Published: April 08, 2008 04:27 pm            

Exploring the Czech Republic

Editor’s note: For more on Marilyn Helms’ trip to the Czech Republic, visit The Daily Citizen Web site www.daltondailycitizen.com, click on “Business” and then click on “Columns.”



On Sunday we were up for a breakfast of oatmeal (from the U.S.) toast with peanut butter (also from U.S.) and grapefruit. We gathered our heavy coats, gloves and umbrellas for our day at the Prague Castle complex.

The walled castle contains a number of buildings, cathedral, and other structures to tour. First we saw imperial paintings from Prague Castle in the picture gallery. Next was an exhibit of the history of the Prague Castle and excavation with many burial sites, tombs and burial garments on display. We then toured the tower and saw medieval torture implements used on prisoners. On the small street named Golden Lane we toured many small gift shops that were once the dwellings of castle sharp shooters in the 16th century.We had lunch inside the castle walls in a small café. Our choice was a layered potato quiche and (still) bottled water.

After completing the castle visit, we rode a streetcar/tram to a tourist area near Charles Bridge called Mala Strana. We looked in shops and stopped into a smoky café for coffee. Few places in Prague are “no smoking” yet several restaurants had a “non-smoking” section. We returned to the apartment to warm up before we walked to a nearby restaurant, the Saraha Café, for dinner. We ordered various Greek and Mediterranean appetizers, for dinner – hummus, salad of cucumbers and mint and tomatoes, grilled peppers, egg plant and sweet potato. We all split a chocolate mousse cake with homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. We were having a bit of trouble going to sleep due to the time difference and jet lag.

On Monday we awoke to rain. The apartment has a system that automatically heats the water as you use it but it couldn’t stand up to four American showers. We had cereal for breakfast and walked to see Dr. Becherer’s office and class room at the University of Economics in Prague. We met his secretary, Eva. She had visited Atlanta and was fond of cheesecake and told us there was not an equivalent tasting dessert in the Czech Republic. She insisted on serving us a poppy seed Danish type pastry her grandmother had made. It was the best dessert so far.

Each office seemed to have a sink and an ample supply of mugs and glasses and sparkling water. Then we set off to a large television tower with a famous observation deck to view the city. The Prague Tower has three different viewing areas and a restaurant below the observation decks. From the high vantage point it is easy to see the variations in the old part of the city with the orange roof buildings and the more modern, block style apartments built during the communist regime. We took a few cloudy photos and set off to find the best apple strudel in Prague. It was in a neighborhood and the baker served the strudels from a window in an apartment building.



Marilyn Helms is a business professor at Dalton State College.

        

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