We had been so concerned about our travels in Asia, particularly Vietnam, and avoiding the stomach problems so many experience - commonly referred to as "Montezuma's Revenge" or "Delhi Belly". We thought we were in the clear. It's the classic case where you are patting yourself on the back, feeling confident that this won't happen to me... and then reality strikes.
In our case, it struck Craig starting on our last night in Poland. He felt a bit bloated (actual comment was "I feel like I'm pregnant with a watermelon"). We have been eating different foods and figured it was just the change in diet and maybe indulging a bit too much. The next day we had a driver from Wroclaw to Prague - really nice man Vaclav who is about our age and experienced a LOT of history first hand during his life. The drive was ok (a picture of the countryside) but Craig was feeling a little off.
We had a traditional Czech dinner that night - we have decided the Czech cuisine may be our least favorite that we've experienced - pretty bland. Now it may have been due to what he was battling to some degree, but Craig said he said he tasted nothing with his dinner. Mine was pretty much the same. Here's a picture of my entree - beef goulash (pot roast in gravy) with bread dumplings (pieces of white bread cut in a circle with no crust) and potato dumplings (sliced round potatoes). Since then we've had some better meals but still missing more flavors.
By that night Craig wasn't feeling that great so we went back to the hotel and relaxed. By the next morning we thought he was fighting a bug. He still ventured out and we walked to a beer garden (motivation) overlooking the city / river - really beautiful.
The walk took it out of Craig so we headed back to the hotel for an early night. That's when we realized it was more than a bug. Let's just say poor Craig spent way too much of the next 36 hours either lying in bed or sitting on the 'toaletni'. I then spent time learning way too much about this traveler's disease from various online sources. Our best guess is he was infected our last night in The Maldives when we were off the resort and staying at more of a local hotel by the airport. He forgot and drank some of the water...and there you go (or there he went - sorry - probably too soon!)
Thankfully he was feeling a little better today so we walked around the city a bit and saw some of the sights. Definitely a trooper. A few pictures from our walks.
As with most of these European cities they have a really cool town square.
Lots of street performers in the square including some random big bears (flashback to Tokyo Robot Cabaret with the Pandas :))
Prague is also know for it's anatomical clock. There are three parts to the clock - the Sun / Moon position in the sky; the sculptures of the Apostles; and the calendar dial including the months with their astrological signs. Each hour the Apostles move around the clock and are chased by the statue of death - yep - entertainment every hour :)
An iconic location is the Charles Bridge over the river Vitava. Construction began in 1357 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. It connects the side of the river with the Prague Castle / surrounding neighborhood to the old town. There are two towers standing on each side of the bridge - originally they were guard towers but now they are just great spots to take pictures! Statues line both sides of the bridge - originally from the 17th century they have been replaced over the years with copies that better withstand the elements.
Just across the bridge there is a small area called "Lennon's Wall". After John Lennon's murder in 1980 he became a hero for peace for many young Czechs. They painted an image of him on a wall along with some graffiti including Beatle's song lyrics and hopes for peace. For a while the government repeatedly whitewashed it only to have the graffiti return. They finally agreed to leave it as long as the graffiti was limited to this location. Today there was someone singing Beatle's songs in front of the wall - kind of cool - but not sure the messages of peace still resonate with the work.
We also saw a road sign - this one is for Matt :) - apparently no soccer (or football) in the streets.
We didn't realize Prague had a lot of similarities to what we have heard about Amsterdam. Most every street in the town center had a head shop or Absinth store / bar. Hemp products were quite popular. They also have a Museum of Sex Machines - three floors - didn't have a chance to walk through but can imagine the picture opportunities :)
And this one seemed like an instant classic...If you can't read the sign it says "Husband Day Care. Need time to yourself? Need time to relax? Want to go shopping? Leave your husband with us. We'll look after him for you. You will only pay for his drinks." Craig seemed to like the idea :)
The final tourist picture is of the Prague Castle. It sits up on a hill across the Charles Bridge - you can see it in the background. During our visit to Warsaw we learned a fun story about the Rolling Stones. Prague has one as well. The castle is now lit at night - and that is thanks to the Stones. Apparently in 1990 they performed a concert in Prague at the invitation of then President Vaclav Havel. They were touring European cities - and this was the first time they performed in Eastern Europe since the Warsaw concert (they also visited East Berlin). They were the first major international band to play in the newly freed Czech Republic. The slogan was "The tanks roll out. The Stones roll in." Over 100,000 people came to the concert. $10 per person was charged but the Stones took no money - all profits went to charity. It was such a success the Stones and Havel formed a lifelong friendship. They came back in 1995 for another concert, and the story goes that afterwards the band and Havel went to a pub. After a lot of drinking, one of the Stones leaned over and told Havel he had such a beautiful castle but you could barely see it at night. Havel told them he had so much more to worry about than lighting the castle - so the Stones decided to do it for him. They spent $32,000 and had their lighting manager oversee installation of lights outside and inside the castle. The Stones are much more interesting than we ever realized.
That said, one of Craig's favorite movie quotes is "Don't ever lose your sense of humor..." To his credit, through all of this he never lost his sense of humor - and we actually had a lot of laughs. However, when he realized we are staying in a hotel with as much free beer and wine as we want and he can't drink - no laughing :). A bit ironic.
In the continued small world, we learned that the wonderful owner of the hotel, Frank, has a vacation home in Sarasota less than 10 miles from our home - crazy. We also ate breakfast this morning in a room full of Floridians - a couple that lives near Siesta Key and 3 couples from Naples who were on the River Cruise. We had a chance to catch up and share some laughs.
A couple of pictures looking out from our room.
Tomorrow we head to Munich. Thankfully Craig is feeling much better.
Here's to always enjoying the ride even when reality throws you a curveball :)
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