Spa wafers (lázeňské oplatky) were first mentioned in the 18th century and started as a homemade treat. Around the second half of the 19th century, mass production began in Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary. Nowadays, spa wafers can be found in stores all over the Czech Republic, where it is typical to find three types - Vanilla with hazelnuts, Cocoa, and Chocolate (mmmm - my favorite). It was not until a visit to Karlovy Vary that I discovered that there are many more flavors of oplatky. I also saw Apple, Coconut, Capuccino, Rum, Nugat, Lemon, Almond, and Cinnamon. There are stands where you can buy most of the oplatky warmed up.

Dana and I have found that spa wafers make a good gift. So, if you are returning from a trip to the Czech Republic or visiting friends/family outside the Czech Republic, bring some oplatky along.

Today is the 650th anniversary of Charles Bridge. The foundation stone was laid at 5:31am on July 9, 1357 with the help of king Charles IV. He consulted his astrologers and the date and time were chosen so that the odd numbers that ascend and descend on the scale of 1 - 9 would form the palindrome 135797531.

You can read more about Charles Bridge on our page on My Czech Republic.
Radio Praha has a Charles Bridge 650th Anniversary page.

 
Charles Bridge, July 8, 2007

It’s a wedding mania day in the Czech Republic. Today’s lucky date of 07/07/07 is making many couples believe that this is the perfect day to enter into a marriage that’s going to be blessed, happy and will last a lifetime. Town halls, churches, castles and chateaus around the country are seeing twice as many weddings as usual and some popular wedding locations have been booked for up to a year in advance.

Just passing by Náměstí Míru, Jeff and I saw a wedding in progress at the St. Ludmila Church. I’m sure other Prague churches and town halls were busy as well. May all you newlyweds live long and happy lives together!

I put together a few spring photos that I feel are representative for this time of year.

 
Rapeseed Fields in Bloom - April 29, 2007

Outdoor Tables - May 12, 2007

 
Busy Charles Bridge - May 19, 2007

Sunning out of the Window - April 14, 2007

This weekend we had some beautiful weather in Prague. On Saturday there was blue, blue sky and it was around 23 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit). Dana and I walked around Vyšehrad and ended up at the restaurant Rio’s Vyšehrad for lunch. They are just across from the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Chrám sv. Petra a Pavla) and have a nice outdoor seating area. We enjoyed the food, but the service was v-e-r-y slow. We waited over an hour to get our two identical plates of simple chicken sauté and two mini-scoops of white rice. We were certainly not in the best mood by the time the food arrived. To top things off, the bill that was brought after another lengthy period of waiting included a 10% tip. This was only listed as a cryptic “DPT” line on the bill that we had to inquire about in order to understand what it meant. The menu had no mention of a service charge being added to the bill. Very irritating, since it is not common in the Czech Republic for a service charge to be added automatically. Plus we wouldn’t have had tipped 10% in this case as spending close to two hours at lunch that eventually left us hungry was not our idea of a Saturday afternoon.

Later in the day, Dana and I grabbed dinner at U Šemíka, which is just below Vyšehrad at Vratislavova 36.  It was our first time there and we enjoyed our whole dining experience - from service to food quality to ambience.  We look forward to going back.  If you are looking for food in the Vyšehrad area, our tip is to try U Šemíka.