Our Dogs Are Barkin'

After an uneventful couple of flights over we checked into our hotel, the Cloister Inn.  We all kind of chuckled at the size of the beds.  While they may be twin size, they are a little low to the ground with small headboards and look like they were made for munchkins.  During our tour later this afternoon we learned that our hotel was formerly part of a monastery (hence the name) and then later a prison.  Great.

Anyway,we quickly freshened up and headed to the lobby to meet Vilma, our tour guide.  She capably led us around Prague on foot for four hours.  Now mind you, Wilma is younger than any of us and we had to keep reminding her that we literally had been up all night.

Nonetheless, she did an excellent job of sightseeing and recalling historical events in this country’s past.  I had been here ten years earlier and even I saw things I hadn’t before.

Where Vilma excels in sightseeing, she lacks a little in the conversational area.  She was trying to tell us about a wonderful restaurant that had the smallest blueberry in town.  We finally figured out that what she meant was “brewery” as in micro-brewery. We did end up having a fabulous dinner there.

As we were touring, she pointed out Infant Jesus of Prague church and gave us a photo accompanied by a special prayer.  I made particular mention of this to Barb as her home parish in Youngstown is Infant Jesus of Prague.  Her remark:  “They make cheese in Prague?” Okay, I’ll chock it up to the fact that she had no sleep.

A little while later, we toured the Castle and came upon these handsome young men in uniforms who stand inside these little houses guarding the Castle.  Vilma mentioned that they have the changing of the guard every hour.  Patty then said “How do they change their clothes in that little place.”  Okay, due to lack of sleep again.

So now, we are off to la-la land to catch up on some much needed sleep…especially Barb and Patty! 

Tomorrow we finish the last four hours of our tour of Prague followed by a hopefully memorable dinner at Kampa Park Restaurant on the banks of the Vltava River with a spectacular view of the Charles Bridge.