The best pivo in Europe (sorry, Barcelona)

Barcelona

We arrived in Barcelona on the night of April 5th and were greeted at the airport by Francesc (Alison's friend who she met in Prague 6 years ago) and his girlfriend, Mariona. It was a happy reunion. It is always wonderful to see familiar faces on our travels and we were very excited to be staying in a friend's home -- a very welcome break from hotels and hostels.

We headed into the city center to a bar near their apartment where we had some delicious tapas and whiskey (this was around midnight). The tapas (one of the best meals we had in Spain) included a marinated octopus dish, roasted whole mild green peppers, tortilla espanol (a traditional Spanish egg-potato pie that you find all over the country), and bread smeared with tomato and olive oil (a traditional Catalan food served with many meals). At 4 a.m. we finally headed back to their apartment to get some sleep. As we were falling asleep we happily realized that we had finally adjusted to the Spanish schedule -- dinner at midnight and an early morning bedtime.

We spent 3 days in Barcelona with Francesc and Mariona. The city was packed with people on Easter holiday. Unfortunately the weather was still somewhat chilly, though warmer than the other cities we visited in Spain. But the rain held off for our time in Barcelona and we were able to spend our days walking all around the city. The first day Francesc and Mariona were able to take some time off from work and they showed us around the Gothic quarter, Las Ramblas, and their favorite neighborhood called Gracia, which has many narrow streets and nice courtyards with little outdoor cafes. We sat in one of these cafes and some enjoyed horchata (a sweet milky drink found in many parts of Spain).

On our second day in Barcelona we were on our own to explore more of the city. We made a quick visit to Parc Guell (the park that Gaudi designed). Unfortunately it was completely swarming with people, and we decided to head out. We made our way to Barcelonetta -- the city's beach front area -- and had a great seafood lunch at an outdoor restaurant. That night we went out to a cute bar that Francesc had designed the interior for. He is a set/costume designer for theater, and the bar definitely had a theatrical feel. It was Middle Eastern themed and had 3 different rooms, each with a different design. There were couches cut to resemble the city sky-line, tables and lamps from Turkey, and a ceiling draped with soft fabric and little lights peeking through to look like a starry sky.

The weather was becoming nicer on our last full day in Barcelona so we headed to Montjuic, a nice park area on the mountain on the edge of the city. We found an outdoor cafe with a deck on the edge of the mountain and sipped coffee as we looked out over the city below. That night we had a quiet evening with Francesc and Mariona, having dinner at home and watching a video.

Prague

We flew to Prague on April 9th arriving in the evening. After making our way to our hostel we found a great brewery-restaurant to have dinner, called Pivovarsky Dum. Benny was thrilled to start off his time in Prague with some traditional Czech food -- some sort of pork in gravy and bread dumplings. Alison got some traditional Czech vegetarian food--the oh so healthy chunk of deep friend cheese with a side of deep fried potato pancakes (very yummy!) The beer (pivo in Czech), we have to say with all honesty, is the best we have ever had, and was served in mugs as big as our heads. After that meal and the beers we could easily have fallen asleep, but we forced ourselves to walk into the city center to explore a bit.

Alison spent a semester in Prague 6 years ago, so it was interesting for her to see how the city had changed and ways that it was the same. It is still the gorgeous place she spent time in years ago but much more expensive and posh today. Whereas in the past a meal with a beer might cost a few dollars, today it is hard to a meal for under $10. A huge tourism industry also means that many of the old dank smoky pubs have been replaced by more upscale bars and restaurants. Prague has also become a hot spot for British bachelor and bachelorette parties. We have seen large groups of English men and women (clad in their "stag party" or "hen party" t-shirts) prowling the city streets and enjoying the cheap beer. These various changes aside, however, the city remains the quaint, vibrant city Ali remembers.

Prague was not destroyed like many European cities were in WWII, so it has a feel of old Europe. Narrow cobblestone streets criss-cross the city, and every building is incredibly beautiful. In a single city block you can find architecture in styles of Gothic, Romanesque, baroque, and art nouveau. Pubs and restaurants are set in vaulted ceilinged spaces, and art and music abound in the city. It seems as if on every corner you can find live music or a small art gallery.

We have been enjoying the city so much that we ended up staying for a week. The weather has been perfect -- sunny and in the low 70s. The trees are all blooming and smell of flowering trees fills the air. We have been walking around endlessly, our feet aching each night from pounding along the cobblestone streets.

One evening we went to one of Alison's favorite old hangouts, a jazz club called U Maleho Galena. We saw a great local band and had some more of the delicious Czech beer. Here is a clip of the band, and see if you can spot Ali in her "Where's Waldo" moment:

Some of the other highlights have been our visit to the Jewish quarter. The Spanish synagogue is especially beautiful with its ornately painted walls. The old Jewish cemetery is also a remarkable sight, crammed with gravestones slanting every which way from the soil shifting over the years. We visited Prague castle (called Hradcany) which houses a spectacular Gothic cathedral. In the Old Town Square -- the heart of the city -- little wooden stands have been set up for the Easter holiday that sell various traditional food (mostly sausage of various forms) and craft items. Benny of course tried the sausages -- delicious he said. And we tried a traditional Czech sweet called trdelnik. It is a dough wound and cooked around a metal rod coated in sugar, cinnamon and almonds. On one of our walks through the city we also spotted Peter Dinklage, the actor famous for his roles in Elf and The Station Agent.

Tomorrow is our last day in Prague and we will be sad to leave though excited of course for our next destinations. We are taking a night bus to Munich, have two days there, then fly to Thessaloniki, Greece. Our plan is to spend a couple days there then go further east to Turkey. We hope to spend a couple weeks in Turkey before heading back to Greece. It is hard to believe that we have less than 6 weeks left of our travels! We are really beginning to look forward to coming home, but are also glad to have several more weeks to enjoy springtime in Europe.