Sunday Bloody Sunday

The Sunday was pretty uneventful. I slept until about 8:00 AM, then wrote the previous 2 stories. While I was writing Sami called me again and we spoke for about 90 minutes while I was writing. I couldn’t smoke in the hotel room so I had to go downstairs every hour or so for a cigarette. It was really annoying but I guess it had to be done. I thought about smoking in the bathroom with the steam running, but there were smoke detectors and I thought I better not risk it.

At about 3:00 PM I started to get hungry and on one of my regular smoke breaks, I asked the bartender what time the restaurant opened. He told me “6:00 PM, Shall I reserve a table for you?” I said “I’ll think about it and let you know”.  I really wanted to try some Czech food but the closest restaurant was in Old Town and really couldn’t be bothered to go all that way for food.

I decided to reserve a table for 6:00 PM and I still hadn’t finished writing the stories by the time it came time to go downstairs and eat. The menu wasn’t very extensive, but it did cater for all tastes. There was one fish, beef, chicken and vegetarian dish. I ordered a Greek Salad for the starter, Beef Sirloin for Main and a bottle of Czech red wine called ‘Modry Portugal’. I had to buy the whole bottle, but the waiter said I could take the rest to my room, so that was good. The waiter brought the wine out opened and poured a glass. The description made it sound like a ‘Cabernet’, and that’s how it tasted.  It was very nice.

The Greek salad came and it looked fantastic. Every time I’ve had a Greek salad in the past, it has come all combined together, but this one had the different ingredients separated on the plate. There was also green, red and yellow capsicum, not just green. The waiter also brought over some Spanish sherry oil and Olive Oil for dressing.

The salad was the best Greek Salad I had ever eaten. I couldn’t wait to see what the Sirloin was like. About 5 minutes later the waiter returned with the Main course. It was Beef Sirloin with a Vegetable Ragout and a Sweet Cherry Jus. It looked fantastic. Each component was separated on the plate. I cut into the Sirloin and was cooked perfectly. It was rare but with no blood. I mixed it with a little bit of the ragout and Jus and put it in my mouth. WOW!!!!! This dish was very good. I was sad when there was nothing left on the plate.

I drank some more wine and the waiter came over and asked me if I would like some dessert. I wasn’t going to, but after everything else was so amazing I thought I had to try it. I looked at the menu, there were 3 choices. Cake of the day, Fruit Salad and I can’t remember the name of the third choice, but that’s the one I went with. It came out maybe 15 minutes later, and it looked and tasted amazing. The dessert was perfectly cooked and soft and crumbly. It came with Vanilla Ice Cream, cherries and a drizzle of chocolate sauce on the plate. It was perfect.

The meal was 1100 Czech Korunas (about $56.00 AUD). It was expensive compared to other places I could have eaten but the food was so awesome that I didn’t care. The wine was the most expensive part of the meal and cost 500 Czech Korunas  ($25.00 AUD) on its own. After eating I went out for a cigarette then took the rest of the wine upstairs and finished writing.

After finishing the wine, I went down and bought 4 beers from the bar. They had Pilsener on tap, but the bartender offered to sell me 4 ‘Gambrinus’ in bottles. Gambrinus is another Czech beer. I bought the 4 Gambrinus for around 180 Czech Korunas (about $10.00 AUD) and went back upstairs. Gambrinus is very nice, a little darker than the Pilsener. I watched some TV and finished writing the blog.

I needed a few cigarettes throughout the night. The first time I went down the waiter was also outside having a cigarette. We spoke about various things. When I told him I was Australian, he said I would like to visit there. He told me he was from Slovakia and I should visit the mountains here in the Czech Republic as they are nice. An English couple came over from the hotel next door and asked him if they would be able to use the Spa and Sauna facilities if they pay. The waiter told them to ask at reception but it shouldn’t be a problem.

During my final smoke break before bed and I was slightly drunk by this time, it was around 11:00 PM. I went outside and the guy from reception was out there smoking with some other staff member.  We started talking and he told me he had been to Sydney before and loved it. He wanted to live there. He has a friend living in Sydney. I told him I am missing the sun, the last time I saw the sun was when I was still in Romania.

I finished my cigarette, then went upstairs and went to bed. The lyrics to the song ‘Motorcycle Drive By’, by Third Eye Blind echoed through my head, and strangely enough I could sort of relate to the song right now.