a few other British store chains here, and on our way back to the apartment in the early twilight we were serenaded by a Scottish bagpiper!! As his music faded as we moved further away we then heard an accordion player doing Czech folk tunes! It was quite an international experience all told! We were trying to find a particular tram so that we could take a ride around the main areas of the city that are of interest to visitors, but finding the tram stop proved more challenging than we imagined. When we did finally find the tram number we needed, we wound up going in the wrong direction and had to turn around and come back. The good news about that was that we saw some regular neighborhoods in the city that are not part of the tourist track and learned that the Czechs take their dogs on the tram, even when its packed at rush hour!! There are even specially designated seats for passengers with pooches! When we returned to Wenceslas Square it had gotten dark and the lights on the buildings and the Christmas trees were really beautiful. I've included one shot of the National Museum all lit up after dark. We returned to the apartment to relax briefly and then went out for an early dinner, to a little place just around the corner from the apartment. We are too tired today to do much else. I had my first stein of Czech beer and I must say, for $1.25 a mug its the best thing going! Then I had goulash with dumplings for dinner with apple streusel and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I can tell that this will not be a low calorie trip! We came back to the apartment early we are still pretty jet lagged and want an early night so as to be rested for a more full day tomorrow. So far, Prague is a delight and I'm looking forward to getting further afield tomorrow.
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