Restaurant Review: U Sadlu

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, but we managed to conclude our trip with a big bang at U Sadlu, a gloomy, subterranean, Medieval-kitsch restaurant. (Hadn’t we just gone to a Medieval-themed restaurant in Lisbon? In addition to Renaissance and Gothic, perhaps medieval kitsch is another popular design theme in Europe). Our waiter presented a spread worthy of the greediest carnivore: chicken, lamb, and beef, with sides of fries, potato fritters, peas, and a sweet relish.

St. Vitus Cathedral

Like many other tourists, we found ourselves loitering at Old Town Square again, not far from the Astronomical Clock, before making our way back to Prague Castle to re-visit St. Vitus Cathedral and attend a classical music concert at the Lobkowicz Palace on the Castle’s grounds. Adverts for classical music concerts and operas are as widespread as crystal souvenir stores in Prague. We were not disappointed by the performance; a triplet performed a wide range of music by a variety of composers: Mozart, Vivaldi, Dvorak and Smetana.

John L. Wall

It was good to see NS, M’s bff from uni. Over a long lunch at Cervena Tabulka he informed us about property value in Bulgaria and Corfu. Knowing that GB is a loyal Beatles fan, I suggested we walk back towards Prague Castle and look for the John L. Wall. It was already dark when we crossed Charles Bridge, but in the distance I could make out colorful designs on a wall partially illuminated by a street lamp. Decorating the wall were images of John L.’s face, lyrics from his later solo albums, and peace signs. We concluded the night with one more successful wild goose chase. Off of Wenceslas Square I found Ferdinanda, a pub famous for its local microbrew, the Sedm kuli, which is brewed with natural flavorings including nuts, fruit, and pepper.

Prague Castle & St. Vitus Cathedral

We walked through Karlova to the famous Charles Bridge, the perfect spot to admire Prague Castle in the distance. The Vltava below is lovely; standing on Charles Bridge with the river beneath us and Prague Castle’s St. Vitus Cathedral dominating the nighttime sky is my favorite memory of our visit to Prague. St. Vitus Cathedral is welcoming to the eye whereas I found Prague Castle to look more like a bunch of administrative buildings and lacking in any aesthetic quality. St. Vitus Cathedral, on the other hand, is a small yet architecturally magnificent church with brightly-stained-glass windows whose colors are reflected on the walls so that I saw purples and pinks dancing high above me.

Old Town Square

At the Old Town Square, we admired the Astronomical Clock which always seemed to have a huge crowd of admirers no matter what time of day or night. The clock is definitely unique; it is to Prague what the Vigelandparken is to Oslo and the Mezquita is to Cordoba. Nothing can stand in for the Astronomical Clock. The clock is spectacular for its gold sunburst and its contrasting mechanical design. Inside the Church of St. Nicholas I was struck by the hanging chandelier; it occurred to me that in all the churches we had visited in Europe, this church was the first one I’d seen with a chandelier.

Arriving in Prague

Prague’s sweeping boulevards and Communist-era buildings reminded me of our visit to East Berlin last May. However, the streets of Prague are unexpectedly immaculate, so much so they have a sterile quality. It is as if the whole city is swept every morning in preparation for hosting tourists.

It had been three months since we’d seen C&G and eight months since we last saw NS; our trip to Prague was not only a time to explore another city in Eastern Europe but also to catch up with old friends. Upon meeting C&G, we assailed the Powder Gate, the gate that separates the Old and New Towns, with our picture taking before lunching at Celnice, a local Czech restaurant. At Celnice, we dined on traditional Czech food: sausage and sauerkraut, lamb and creamed spinach, duck and raspberry sauce, pate on bread. We then roused ourselves from our shared food comatose and made our way to the Old Town Square, perusing the souvenir stores on our way. The stores all seem to sell the same goods: crystal and Russian egg sets, Communist-era T-shirts and magnets. As usual, we were impressed by the size of Old Town Square. New Yorkers are easily dazzled by Europe’s expansive plazas, coming from a city where large public spaces are so rare.