Friday, December 15^th:

We then made our way to Wenceslas Square. There was a Christmas Market going on at the time. The museum that has the statue of Wenceslas on a horse was quite a distance so I left Marilou on a bench and went there myself for the picture. When I got back, we decided to eat some sausage there. Back at the hotel we got our room key and settled in. I noticed a pelican nest outside our window.

Saturday December 16^th:

Breakfast is included with our stay at the Imperial Art Deco Hotel. They have plenty of choices for whatever you want to eat and we tried most of them. I guess the name Art Deco reflects the designs on the columns and walls. They were very artistic.

We finished our castle tour with a WC break and the opportunity to look over the city before starting a down-hill walk to the St. Charles Bridge. We did a refreshment stop at the Choco Cafe for coffee and desserts. I did the cannoli with the wine. The cannoli was good, the crust was not as fragile as the cannolis I've had in the USA. They also had some chimney cakes. They look like they wrap a pretzel dough around a rolling pin and flavored with sugar/cinnamon. They can be filled with ice cream and other stuff too.

We then proceeded across the 14th-century pedestrian-only Charles Bridge to the historic old city center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There were many people who had the same idea of viewing the bridge sights. Beside the numerous statues of saints along the bridge we also had views of the entrances to the bridge, a waterwheel that utilized the power of the water and other views from the bridge.

Leaving the bridge, we then entered the Old Town Square which dates back to the 12th century, and is silhouetted by the fabled Týn Cathedral with its iconic Gothic twin towers that can be seen from all over Prague. Dominating the square is the Gothic Old Town Hall, home to the world famous medieval astronomical clock the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world. We were then offered to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Christmas markets there or follow our guide back to the hotel. Since we experienced the market there yesterday and were pretty tired, we followed the guide along the same return route as yesterday back to the hotel.

We signed up for the optional Folklore Dinner Show at the U Marcanu Restaurant (Eureka Restaurant). It was about 30-minute bus ride, during which our driver pointed out that in Check Republic, the baby Jesus delivers gifts on December 24th evening instead of Santa Claus.

Upon arrival at the U Marcanu Restaurant we were seated right away. The Haluski was good, the cabbage seemed a little fermented, but not sour kraut strong. It included some ham or thick bacon, not sure how to describe that. Next, we had chicken on a skewer that was heavily spiced. Not sure what the spice was maybe the milder version of paprika. The meal included a potato that was similar to scalloped potatoes, but the potatoes were real thinly sliced and layered with a creamy type layer of cheese or heavy cream between them. It was very good and heavy on the garlic. I was not that impressed with their crepe. It was closer to a pancake in texture, than a crepe. There was a dude who squirted your wine refills from a distance and he didn't let the glass go empty.

The performers weren't professional type level, but they were very entertaining. They managed to get some audience participation after showing off their unique instruments. Even I could manage the two steps left, smile, two steps right, smile, spin and pass along routine.

Sunday December 17^th: Instead of doing the optional tour to the Petrin Tower we went to 10:30 Mass at St. Peter's church which was about a block and a half from the hotel. Although the church was very lavishly decorated, the pews are very simple with no padding.

After a quick stop back at the hotel, we set out to find the Illusions Art Museum. My map search put it near the Old Town Square, so we turned right on Melantrichova street instead of left. Found a sex toys museum there. Marilou thought I was tricked in the purchase of the tickets on-line. We then used the street number to find it.

The museum was different than any I've seen before and some of the illusions worked really well and some not so well. Some girls there helped us position ourselves the right place to see the some of the illusions. This was quite helpful. Taking pictures to show the illusions was not always as successful as the live view. Some required you to lazy your eyes to get the effect.

From there we entered the Christmas Market for lunch. We had another one of those sausage sandwiches and tried out a chimney cake. We had them add a chocolate sauce layer that they applied to the inside. The outside has sugar/cinnamon coating that was probably sufficient. That evening we ate at the Happy Sushi & Noodles restaurant that we saw on the way to church that morning.

Monday December 18^th: Today we packed up and loaded on to a bus for the 4-hour ride to our revised ship the AmaSonata in Nuremberg, Germany. I included on this page some of the photos I took from our room in Prague. My shots of the street cars didn't come out as clear as I hoped. There was a homeless person sleeping across the street in a doorway most of the days and a streetcleaner that picked up in the mornings. They also had a person clear out the streetcar switches the one day, but I didn't photo him.