Day 0 - September 4, 2008

From the apartment:
We took a walk to go get a SIM card for the cell phone Maciej so smartly bought prior to our trip (and, this one was unlocked! we learn well from previous mistakes...um, Greece).
Down the street was a Vodaphone shop. There was a super nice young lad there named Robin, who completely helped us out (perhaps it has something to do with the name). He spoke English, gave us an option for our phone number (which we just told him to choose one) and set us up with the SIM card, made sure it worked and sent us on our merry way. What a relief it was to have a good experience after a bunch of crazy ones. This made it so if our luggage shows up, we can get a call.
We trot along down the road and find a Tesco Express (apparently the big Tesco is farther down the road, but all we really needed were a few basics: toilet paper, milk, cheese, tea, pb and nutella. (bread will absolutely be bought at the bakery down the road). Ahhh...European Nutella far exceeds the taste and pleasure of the American formulated Nutella. So, we head back home to drop off the goods. We at least have the basics!
It's the ripe ol' time of 17:30 when we decide to go back out and find the micro brew pub - we found that it was only a 5-10 minute stumble or walk (whichever you prefer) from our apt.
Pivovarský dům: highly recommended. They brew light and dark pilsner (Czech style) as well as having a monthly brew type and some others. We decided to start with the Czech-style beers. They were great! The dark was hoppy, slightly roasted and rather full-bodied. The light one was crisp, refreshing (Karen thought it had some fruit flavors to it). Our meals were tasty too. The food there is typical Czech style (which from what we've read is served with lots of gravy/sauce). To start, Maciej got a garlic soup (which is said to be a traditional starter for meals). And, it was mighty garlicky, but not pungent. Oddly enough, the croutons were still crisp even by the last spoon-fulls of soup. Karen chose a Venison with bread dumplings and a cranberry sauce. Actually it was not cranberry, it was red currant, but it was awesome. Great flavor, added just the right sweetness to the gamy Venison. The bread dumplings were the perfect accessory to soak up the sauce! (no veggies though). Maciej chose a rabbit with potato dumplings and spinach (spinach was a puree with tons of garlic). Maciej was smart to get the light pilsner, as it was a good accent to light taste of the rabbit. Maciej thought the rabbit tasted like chicken. From Karen's experience rabbit can be overcooked and somewhat tough or cooked well and be easily cut with a fork (good thing it was the latter of the two). Karen and Maciej left happily full and satisfied from their first meal in Prague!
Back at home, since we still didn't have our luggage, we tossed our clothes in the washer (from almost 24 hours of travel, I'm sure we stunk - in fact, I know we did) and waited so we could hang them on the drying rack (so they would be clean and dry the next day) before finally going to bed. Ahh! Sleep is good!


One more quick note: just in case we're dying for fatty American food, there is a McD's and KFC a few blocks away!