Pasches in Europe

Good morning all! Sorry for the lack of post last night - that was fault, it was my turn and I was sleepy after dragging to crew across Prague, I think everyone else was too. To document my viewpoint of the trip, I will post only what I take from my iPhone - so let's see what I can get.

Prague is such a beautiful city, especially from Meg and Clay's neighborhood. Filled with families and little old ladies, it's far-removed from the bustling tourist area where rude folks bump into you and don't even care (they're probably trying to pickpocket you) - but it's a 5-7 train ride right into the middle of it all.

This is the peace and quiet we enjoy:

I thought this pic was funny.

The crew is calling me Clark, as in Clark W Griswald from National Lampoons (in this case) European Vacation. I have a "loose" itinerary for the trip with places to see, tours to take, etc. I might be a little ambitious with the list and realize I travel at a super fast pace. I asked Rob, after he said he wasn't going to go on one of the walking tours I had suggested, what he was going to do instead, and he said "I just want to find a place that is, you know, chill, and just sit there for 3 hours." That's Rob :).

On the first day we were here, before Rob and Katherine arrived, Mel and I toured the Klementinum. It's an old Jesuit College built in the 1400s - very cool tour. Here is an organ that Mozart played (I'm sure we will see others):

And a great panorama from the bell tower:

We headed back to Meg and Clay's to meet up with the full group to grab a Balkan Burger in the park. Clay had been talking about them since we arrived. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture because I ate it, but, it's a large flat round 'beef' patty on what seemed like some sort of pita bread (maybe Balkan Bread?) with grilled onions and peppers plus a red pepper sauce (maybe Balkan sauces?). It was quite good. We enjoyed our time in the park:

Cute people:

We traveled up to the Strahov Monastery for the outstanding view of the city, which Mel captured using her new camera:

Here is a Rob contemplating at the monastery:

They have a great monasterian brewery (supposedly brewed by monks but served by twenty-somethings in t-shirts). Here we are enjoying our time (and our St. Norbert's brew):

Katherine is pretty funny, especially when she is jet-lagged. Rob had just commented that his grilled vegetables consisted of carrots, squash and cucumbers. I, of course, corrected him saying the 'cucumbers' were zucchinis. Then, very jet-lagged Katherine said (and I paraphrase), "Yes, but aren't cucumbers just pickled zucchini." Awesome.

This woman kept bumping into Rob on the train:

Here we are, the six of us riding back up the elevator at Meg's apartment - it was a little tight and we all hope that it never breaks down. Although Clark W. Griswald usually has his backpack with supplies.

Then yesterday, we went and toured Prague Castle. It's the largest castle in the world - I agree. I think Rob would agree that this was the highlight: