Snow Road Trip to Czech & Saxony, Germany - Day 2: Karlovy Vary & Prague
The buffet style offered extended options, savory and sweet, hot and cold, as well as healthy and indulgent. I wish I had a much bigger tummy to enjoy everything.
The counter table to serve the baked goods and fruits was my favorite. I had a couple of pastries including marbled Bábovka (a traditional Czech sponge cake) and some fresh fruit. I also had cheese, scrambled egg, and smoked salmon. Yum.
The space, called Malá Dvorana, was designed in the neo-baroque style and the centerpiece was the enormous crystal chandelier from the end of the 19th century. It could be one of the most luxurious breakfast locations in my life.
Next to Malá Dvorana was the Grandrestaurant, which was additional breakfast seating area and we found a table that James Bond and Vesper had a late night dinner after winning the poker game at Casino Royal.
It was already time to check out. It would be ideal to stay longer at the hotel to enjoy spa and breakfast. Maybe someday in future. Anything would be possible.
When we drove out of the hotel, we passed by Kaiserbad Spa, a 19th century bath house, which was used as the building of Casino Royal in the film. We didn't have a chance to take a look at the interior this time, which gives us a reason to come back to the spa town.
The roads to Prague were messy, covered by snow and ice. It was more or less snowing all time time, too. It took longer than what we expected, but we safely arrived in Prague after all. First we walked up to the Old Town's main square. The city's main Christmas market was set up there.
The Christmas market was very crowded in the snowy and freezing afternoon. Of course, Prague is the capital of the country and so much bigger than Karlovy Vary, but I was shocked by the wave of people!
It is fun to find and try regional and/or seasonal foods at a Christmas market. For example, Trdelník or Chimney cake. While the origin of the rolled sweet pastry is not Prague or Czech but somewhere else (some say Skalica district of western Slovakia; others say Transylvania district of Romania), it's a very common sweet pastry in Czech. I saw many shops of Trdelník in the city and also several vendors at the Christmas market. Trdelník is made of yeast dough that is rolled onto a cylinder, baked over coals and coasted with sugar. It can be filled with chocolate (Nutella), whipped cream or ice cream and topped with fruit.
Baked Trdelník smelled nice. We tried a simple sugar-coated version each. Honestly it wasn't as good as it looked. The texture was too dough-y. I wondered whether it was fully cooked. It tasted just like a underbaked bread. One piece was huge and I couldn't finish it up. I could have tried another one from a different vendor or shop to verify that those we picked were actually wrong. However, the first experience was too bad for me to reach one again without researching who makes the best Trdelník in Prague. Trdelník didn't get the second chance during this trip after all.
Snow got heavier. We left the busy Christmas market and headed to a restaurant for lunch so that we could relax more and stay warm and dry. Although I was distracted by the snow while walking, the view of Prague's Old Town for the first time was fascinating.
Café Imperial, a more than 100 year old grand cafe house was our lunch place. Franz Kafka, one of the major German language novelists and short story writers of the 20th century was one of many eminent guests. The original Art Nouveau ceramic wall tiling and mosaic ceiling from 1914 was impressive.
The menu was extensive from traditional Czech cuisine to International dishes, such as Teriyaki salmon. I ordered Svíčková, or Braised beef with creamy sauce made from root vegetables and heavy cream on the menu, which was one of traditional Czech dishes I wanted to try on the trip. As a tradition, the dish was accompanied with Knedlíky, Czech bread dumpling as well as cranberries. The beef was lean and tender. Sirloin is a usual choice for Svíčková. I guess so this was. I enjoyed tasting the rich and sweet sauce with the fluffy spongy dumplings. Overall I liked the dish but it was very rich and the serving portion was generous. I was too full to move onto the Café's beautiful cakes that I glanced at near the entrance door.
We came back in the snow and walked around the Old Town for a while.
Eventually we got to the Christmas market at the main square again. It looked like more people visiting there.
When we were walking to our AirB&B, the sweets displayed at the windows caught my eye. Au Gourmand was a French-style pâtisserie, bakery and bistro. We stopped by and had cake and tea at the narrow cafe space.
It was hard to choose just one...
J ordered apple strudel again. Whipped cream came together without asking for it.
Sweet chestnut mousse was my choice. Delicious!
To be continued...
