Ireland/Czech - Day 7

First (real) day of the conference was very good. ECTS is a bit smaller than most of the conferences that I normally attend, but the scientific portion was actually pretty solid – they bring in a lot of great speakers (like me! Just kidding). The main sponsor of the conference was Lilly, who brought a couple baristas with them to make us all free coffee drinks. They had a little “stamp” of cinnamon powder that they put on top of the drinks – it was actually kinda cool. Each day, a large box lunch was provided, containing Czech delicacies like “Tatransky” bars. Additionally, the conference concluded each day with a poster session and beer reception. Pisnell Urquell was on tap and several other Czech varieties were provided in cans.

Well played.

After the conference, Lindsay and I met up in secret agent fashion - "Meet me at the place we had gelato our first night. Bring nothing, tell no one." Maybe just the first part. We wandered around New Town (not that new) looking at the various shops. We stopped at La Borsa, a small chain of Italian purses with shops all over Prague. Lindsay thought about pulling the trigger, but couldn’t find the right one. We also were able to enjoy a demonstration of candy pulling (and tasting) – too expensive to buy anything, but it was quite tasty. 

Free sample!

Since it was nearly dinner time, we decided to drop into one of the restaurants that had been recommended to us – Propaganda. This very cool cellar bar was very empty at 6 PM. We explored for a bit and only found 1 guy sitting at the bar. I assume that he worked there, though he didn’t greet us and he wasn’t actually behind the bar, so who knows. Either way, it didn’t seem like we were there at the right time, so we left without getting anything.

Hellloooo? Anyone home .... ?

At this point, we had already been across Charles Bridge several times – once on our tour and a couple other times by ourselves. However, it’s worth pointing out that Charles Bridge is a really neat place to visit. It’s about a half mile long and nearly 30 feet across, decorated with 30 baroque-style statues. (By the way, the statues have been replaced with replicas. The originals are in the National Museum.) This bridge was the only way across the river in Prague from its construction in 1357 until 1841. The bridge itself is usually packed with tourists, street vendors, and musicians. On this particular journey across the bridge, I spent some time listening to a nice jazz band playing dixieland and big band stuff. I eventually escaped their clutches and met up with Lindsay on the far side of the bridge.

One of the Charles Bridge Statues

We had crossed Charles Bridge in order to visit the Lesser Town location of Lokal, the restaurant we had tried to eat at previously. Lokal ended up being a real treat. First, I really appreciated their ‘beer card’ – when you ordered a beer, they would bring a card to your table and cross off one of the markers. There must have been 100 markers on a card. Apparently they expect you to drink a lot! 

The beer card!

Lokal is very into serving authentic, tasty Czech cuisine. We were interested in trying some potato dumplings, but our server was convinced it wouldn’t go very well with the dishes we had ordered. When we looked crestfallen, he decided to prove it to us by bringing out some dumplings (both potato and bread) for us to try. They were pretty tasty, but he was right. Lindsay ended up ordering a traditional Christmas meal in Czech – pork schnitzel with potato salad. On the other hand, I had a pork tenderloin skewer and mashed potatoes with onion. While we were waiting, our server brought out a little “Guide to Czech Cuisine” as a gift. It was basically a translation guide for food – very thoughtful! Either way, the experience was very fun and everything was super tasty. Lokal is also reasonably priced – about 550 CZK total for us – and a must when in Prague.

Lindsay's Lokal Guide. Dumplings on the plate.

Lindsay picked up this neat drawing of a rat while I was at the conference.

After dinner, we went strolling around the east side of Lesser Town, basically underneath the Charles Bridge. It's a pretty area, though it seemed unsurprisingly pretty touristy. Lots of places to stay, though.

Under the bridge!

Since we were in the area, we decided to head over to the Lennon wall. This landmark is just a normal wall that has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti since the 1980s. There are also occasionally musicians that play at the wall – Beatles music, of course. The wall is constantly in flux, with new graffiti regularly covering up the old. Local legend says that when the authorities would try to cover the wall, the next day it would be repainted with poems, lyrics, and flowers. Today, the wall is officially owned by the Knights of Malta, but they have permitted the “art” to continue as it is a major tourist attraction.

The Lennon Wall!

The end of the Lennon wall is strictly enforced!

It was getting dark, and we stumbled out onto the river just south of Charles Bridge to take some pictures.

Panorama taken while I dangled over the top of a sign. Lindsay thought I'd fall into the river, which would have made quite the story. Ended up being pretty tame.

We ended up walking in the park ("Kampa") because it seemed like a nice night for a stroll. However, we ended up stumbling upon a very extensive exhibit about Sir Nicholas Winton, the "British Schindler". It was very moving.

One of the many billboards in the exhibit.

Walking back across Charles Bridge at night.

Lindsay wanted a picture with this cool old well.