“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Sleep in. No rush.
Dark grey clouds have arrived. It is not as cold as yesterday, but rain threatens and makes the prospect of getting out of bed difficult.
We are changing rooms. We cannot afford the executive suite.
Downsizing.
Brunch instead of breakfast and lunch.
Oak in Prague is the Zërgë of Budapest.
Back to the apartment to drop off our books. Definitely downsized.
We head out to see the Vltava River.
The Charles Bridge is the oldest in Prague and it takes us through old town. Tourist central.
Nothing destroys the beauty of a city like a tourist trap.
The day is cold and the clouds are ominous. Great walking weather. Shame about the crowds.
We make our way home, sick of all the people.
“Disgust is a very powerful tool for bringing about crowd violence. If a group can be dehumanized and made into the Other, the ‘them,’ to treat that group horribly is made much easier.”
Robert Sapolsky
There is half a bottle of Chianti, maybe the crowd is an excuse and a liquid lunch is the appeal to head back.
We drink the Chianti and decide to head back to Sansho for our last night in Praha.
When you are on a good thing…
“A great numb feeling washes over me as I let go of the past and look forward to the future.
Bret Easton Ellis
We stick with the soft shell crab bao and add the orange and kimchi fried roll.
Two more starters, spring rolls and marinated rainbow trout, preserved lemon, cottage cheese & yuzu berries.
I order the Malíčské Vinařství Reisling to start and switch to the Hartmann Donà Sauvignon Blanc.
The trout salad was the highlight of the meal.
Two mains; a seafood red curry (grilled octopus, calamari cakes, buttered prawns, mussels & samphire crispy roll), green papaya salad, jasmine rice & roti bread. Alongside spicy BBQ pork flank with a green mango salad and coconut rice.
I paired this with an Ota Ševčík Pinot Noir.
Too full for dessert we walk home.
Our last night in Praha. Shell is ready to leave. I could stay.
I think her experience has been tainted by the flood of tourists we encountered today.
Home.
Bed.
Tomorrow we head to Bratislava.
Tonight’s wine –
2018 Uggiano Chianti Classico Reserva (Chianti, Italy)
See yesterday.
2022 Malíčské Vinařství Ryzlink Rýnský (Malíc, Czech)
See yesterday.
2022 Hartmann Donà Südtirol Sauvignon Blanc (Alto Adige, Italy)
Crisp and elegant. Everything an Alto Adige should be. Sharp acidity and in balance. A very good wine.
2022 Ota Ševčík Pinot Noir (Bořetice, Czech)
I wanted to like this wine. Bio dynamic vineyard, minimal intervention, old vines. It should have been special, but it wasn’t. Sweet, ripe fruit and a little medicinal.