Lots of steps, History Everywhere, and yes. today....A Meal of "WeThree" Quaility!

Well, for all of you who worried that we were wasting away over here after our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad dinner last night......let me start with a spoiler.......tonight we go to bed happy and sated!

Now.....back to earlier in the day.....Mom and I decided we enjoyed the walking tour of the Castle so much yesterday, we would do the walking tour of the entire town today.   Cait had done it before, had some things to do and was feeling a little under the weather, so she stayed in and Mom and I ventured out alone.

We met our guide, Pavla in the designated spot and she was remarkably young.  Cute and well versed in English, but still  young.  It seemed a little unlikely that one so young could grasp all the historical concepts and importance of events that we wanted to know about.  Unlikely maybe...but in this case....quite possible!  She was smart and interesting...a native Prague girl who is getting her master's in biology of the rain forest.....so she spends time in eastern Asia and Africa.  She is hoping to go to Costa Rica soon and is working on her Spanish to do so.  We seem to have the best luck with guides ......she was perfect for us!

We spent a cold day walking Old and New Town Prague from end to end...and heard (hopefully learned) so many interesting facts about the culture and the history of Prague that Mom and I felt educationally filled today.  It was great.  Way too many facts to share on a blog, but I do want to share 3 of the more insteresting.

1.  There are two sections of Historic Prague...Old Town and New Town.  New Town was built in th 1600s.   Wow.  For a couple of women from a country that is less than 300 years old, that really adds perspective to the kind of history in a place like this.    So many stories, lives, generations, regimes...have been on these grounds.  

2.  The Astrological Clock which is Old Town Square is a wonder just to see.  There are cuckcoo like mechanics that make doors open and characters move every hour.  It accurately tells the time....tells the time from the last sunset....give the house of the astrological sign that both the moon and the sun are residing in currently.....tells the name day (one of 400 celebrated by the Czech culture)...and serves as an astrological calendar.  That would seem amazing for a clock built today, but considering that this clock was built in the 1400s, it is even more amazing!  

Now...for the Czech legend part of the story....which is always the best part.  Supposedly the clock maker Jan Ruze was blinded by the Czech counselors in the 1400s right after completing the clock.  It seems they wanted this to be the only clock of its kind in the world and that was the one way to insure that.  Well, Ruze got even....he broke the clock and then committed suicide and it took the Czechs over 100 years to find another clock maker who could fix it ( or possible who WOULD fix it after what happened to Ruze!)  Nevertheless, the clock still works today.....is the only one of its kind....and seems to be a brilliant bit of engineering for any century....especially nearly 700 years ago!

3.  The church of St. James the Greater is opulent beyong belief.  Everything inside is covered with precious metals and jewels.  Unlike the cathedral at the palace which was filled with great art, this church is just filled with representations of weath.

Well, legend has it (wonderful Czech legend again) that in the 16th century a young citizen decided that he would take some of the church's wealth and return it to the people....well, the person...himself!  So he hid away in the church until dark...and when everyone slept, he started gathering jewels and treasures.  The statue of the Madonna was wearing a particularly beautiful piece, so the young thief climbed up on the statue to get it.  Miraculously (in the church..miraculous,...see what I did there...lol), the Madonna came to life and grabbed his arm...holding on to him until the Priest arrived in the morning.  When the priest arrived the thief told his story, made his apologies and asked the priest to help free him from the grasp of the statue.  Well, the priest went to get a saw, which elated the thief....until he realized that the arm that was being removed was his own...NOT the Madonna's.  After being be-handed.....the thief ran off...but the priest hung up his arm to remind all future thiefs what lay in store for them.  There is still remains of a human arm hanging in the foyer of the church.  Really strange in the midst of all the opulence to see what would actually appear to be a dried and shriveled old arm hanging from a chain in the church.  Lesson learned I guess....all the good stuff remains in the church!

So now...back to the part of the story that I know everyone has been wondering about.  YES!  We found excellent food today!  Street food and pastries are always good....but dinner last night had us a little shy in the "recommended" restaurant category.  So....we ventured out on our own.  We had passed a sweet little man on a small street near our hotel on several occasions during our stay.  Tonight, we decided to take him up on his invitation to join him for dinner in his cafe.  Good decision.....No.........GREAT decision.

We took his recommendation and ordered the roasted pig knee with roasted potatoes and vegetables and the farmer's cheese plate.  It was, first of all, too much food for three people...and secondly...melt in your mouth delicious.  The pork fell off the bone once you cracked through the crispy skin.  It had been roasted in a crafted beer so was moist and flavorful.  The winter vegetables were fresh and seasoned perfectly.

We enjoyed every bite and especially enjoyed being back on track to picking the best places to eat!

Tomorrow is an early day....we are off on a train adventure to the healing waters of Carlsbad (Charles Bath).  It will be a high order to see if they can heal all that ails me....but I'm just going to hope for a relief from my cough!