Prague - from Castle to Monastery

Woke up early and took a short walk around the beautiful gardens of Zbiroh Castle...

Then it was time for the next part of our Classic Package - the wellness spa. It had been my intention to have this as a way to unwind and relax after the Irish leg of our trip but after yesterday, it now includes unwinding and relaxing after the Irish leg and the Prague driving debacle! We did say yesterday that the only plus from our 'side trip' was that it was Sunday and not a week day!

We met in the foyer and were guided along by an unnamed, unable-to-speak-English girl, who could have been guiding us to some torture chamber, for all we knew...

But no, it was a pool built in to a rock and spa. Here the stairs leading up to it...

Next on the agenda - breakfast and amongst the usual cereals are the European-style hams, cheeses, antipasto stuff. 

And here's our lovely waitress from last night - she's on again this morning.

She was so apologetic that they don't serve toast - they don't serve toast??? - and was suggesting the pancakes instead so Alison felt obliged to say yes. Lovely pancakes with what she called marmalade, but was more like raisins and sultanas in a mix, and crushed walnuts...

The last bit of our package was a tour of the inside of the castle - hilarious! The guy didn't speak much English. He asked if we wanted an English audio guide or written guide. We said audio, but he got a bit confused as to whether we wanted one or two, it all seemed too hard so we said the written one would be fine. There was a Czech couple on the tour as well, so they were fine. 

We put our little booties on and off we went. Could only take photos of the entry part...

We went through a series of rooms with displays from various times of the castle - it was built in something like 1118!! Our written guides seemed to be a lot shorter than what he was saying, but we got the gist - could read our guides and the descriptions on things. It was funny that he did keep looking at us and talking to us even though we couldn't understand him.

Went into some rooms that were furnished as they would have been - fabulous, but can't take photos. Here's some photos of photos of the dining room and the great room, which is like a theatre. The furnishings and decorations are so different! 

We checked out and had another walk around the gardens and another coffee...

Then it's farewell to the peaceful countryside and back into the car for the peaceful drive back to the airport. I had googled the speed laws here and it did say the freeway speed was 130km/h - and I think that is true - the cars fly along!

I did not... Took my time, though I did overtake a couple of trucks. A couple of times, I checked the mirrors, no one there, maybe far, far back - indicator on, move out, overtake truck, check mirrors and there is a car right behind me! Where did he come from?? The second time this happened, he was honking and flashing his lights at me to get out of his way - where did he want me to go? They also cut in front of you quite severely. 

Anyway, we made it back to the airport, returned the car and got into a taxi. One suggestion for anyone getting a taxi in Prague - have a look around the car before getting in - our driver was crazy! Cutting in everywhere, at one point going through a red light and cutting off some pedestrians. When we got out at the hotel, we noticed his whole side panel of the car was smashed! Good thing we hadn't seen that beforehand.

Our lovely hotel used to be a monestery and was built in the 13th century!

It's quite lovely!

After checking in, it's off to explore. Quick bagel/carrot cake and coffee stop and off we go, down to the Vlatava River...

Past the National Theatre...

To Charles Bridge.

When we were coming in, we noticed these crazy cars doing tours and thought we would do it - it looked like fun! Very touristy and a bit expensive but brilliant fun! Ivan took us through the Jewish Quarter, the rich area and up to the castle, with snippets of information along the way, all about the formation of Czech Republic, from the original Bohemia. All about the president and old kings and queens. How the Jewish people helped build all the housing. How old Prague is! 

The different sectors of Prague - the main town is Prague 1, the area on the drive from the airport is Prague 6, less expensive and not as nice. Ivan lives in Prague 9 and loves it here - little crime, lovely city and affordable. He spoke on his phone a bit - to his lady, some customers and his mum! He was great! Though he did do the old trick of 'not having any change' but we just sat and waited and he had to say, 'that will do then.' Great fun.

Back to the hotel to relax a bit in the courtyard, with a lovely background...

Then a quick freshen up and to the foyer to wait for our driver to take us to a Folklore Dinner evening - which could have been really cheesy but was really rather fabulous! In the car were five ladies from Queens, New York, who were holidaying together and all spoke like Barbra Streisand - thick Queens Jewish accents!

A short drive and we arrived - long wooden tables and benches, music set up in one corner - violin, bass fiddle and a dulcimer - which I had never seen in action before.

The music was excellent, these guys were really talented. They played a few numbers then the dancers came out and were great and then the hostess and singer, also great!

When we arrived, we were given a small honey wine, which was delicious, and there was bread with a garlic type of dip. Then potato soup, very delicious. The Queens ladies were hilarious here - their conversations went... "This soup is delicious." "There's dill in this." "No, it's sage." "I think it's dill." "No, it's nutmeg." "This soup is delicious." "I can taste dill." And so on, ad infinitum.

They had flags for each group of people there - Mexicans, British, American, Turkish, Chinese, got to the blue flag with the Union Jack and Southern Cross - you could see them look at it, have a quick discussion and say "New Zealand...?" We said Australia and they were, "Sorry, we tried..."

The entertainment went on - the violin player played an amazing solo, as did the dulcimer player. The dancers came in and danced, it was a good mix.

They got people up to dance, they had a singalong. The food was good, it was just a great, fun night. Then our driver dropped us off and that was that!