Prague - Sunday

Sunday dawned a little misty and slightly colder, the latter wasn't a bad thing as the Saturday had been a bit of a coat on/coat off day. I didn't get off to a crackingly early start because of the distraction of having to finish a book, but I was breakfasted and out by 9:45am. My original intention was to wander the back streets to end up in Josefov, this was partially foiled by the police closing various roads due to a public meeting in the area. So I ended up on an extended wander through some, at a guess, 1950's builds which weren't very exciting. I was amused by the Communist Propaganda, Marital Aids and Model Railways shop - an interesting combination.

I then found my way in Josefov proper, looking at the Franz Kafka statue (which attracted big crowds) and the Spanish Synagogue before having a tour of the Old Jewish Cemetery and the synagogues within. This took about 45 minutes and then I wandered back through towards the Old Town admiring some of the buildings which had some wonderful decoration.

I chose to explore the area around Havelska, where I found a street market which kept me busy for some time looking for and failing to find a birthday present for my mother. I did pick up some Karlsbad Spa Wafers for the gannets at the office. As I was in the area and in need of the loo, I decided to have a slightly early lunch at, you guessed it, The Little Bears.It was nice and empty at half twelve and I soon ended up with a delicious pork steak, chips, a small salad and half a bulb of roasted garlic. It was carefully washed down with a couple of delicious dark Budvar's.

Having lunched, I wandered towards the Museum of Communism, I didn't buy a Stalin candle, but I did enjoy the highly ironic displays. A short walk around Wenceslas Square revealed that it had become a little less tacky than my last visit, but would be a nice place for the stag and hen crowd, I suppose. I then wandered back to my hotel for a rest and some Intertubes.

I wasn't sure what to do for the evening, Sunday evenings are usually quiet out, so I ended up taking a walk up into Vinohrady and ending up in a gay bar there. Amusingly, pink drinks were about the same price as non pink ones, which makes a refreshing change. I was a little wary as Prague is notorious for young gentlemen of negotiable affection, but the place was fairly dead and I ended up spending my hour or so in there chatting to the barman - who wanted to improve his English (which was very good anyway). A couple of Staropramen set me up for a good nights sleep.

Next: a short review of the hotel and then the trip home.