Three Wildcat Princesses in Prague

I met the NU girls across the river at Café Brule, an amazing French spot with English menus and pricey for Prague prices. A family friend of Pam’s, who happens to head up Prague’s culinary school, recommended the spot so we knew it was a chic solid bet. Lunch came into about $8 for a smoked salmon croissant and bowl of gazpacho almost as good as my Sevilla Senora’s.  

Prague is home to many things. A castle, two cathedrals with the same name by the same architect, and a million touristy souvenir shops. Historically, Prague was the sight of the first defenestration. This means that in a revolution a long time ago, a few guys were thrown out of a window because other guys didn’t like their leadership style. The window of defenestration is housed in the Prague Castle.

We hiked up to the castle with a sneaky picture break at St. Nicks (you know, when you aren’t supposed to enter without paying, muchless photograph, but the guard only catches you once the deed is done). When we made it up to the top (think Miley Cyrus, “The Climb” playing in my head the whole way), we only had an hour for our castle compound visit. We bought our student rate tickets from a colorblind guide (he didn’t know our IDs were all purple and then informed us most colors appear neutral to him), we dashed toward stop #1. A photographer’s daughter took our picture outside the impressive St. Vitus cathedral. Upon entering, I can only described the reaction as a stained glassgasm. Whoa. The most intricate and vibrant colored glass shouts across the huge space from every corner. Next came the castle part of the castle: it’s very medieval, with big glazed ceramic furnaces and old graffiti in each room, from a banquet hall to a library and a few royal chambers. 

Everything is littered with crests and gothic arches, and incredible views of the whole red-roofed city. 

On the way to our last stop, we popped in a smaller chapel, St. George’s, which was old and had remnants of paint that showed it must’ve once been beautiful. Last, we came to the Golden Walk, a tiny  Dulock village with all types of armor on display in narrow market hallways with tiny viewing slots for guards to shoot arrows at intruders.

Vicky bought a mediocre pastry, like a hollow cinnamon bun without the gooey sticky part that makes it good. We nommed on it as we walked down and out of the compound, stumbling on a hillside path through a vineyard. At the bottom, we walked across to a chocolate shop in Old Town Square and split a skinny slice of caramel chocolate fudge. I said a sad goodbye to my wonderful companions at the corner of my block, as the local farmer’s market at Republicky was closing. I walked home exhausted and got ready for Shabbat in Prague!